It’s Day 3 of the Brewer’s Advent Calendar. Looks like it’s back to hell. Of course this isn’t beer hell but helles style beer which according to my handy Oxford Companion to Beer, “is a pale golden lager that is the everyday session beer of Bavaria Germany. The German word ‘hell’ or ‘helles’ simply means ‘pales.'” I say back to hell because on Day 1 we had the Grumpy German Helles. |f there are going to be 24 beers I assume there will be a lot of “hell” to pay. Sorry. Couldn’t resist that.
This beer is produced in Großköllnbach, Germany, by Privatbrauerei Egerer. Egerer does not have any info on their website about this brew so I assume this is one they produce for non-German markets. They feature mostly bottled beers but if you dive in deep enough they have some canned beers including a Super Schwarz that sounds fantastic. One odd note on the English version of their website: it says “Buy regional products without long transport routes.” I guess they worry about the quality of their beer if it takes a long time to get to the customer. So canned is better for an Advent Calendar being sold in the US 3 months before Christmas. I had to laugh at the “Craft Beer” on the label. I wish I knew what the term “Craft Beer” means to German. Or is this a marketing gimmick for the US market.
This is nice, slightly golden, yellow pale. Nice and crisp. Perfect pizza beer. Being Friday night and we were all tired we chose Dominos for dinner. Long week. Even longer as our pizzas sat in “quality check” mode for almost 40 minutes. I was ready for a beer by the time it arrived. But that’s just another downside to the pandemic. Not enough pizza drivers.
Alms Hell, a “craft beer” from Egerer of Großköllnbach, GermanyI don’t drink that much helles so I don’t have a standard to base it against and say “this is a good helles or a bad helles.” I liked it. Nice and crisp, Smooth but with a hoppy flavor. Balanced between malts and hops. Clear as you would expect. I have to say the long finish turns a bit bitter.
‘Not spectacular but from my viewpoint… or tastepoint… based on the descriptions I read about helles, this is a quintessential German Helles. I think I liked the Grantler Hell (Grumpy German Helles) a tad better but this is a nice drinkable beer. With pizza is it wonderful. At 5.2% you could have another… but I don’t have another calendar so that’s a moot point. Once again 500ml is about the right pour for a meal. Enough to sip before hand, plenty with the meal and just a tad left over at the finish.
As for the Ilchester British Cheese Advent calendar we had Red Leicester which ia a nice almost buttery cheese. Much firmer cheese than the others so far.
What will Day 4 reveal?
