2018 Craft Beer Advent Calendar Brew-Off
For the overall verdict and summary, see the next post…
I like beer and over this past year I’ve been slightly obsessed with finding new beers to try. It all started from an idea to show off the capabilities of our Android Collections app with a nicely curated collection of beer we’d drank.
Having received three Xmas calendars filled with beer, I thought I’d compare them and review their content on a daily basis. I’ll add new days at the top as no one wants to scroll to see new stuff, right?
You can see a web version of the app and the beer collection. Just open the web-page, click the anonymous button and look for the beer collection.
The calendars are from BrewDog, Honest Brew and Beer Hawk. These are all UK based suppliers with BrewDog showing off their own beers and the others sourced from multiple brewers.
I’ll rate the days selection with a very subjective viewpoint. The unusual will generally win out over the common. Label/bottle design and flare probably count too. Since I can’t drink them together, I’ll not be considering the drinks themselves, but may come back and update the daily review with some tasting notes as I get around to drinking them.
Day Twenty Four (aka Last Day)
Last day is stout day in the advent calendar world.
Would you look at BrewDog. They’ve gone to a lot of effort to make this last day special. Rolling out another exemplary stout and this time in its own gift box. Paradox looks to be another one to savour, although it is superficially similar to the Ten Ton Truck, it’s all down to the barrels they’ve been stored in. Saving this for when my cold is over.
Honest Brew have a Vanilla and Chocolate Porter from Croatian brewers The Garden Brewery.
Beer Hawk are over in the states with Breakfast Stout from Michigan brewers Founders Brewing. It’ll be interesting to see what the American take is on stouts.
Verdict
BrewDog win again for making the last day that little bit special. Good choices again from Honest Brew and Beer Hawk.
Day Twenty Three
BrewDog once again push out the Abstrakt, this time Abstrakt 26. Known as “Uncle Duke’s Barrel Aged Imperial Stout”. Saving this for when my cold’s gone.
London brewers Partizan serve up a White Negroni Saison. Interesting choice from Honest Brew.
Beer Hawk have another Belgium beer this time from Leffe. This is their Winter beer with hints of caramel.
Verdict
BrewDog with a quality Abstrakt beer win again. Good choices again from the others.
Tasting Notes
White Negroni Saison. Hmm… I recently drank some Old Spice aftershave (don’t ask) and this tastes the same. A mixture of citrus fruits that, for me, don’t gel too well. Our Son says it’s too lemony.
Day Twenty Two
BrewDog release their Ten Ton Truck with an Xmas variant. Another quality, strong stout.
Thornbridge are back but with Honest Brew this time, serving up Coco Cocoa. Another flavoured stout variant which should be good.
Beer Hawk source the Cranachan Wee Heavy from Tempest Brewing. A strong dark ale.
Verdict
Two quality stouts and a heavy. Another good day with no lightweights and too close to call again.
Tasting Notes
Down with a cold, so things taste off.
Ten Ton Truck, warming, smooth, delicious with a hint of something that my taste buds in their weird state couldn’t identify.
Cranachan Wee Heavy was a good dark beer with definite taste of raspberries that could overcome my cold. Probably pops more in normal times.
Day Twenty One
BrewDog have an unusual can design for their Albino Squid Assassin.
Honest Brew have a beer from Irish brewers Three Brothers called The Fixer.
Beer Hawk have a jointly produced beer Versus, produced by Camden with input from Wicked Weed.
Verdict
Too close to call today, another draw.
Day Twenty
BrewDog once again roll out an Xmas themed variant, Santa Paws.
Honest Brew team up with Brouwerij De MNolen from the Netherlands with a craft Lager named Rimbaud & Satie.
Beer Hawk up the ante with Limited Release 2018, a barley wine from Danish brewers, Bosteels.
Verdict
Beer Hawk on top with a special beer, but good showing from all the calendars again.
Day Nineteen
BOOM! BrewDog drop a special beer in the calendar with the Abstrakt 24. The Abstrakt range is BrewDogs brewer’s playground looking for exceptional beers and produced in limited quantities. Last year’s calendar had a couple of Abstrakt in them so it’s good to see one here.
French brewers Azimut have Double Blanche which looks to be a pale ale with zesty character. A nice selection from Honest Brew.
To Øl are in Beers Hawk’s calendar today, having seen them in Day 10. This time they have Gose to Hollywood. Those Danish brewers do like their puns.
Verdict
BrewDog produce the quality today which outshines the unusual. Another good day with some excellent beers to look forward to.
Tasting Notes
Abstrakt 24. Heavy coffee taste, very thick and warming. Expensive beers but they do taste superb.
Gose to Hollywood. A nice sour beer that cut right through my cold affected taste buds.
