Egerer Alms Hell Beer Review

Alms Hell

Review Date 12/15/2021 By John Staradumsky

For Christmas of 2015, my wife bought me a really cool present: BeerAdvent Calendar 2015 from Kalea. In truth, my wife got me a lot of nice presents (she’s the best wife ever), but the nice thing about the Beer Advent Calendar is you get it early. You have to, since it’s comprised of 24 different imported German beers in a box with little doors that you open, one per day from December 1^st through December 24^th. All of the beers are listed on the side of the carton, however, so be careful not to look and spoil the daily surprises!

I love German beer more than beer from any other country on Earth, so this was definitely right up my alley. My one criticism of the calendar is there are not enough bocks and doppelbocks (not fair!), but otherwise it’s just an amazing way to sample 24 German beers I’ve never seen before. I get mine at Costco here in Georgia and pay on average $59.95 for the box. That might sound steep, but when you distribute that price over 24 different half liter cans, it only works out to $2.50 per can. Not a bad deal at all looked at that way.

Last year was a difficult year indeed, as Covid ravaged the world and it was not a sure thing that the Kalea Advent calendars would reach our shores. I braved Costco every week in September, masked with an N95, and finally scored my prize. For 2021, challenges of a different kind arose. Inflation and supply chain woes, thanks again to the persistence of Covid and the way it turned the global economy upside down in 2020, threatened once again to disrupt calendar distribution. On their Facebook page, however, Kalea promised that the calendars would arrive, and arrive they did. I found one at Costco in the second week of September, bought an extra for my future son in law, and stored mine safely away until December. The calendars sold for the same $59.95 they almost always have. Perhaps this was true in other years and I simply did not notice, but this year there were two box styles. One shows all of the included beers on the side, and the other does not, in case you want a true surprise each and every day.

December 3rd arrived, and behind the Day 3 door I found a can of Alms Hell by Privatbrauerei Egerer. Egerer brews or contract brews most of the beers in the calendar year after year. Alms Hell was quite a surprise because it is not listed as one of the beers to be included this year, and apparently replaces the Zwönitzer Rauchbier I was so looking forward to. There is little information on this beer via web search; it may be brewed especially for the Kalea Advent Calendar.

Alms Hell the beer has an alcohol content of 4.9% by volume. Ingredients on the can are listed as water, barley malt, and hops. My can is stamped EXP 2023/05. The first three beers in the calendar have been a Hefeweizen and two Helles, and I think again this year we are heavy on the Helles style.

Alms Hell pours to a pale straw color with a thick fluffy white head and a nose of crisp bready malt. Taking a sip the beer is again quite bready malty with crisp biscuit notes and a gently balanced bitter grassy herbal finish. This is a very refreshing beer with accent on the malt that I would definitely like to drink again.

I’m greatly enjoying my 7th annual Beer Advent Calendar with the day 3 beer. Here’s looking forward to the remaining 21, and another assortment of 24 in 2022. We’ll be on the lookout next year at Costco, and following the beers on their Facebook page.

The beers of the 2021 Beer Advent Calendar:

Day 1 Herrngiersdorf Grantler Hell

Day 2 Hoamat Weissbier

Day 3 Egerer Alms Hell

Day 4 Schloßbräu Rheder Husarentrunk

Day 5 Kraftbierwerkstat Der Schwarze Bock

Day 6 Herrnbrau Zwickl Kellerbier

Day 7 Kurpfalz Bräu Helles

Day 8 Egerer Wiener Lager

Day 9 Teisnacher 1543 Festmärzen

Day 10 Käuzle German Pilsner Style

Day 11 Marie Hausbrendel Hell