What is helles lager?

Below: what the name means, how Munich went pale, what a helles tastes like, how it compares with pils, the famous ones, and how brewers take the alcohol out. Or skip to every alcohol-free helles we list, with prices, or five to try. Helles is one branch of the lager family; for the whole tree, see what is lager?

What does helles mean?

Pale. Hell means pale or light in German, and a helles is simply a pale one: the Oxford Companion to Beer puts it plainly, the word “simply means ‘pale’”.^[1] You’ll also see it as Hell on German labels (Augustiner Lagerbier Hell, Tegernseer Hell) or as Helles Lagerbier.^[2][4][6] The opposite is dunkel, dark: the BJCP likens helles’s malt balance and bitterness to Munich dunkel’s, but in a pale beer.^[2]

The name says nothing about strength. A helles is a full-strength beer, 4.7–5.4% in the guidelines, and the Oxford Companion gives 4.7–5.3%.^[2][1] The alcohol-free helles below are 0.0% to 0.5%.

Where helles came from

For a long time, Bavaria’s lager was dark. “Until the turn of the 20th century, dark beers had been considered the only ‘real’ Bavarian lager,” the Oxford Companion to Beer says. What changed things was the glass: “It was the new ubiquity of the beer glass that paved the way for pilsner and other light-colored beers.”^[1] Pilsner, first brewed in Pilsen in 1842,^[7] was golden, and Munich’s brewers had to compete with it.

Munich’s answer came from Spaten, which the Oxford Companion calls the first Bavarian brewery to brew a light-hued lager, Spaten Münchner Hell, in 1894.^[8] It dates the first “real” helles to 21 March 1894, when Spaten “promptly sent it for market testing to Hamburg, where it was a hit”; Munich drinkers “finally got their first taste of the new brew on June 20, 1895”, as Helles Lagerbier.^[1] The BJCP says the style was created in Munich “to compete with pale Pilsner-type beers”.^[2] Not every brewery rushed to follow: “it took Paulaner until 1928 to introduce its helles.”^[1] In 2012, the Oxford Companion said helles and pilsner “are roughly equal in popularity in Bavaria, with each holding about 25% of the market share”.^[1]

What does helles taste like?

Malt first, then a soft finish. The BJCP’s description: a “moderate grainy-sweet malt aroma”; “pale yellow to pale gold”, clear, with a “persistent creamy white head”; “no residual sweetness, simply the impression of maltiness with restrained bitterness”; and a “soft and dry finish, not crisp and biting”. In the mouth: “Medium body. Medium carbonation. Smooth, well-lagered character.”^[2]

Two notes from the same guidelines are worth knowing. Freshness matters: “very fresh examples can have a more prominent malt and hop character that fades over time.” And Munich’s own is lighter: “Helles in Munich tends to be a lighter version than those outside the city.”^[2]

Helles vs pilsner, and the rest of the family

Both are pale German lagers; the difference is the balance. In the BJCP’s words, helles has “more body and malt presence than a German Pils, but less crisp and with less hop character throughout.”^[2] The Oxford Companion is blunter: “A Bavarian helles is considerably lower in bitterness than a German pils.”^[1] If a pils is crisp and bitter, a helles is soft and malty. Our pilsner guide sets helles beside Czech and German pils.

Is helles a lager? Yes: bottom-fermented and lagered, the BJCP files it in the pale lager family,^[2] and every helles is a lager. Stronger pale lagers grew from the same root: the Oxford Companion calls a Bavarian Export “a stronger version of the helles”, and the BJCP describes helles bock as a helles or festbier “brewed to bock strength”.^[1][11]

Sources: BJCP.^{[2][3][9][12][11][13]}

Augustiner, Paulaner, Hofmeister: the famous helles, and their alcohol-free versions

Start with Augustiner. The Oxford Companion calls it “the oldest continuously operating brewery within the Munich city limits”,^[14] founded as an Augustinian monastery in 1294 and brewing “at least since 1328”. Of Munich’s big breweries, “only Augustiner is still independent,” the Oxford Companion said in 2012; much of its draught beer still comes from wooden casks, and “the brewery does not advertise at all.”^[15] Its helles, Augustiner Lagerbier Hell, is 5.2% and served in the brewery’s traditional half-litre glass, the Augustiner Willibecher. It also makes an alcohol-free one: Augustiner Alkoholfrei Hell, which the brewery says is “born from our popular Lagerbier Hell”, with less than 0.5% alcohol (our translation).^[4] It isn’t in our directory yet.

Spaten, the first to brew a helles, was bought in 2003, as part of a larger group, by the company now called AB InBev.^[8] Paulaner’s Münchner Hell is 4.9%,^[16] and its Münchner Hell Alkoholfrei is under 0.5%.^[5] Erdinger Weissbräu, the Bavarian wheat beer brewery, makes a Brauhaus Helles at 5.1% and an ERDINGER Helles Alkoholfrei under 0.5%.^[17][18] Hofmeister, the UK brand, sells a 5% helles and a 0.5% one called Bearly Any, “handcrafted by an independent family brewery in the heart of Bavaria”.^[19][20] And Tegernseer, from the ducal brewery at Tegernsee, makes “the typical Bavarian pale Vollbier” at 4.8% and an alcohol-free version that you can buy in the UK (our translation).^[6]

Sources: Augustiner,^[4] Paulaner,^[16][5] Tegernsee,^[6] Erdinger^[17][18] and Hofmeister.^[19][20] UK government guidance, which is voluntary, keeps the term alcohol-free for 0.05% ABV or below, though many beers up to 0.5% are sold in the UK as alcohol-free. More in our 0.0% vs 0.5% guide.