Day Eighteen
Punk IPA is another familiar beer from BrewDog and one that’s sold in-tap in many pubs in the UK.
Brehon produce Ulster Black for Honest Brew. Interesting to see how this compares with the famous stout for the Irish isles. Hopefully it’s better ;-)
North Brewing from Leeds are Beer Hawk’s selection with Full Fathom 5.
Verdict
Two stouts and a well known and decent beer. Hmm, I think the unusual breweries tie although it’s all to close to call.
Tasting Notes
Ulster Black, a simple stout that is outshone by Full Fathom 5 which has a nice sweetness, though I wouldn’t have said it was from coconut.
Day Seventeen
BrewDog with another of their range, Hazy Jane. Strong IPA so expect hoppiness and plenty of flavour.
Berkshire brewers Siren Craft have supplied Honest Brew with Liquid Mistress.
Tiny Rebel make their first appearance with Dutty. The Welsh brewers have produced some great beers, including the Mosaic Milkshake that was superb. Looking forward to this one, but can it live up to my expectations?
Verdict
Dutty is another good choice from Beer Hawk and takes the prize if only due to Tiny Rebel’s superb mascot.
Tasting Notes
Hazy Jane is similar to Jack Hammer, which I drank back to back. Same ABV, very similar taste but Hazy Jane really is a hazy drink. BrewDog at their best.
Dutty is another nice tasting hazy beer.
Day Sixteen
BrewDog have another stout, though not in the rocket fuel category that we’ve been having. Milk stouts are usually very smooth so looking forward to this one.
Pressure Drop’s Pale Fire is in the Honest Brew’s calendar. It’s a fruity IPA from the London Brewers.
Beer Hawk are back in Europe with Hoegaarden’s Grand Cru. A strong Weiss beer from the experts of Wheat beer brewing.
Verdict
Beer hawk come through with a ‘strong’ choice. Good runners up again.
Tasting Notes
Jet Black Heart, a smooth porter and not overly strong.
Day Fifteen
BrewDog have another collaboration beer, this time with Scottish brewers Fierce Beer. Very Big Moose is another strong stout; it must be Xmas.
Saison Hiver from Burning Sky grace the Honest Brew calendar.
BrewDog pop up in Beer Hawks calendar with their hoppy saison Electric India.
Verdict
It’s the ‘saison’ for stout. Too close to call, but the stout’s already in the fridge for later.
Tasting Notes
Very Big Moose a nice stout but hard to differentiate this from some of the previous ones. My palate is too jaded to distinguish the subtleties of flavour if it had any.
Electric India was, for BrewDog, a weak tasting beer with a not too pleasant aftertaste. Not their best.
Day Fourteen
Cocoa Psycho from BrewDog, a strong stout that you all know is my favourite brew.
Londoner’s Howling Hops produce Tropical Deluxe for Honest Brew. A light ale that, you’d think, contains pineapples but maybe that’s just artistic license?
Moor beer make another appearance with Raw. Beer Hawk want us to drink Moor Raw Beer ;-)
Verdict
Stout, no doubt. Strong runners up that would have won on any other day.
Tasting Notes
Cocoa Psycho is a great example of strong stoutiness. A smooth taste with lots of flavour and no harsh bitterness of overly coffinated.
Raw, wasn’t too raw. Pretty mild to be honest. Passable.
Day Thirteen
Another solid favourite from BrewDog with their 5am Saint.
Honest Brew are in the Xmas spirit with Christmas Pale Ale from French brewers Pophin. The picture appears to be Xmas from Down Under.
Beer Hawk introduce Goose Island’s Madame Rose. Belgium style beer with cherries.
Verdict
Cherry beer. It’ll either be great or gross, but Beer Hawk wins today with Madame Rose.
Day Twelve
So BrewDog go with a Gin & Tonic from Lone Wolf. Well, there’s always a lemon at Xmas and this is it. Fecking tonic — that’s the worst tasting thing ever.
Honest Brew continue their European Tour with a stop off at Buxton, UK (though it looks like we won’t be in Europe much longer — short sighted bastards). The High Tor looks to be a more traditional British beer.
Danish brewers Mikkeller have a Henry Jagger American Pale Ale with some interesting artwork decorating the can.
Verdict
BrewDog, really?
Traditional British vs American? Close, but Beer Hawk win with original design and beer from a Danish company, brewed in Belgium for the Swedish market and sold in the UK. I wonder what the ‘carbon footprint’ of that was!
Tasting Notes
High Tor is a delightful beer, strong on hoppy taste but darker that most of it’s kin. Raw like a home brewed beer with a warming afterglow down the throat.
