Helper Power Coupling and Proper Bermuda Blonde 

• Mike Riedel

Helper - Power Coupling: This new West Coast pilsner has brilliant clarity, and pours the most common hue for beer—that golden-yellow with a hint of brass to it. Two fingers of white foam perch on top, with good clarity underneath it. A nice mix of hops push forth a perfume of faint resin, melon, orange peel, hints of tangerine, pineapple and berries.

The taste is uniquely complex. It starts with lemon zest, herbs, grass and gooseberry, followed immediately by an herbal bitterness and slight grape fruitiness against a mild malt backbone. You get a great yeast influence as well; you can actually taste the lagering effect in this 6.4 percent beer. It's not some neutral hop profile, emerging as relatively pronounced, but still not a match for that beautiful deluge of new hop varieties. At this point, I'm questioning whether the hops might be even better-suited to an IPA. One thing is for damn sure: It works in both of them quite well. This also has some weed like notes to it, so earthy, light and crisp against the malt base, with the bitterness helped along quite nicely by those New Zealand-like hops. It all works in harmony here, and provides a nice, dry bitterness.

Verdict: What a brilliant lager. I was just having a different WC pils yesterday and thinking, "Yet more proof that I'm in love with this style." This is everything a WC pils should be—just a clean showcase for tasty malts and hops.

Proper - Bermuda Blonde: This fruited American-style blonde ale starts off with a straw-blonde pour that produces two fingers of eggshell white head with a milky/cream consistency and texture. Strong glass-consuming effervescence rises within a light, unfiltered straw-colored body. Head retention is long-lasting, with a nice amount of lace coverage on the vessel. In the aroma, you get sweet, freshly-sliced juicy lime. Other strong citrus notes were wet and lively, but soon settled to a softly dry barley grain and dry lemon-peel finish. You really have to get a good whiff the second this hits the vessel, because the aroma doesn't stay dominant for long, only for a few brief moments.

Flavor of tart lime kicks things off, along with fresh barley grains—dry, with a nice bite of lemon and dry citrus following. A touch of grain sweetness sneaks in briefly for balance, with an overall good deal of soft, dry hop bitterness per the style and some straw on the fade. There's a wheaty mouthfeel, nearing mid-body depth with a good resistance when swirled on the tongue. It boasts a frothy texture and good carbonation rate, bittering and dry on the swallow.

Verdict: While I wished the hops lasted a bit longer on the nose, this did follow within the guidelines per the style of an American blonde. A nice, soft dry grain base includes bittering more typical of the style, but lightly dry, and a body that was a bit fuller with a pretty decent rate of drinkability. While I'm not necessarily a big fan of this style, I am slowly progressing. While some folks might be expecting a big burst of lime and hops, this is more focused on traditional style with that softly dry bittering, and not meant to be a straight-up fruit beer. Overall, pretty decent per style.

Bermuda Blonde is going to be part of Proper's summer line-up, and you'll find it in stores and pubs all over the Wasatch Front. Helper's Power Coupling will be slightly harder to seek out if you're outside of Helper, Utah. I found it at The Bayou, but look towards Beer Bar and Slackwater as well. As always, cheers!