How alcohol-free helles is made

Several of the alcohol-free helles we list are brewed as full beer and then have the alcohol taken out. Tegernseer says its alcohol-free helles rests on “a gentle dealcoholisation and the long experience of our brewmasters” (our translation).^[6] According to their beer pages on Unhopped, Days Lager is brewed as a traditional helles with Hallertau hops and then de-alcoholised, and Flötzinger Alkoholfrei Hell from Rosenheim is dealcoholised too. Fürst Wallerstein Hell Alkoholfrei takes another route: The Alcohol Free Co says it’s made by combining two brews. For the methods in general, see how alcohol-free beer is made.

Every alcohol-free helles we list, with prices

There are 13 in Unhopped’s directory: Days Lager, Nirvana Bavarian Helles, Amundsen Helles Good Lager, Tegernseer Hell Alkoholfrei, Track Arosa AF, Below Brew Co Heaven & Helles, Brulo Highway To Helles, Hiddenseer Hell, We Can Be Friends Forever, Flötzinger Alkoholfrei Hell, Fürst Wallerstein Hell Alkoholfrei, SiWC Lager Day Saints and Kaiserdom Alcohol Free Lager. On 4 November 2026, ten were in stock at The Alcohol Free Co, Dry Drinker or Wise Bartender. The cheapest per can or bottle was Kaiserdom Alcohol Free Lager, at £2.10 for a single at Wise Bartender. Only two are scored so far: Nirvana Bavarian Helles and Days Lager, at 7.8 each.

Beer facts and sizes from each beer’s page on Unhopped. Prices from The Alcohol Free Co, Dry Drinker and Wise Bartender, checked on the same day.

Five alcohol-free helles to try

The highest-scored, brewed in London; three from Bavaria, including the cheapest; and one from Brulo, an Edinburgh brand. All were in stock on 4 November 2026. For every lager we rank, see the best alcohol-free lagers; for Germany’s beers, German alcohol-free beer.

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Questions people ask

Sources

Opened and checked on 4 November 2026. Beer facts, prices and stock come from each beer’s page on Unhopped and the shops’ own listings on the same day.

1. Seidl C. Helles. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, ed. Garrett Oliver (Oxford University Press, 2012), via Craft Beer & Brewing. beerandbrewing.com
2. Beer Judge Certification Program. 2021 Beer Style Guidelines: 4A Munich Helles. styles.bjcp.org
3. Beer Judge Certification Program. 2021 Beer Style Guidelines: 5D German Pils. styles.bjcp.org
4. Augustiner-Bräu Wagner KG. Unser Bier (in German). Opened 4 November 2026. augustiner-braeu.de
5. Paulaner Brauerei. Münchner Hell Alkoholfrei (product page, in German). Opened 4 November 2026. paulaner.de
6. Herzoglich Bayerisches Brauhaus Tegernsee. Biersorten (in German). Opened 4 November 2026. brauhaus-tegernsee.de
7. Hampson T. Pilsen (Plzeň). In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, ed. Garrett Oliver (Oxford University Press, 2012), via Craft Beer & Brewing. beerandbrewing.com
8. McFarland B. Spaten Brewery. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, ed. Garrett Oliver (Oxford University Press, 2012), via Craft Beer & Brewing. beerandbrewing.com
9. Beer Judge Certification Program. 2021 Beer Style Guidelines: 5C German Helles Exportbier. styles.bjcp.org
10. Dornbusch H. Lagering. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, ed. Garrett Oliver (Oxford University Press, 2012), via Craft Beer & Brewing. beerandbrewing.com
11. Beer Judge Certification Program. 2021 Beer Style Guidelines: 4C Helles Bock. styles.bjcp.org
12. Beer Judge Certification Program. 2021 Beer Style Guidelines: 4B Festbier. styles.bjcp.org
13. Beer Judge Certification Program. 2021 Beer Style Guidelines: 5B Kölsch. styles.bjcp.org
14. Blüemelhuber G, Dornbusch H. Munich. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, ed. Garrett Oliver (Oxford University Press, 2012), via Craft Beer & Brewing. beerandbrewing.com
15. Dornbusch H. Augustiner Bräu. In: The Oxford Companion to Beer, ed. Garrett Oliver (Oxford University Press, 2012), via Craft Beer & Brewing. beerandbrewing.com
16. Paulaner Brauerei. Münchner Hell (product page, in German). Opened 4 November 2026. paulaner.de
17. Erdinger Weissbräu. ERDINGER Brauhaus Helles (product page). Opened 4 November 2026. erdinger.de
18. Erdinger Weissbräu. ERDINGER Helles Alkoholfrei (product page). Opened 4 November 2026. erdinger.de
19. Hofmeister. Our beer. Opened 4 November 2026. hofmeister.co.uk
20. Hofmeister. Bearly Any 0.5% Helles (product page). Opened 4 November 2026. hofmeister.co.uk