Henry Jagger. Whilst it’s a very low ABV at 2.2%, it actually tastes reasonably OK. A bit darker than expected and had a home-brew taste. Felt like it needed a little more maturation but that’s the cold talking.
Day Eleven
BrewDog bring out a favourite with Elvis Juice.
Still touring Europe, Honest Brew venture into Switzerland with White Frontier’s Log-out and Live.
Beer Hawk are down under with Pirate Life’s Mosaic. Got to be better than that Foster’s cruft.
Verdict
Beer Hawk’s Mosaic looks to be the winner by a nose.
Day Ten
Another lager pilsner from BrewDog. You know it’ll be better than Carlsberg.
Honest Brew’s tour of Europe continues with a Danish beer from brewers “To Øl” punningly named A Peeling Pale.
Yorkshire brewers Rooster deliver Twenty Four Seven for Beer Hawk. A hoppy session ale.
Verdict
Honest Brew with novelty and puns get today’s vote.
Day Nine
BrewDog bring out another strong stout with seasonal pun, Get Out Claus. It;ll be interesting to see how the spice livens it up.
Honest Brew have chosen Polish brewer “Brower Stu Mostow” to present Pink Guava Sour Saison (although it might have a shorter name). Great artwork.
German brewers “Spaten” grace the Beer Hawk calendar with their Optimator beer. This is a strong malty lager according to the review I just read ;-) Incidentally, my beer collection at >520 is pretty small compared to John’s >3300 :-O
Verdict
Ahh, choices. Strong stout vs saison vs malty lager. It’d be unfair to choose the stout again, BrewDog excel in these and they are my favourite style. Lagers not my favourite but John’s review has whetted my appetite and the Pink Guava sounds tasty too.
Lets call it another draw.
Tasting Notes
Pink Guava. A cloudy beer, fizzy in the mouth with a definite fruity taste that I assume is Guava. Not bad if you like sour beers.
Day Eight
Another day and another great selection of new beers to try.
BrewDog go off reservation and team up with Norwegian brewers Amundsen to brew the Mallow Mafia. Looking forward to this one later.
Straight out of Ireland is Boundary Brewing’s American Pale Ale. An interesting selection from Honest Brew.
London based Mondo Brewing have been chosen by Beer Hawk and they present an American pilsner, All Caps!.
Verdict
BrewDog swing it today but only because strong stouts are my favourite.
Tasting Notes
Mallow Mafia. This didn’t disappoint. Strong, smooth and heavy on the coffee taste. A drink to savour on a cold winter’s night.
American Pale Ale. Quite a weak, light tasting beer. Not offensive but lacking a little character.
All Caps. Extremely frothy, bubbly pilsner style lager. Might be OK on a hot day, maybe. Could be worse though, it could be Carling.
Day Seven
BrewDog bring out an old favourite, Jack Hammer. A full-on IPA with great taste and strength.
Honest Brew have another brew from overseas, Perler For Svin from the Norwegian brewery Lervig. With everyone doing stickly labels on their cans, this is different in that it is shaped to allow the can to be seen. Great idea.
Beer Hawk enter the Xmas spirit with Santa Punch from the Italian brewers Birra del Borgo. Cute bottle design and aromatic Oleo Saccharum make this interesting.
Verdict
A tie between Honest Brew and Beer Hawk. Both come out with some unusual beers in well designed packaging.
Tasting Notes
Santa Punch. Nicely hoppy, very smooth. Mild fruity aroma, but not excessively fruity to taste. The numbing sensation on the tongue is a little disconcerting. That’s either the essential oils or just be me coming down with something ;-)
Jack Hammer is what BrewDog is famous for, strong hoppy beers that have great flavour and strength without being too in your face (McEwans export, anyone?)
Day Six
Another BrewDog variant of hoppiness and citrus in their Hop Fiction. Guaranteed to be a decent drink.
Honest Brew have teemed up with Northern Monk to produce Winter DDH. No idea who Ricky Lightfoot is, but he’s running across a snowy mountain (looks like a sandy beach :-/). Perhaps he’s on the way to the pub which is about to close?
Beer Hawk bring out a Wild Beer Sleeping Lemons bottle. First outing for Wild Beer and we know their beers are good. Looking forward to this one.
Verdict
Some good stable brands in today’s delivery. Hard to choose so we’ll call it a draw.
Tasting Notes
Winter DDH. Hoppy with citrus taste, pale coloured, fairly clear. That Ricky bloke’s got something going here.
Sleeping Lemons. A very light beer almost lager like. The lemons are subtle. Probably best saved for a summer’s day where you want to neck it quickly rather than savour it.
Hop Fiction. Hints of BrewDog hoppiness but toned down compared to the stronger ones. Nice nevertheless.
Note to Northern Monk: Personalising beers after somebody who might be famous for something or other sort of misses the mark if you have no clue who they are and the can doesn’t have any details. Yes, I could Google it, but it’s probably not worth the disappointment when you find out they are a relative nobody.
Day Five
BrewDog are back to their own with Cybernaut which is a New Wave session IPA, whatever that might be! (reads notes — toned down ABV with wheat and oats, etc.)
Honest Brew have an intriguing Estonian Birch Ale called Sauna Session from the Tanker Brewery. Apparently made with real Birch leaves. This one’s already in the fridge ;-)
Beer Hawk present a Fourpure beer called Juicebox. This sounds to be heavy on the citrus and should be a good drink.
Verdict
Honest Brew win with the unusual Estonian and Birch leaves combination. Commendable beers from BrewDog and Beer Hawk.
Tasting Notes
Sauna Session. Hmm, promised much but didn’t deliver. A flat, weak tasting ‘beer’ with a musty/woody smell. More like a cider but with little to taste or recommend. Novelty value only.
Cybernaut. A hazy, hoppy beer strong on traditional BrewDog hop taste. Mild citrus taste doesn’t live up the hype. Still a nice and worthy drink.
Day Four
BrewDog mix it up today and offer a Ginger Beer from Hawkes. Not keen of ginger though, so not a good choice for me.
Honest Brew go with a Moor breweries Amoor. ‘Drink Moor Beer’ — got to love that tag line.
Beer Hawk have an unusual Thornbridge variant Mint Choc Chip Lucaria. Sounds interesting, if only for the novelty flavours.
Verdict
I’d say this was close again today, with Beer Hawk edging ahead for novelty value.
Tasting Notes
The Amoor porter was a lovely consistent drink. Not too heavy with plenty of taste and no ‘ash-iness’ that you can sometimes get.
Mint Choc Chip Lucaria: A nice porter with a minty smell and aftertaste. It’s probably a better porter without the extra mintiness.
Day Three
Quench Quake from BrewDog is a pleasant citrus drink from their standard range.
Honest Brew have teemed up with Cloudwater brewery to have their own labelled beer. Another strong tasting citrus, hazy brew.
Magic Rock makes an appearance in the Beer Hawk selection with their Saucery IPA.
Verdict
Honest Brew wins again with a unique beer, although I suspect it’s a tweak of a standard Cloudwater brew.
Another good selection from BrewDog and Beer Hawk. Three days in and all suppliers are delivering some class beers.
Tasting Notes
The Cloudwater beer was a refreshing, hazy drink with large frothy head and light taste.
Saucery. A light beer, light on taste. One for quenching a thirst quickly.
Day Two
BrewDog once again keeps the Xmas spirit going with Mistletoe Mafia, a Lager.
Honest Brew has Apassionada from Edge brewing. Not had many Spanish craft beers, so looking forward to this one.
Beer Hawk supplies the Westmalle Trappist Dubbel. Belgium beers are always good but you generally know what you are getting with these.
Verdict
Honest Brew edges ahead today. I like the unusual and the others are known issues. Whilst lagers are OK, they don’t usually have the flavour depth of beers so I’m a little prejudiced against BrewDog’s selection.
Tasting Notes
The Apassionada was a nice light Weiss style beer with strong citrus taste giving it an overall sour flavour. Enjoyable.
Day One
Not a bad choice. BrewDog gets straight into the Xmas spirit with their Hoppy Christmas IPA. Had lots of these before and it’s a really nice, strong tasting, hoppy beer.
Honest Brew’s The Fabulist from Magic Rock looks interesting. Had a few of their beers before and they have all been good.
Beer Hawk’s California IPA from Sierra Nevada should be tasty too. Not tried this brewer so looking forward to it.
Verdict
A good range of beers today with no clear winner.
Tasting Notes
California IPA. Not a bad beer, very quaffable.
Unboxing
First up is BrewDog:
Slightly different from last year in that the packaging is far more colourful and has individual boxes of four. You can poke out the numbers to access the beer and avoid spoiling the next day’s surprise.
Next is Honest Brew:
Nicely packaged with a cheerful Xmas theme. Similar idea to BrewDog with boxes of four that can be opened individually.
Finally Beer Hawk:
A neat idea to tier the internal packaging and allow the cardboard to be poked through to get the beer. The top row looks to be can-sized with bottles accessible from the sides.
Verdict
Good ideas from all three suppliers.
The idea of boxing up four beers so they can be stored in the fridge is cool, with BrewDog’s packaging being slightly more usable.
Beer Hawk keeps with a more traditional advent calendar theme that looks to be slightly more fun. Each ‘door’ on the Beer Hawk calendar also includes a little snippet of information on the inside about the brewer or beer. An excellent idea.