2019 Beer Advent Calendar Review

[ThePenIsMightier]

Hi. I like beer. I like beer Advent Calendars. I used to always get the SnowCase by Phillips Brewing from Victoria but they seem to have discontinued it. The last two years I've snagged the one from Costco and I've got it again this year.
I think I'll create this thread to review each beer daily from the Costco kit. Stay tuned for the first review very shortly. Feel free to reply to each daily review and vehemently argue how wrong I am because taste in beer is fairly individual. They will be brief as I don't believe in blabbering on and on about the "notes of blah blah blah" or an in depth analysis of the terroir.
It's a fuckin beer. Figure it out.

[ThePenIsMightier]

*Update bonus - I guess I forgot that all these cans are pints, not regular. I bought it a long time ago...

DAY 1: BIG RIG CANADIAN AMBER
From Big Rig Brewery in Kanata, Ontario.

Yummy. A nice light style that's very approachable with nothing too controversial. Best served painfully cold. A touch of wheat flavour and a touch of sweetness without tasting like someone put a teaspoon of sugar in it (Kokanee, I'm looking your way).
I think I'd buy this if I saw it at a store.

[ExtraSlow]

ExtraSlow supports beer advent calendar reviews.

[Thaco]

i got the costco one last year, too much whacky shit for me, if i were to do one again i'd just get 24 people to go in and buy a 24 of their favorite beer and build our own.

[lasimmon]

Yah I did last years as well and about 6-8 of them had to be poured out. Not worth it this year, but will follow along to see how it turns out.

[powerslave]

I've not tried the Costco one yet, but the last few years have been doing the CraftBeer series Advent calendars. This year the focus is Belgian beers, the first one was pretty good, but as Thaco said, sometimes they have wacky flavors (peanut butter chocolate beer... not that good...). Also some of them can be over 10% alcohol, which can be a pain. Did discover nitro milk stouts through the advent calendar, so there's that. Sorry, my reply didn't really help out the thread, but keep up the reviews!

[Brent.ff]

Got a photo of the full advent calendar? I didnt go looking for it, maybe i should have. How much they cost?

[asp integra]

Buddy of mine puts together the costco calenders every year. I will have to try one!

[mzdspd]

My wife makes me one every year.. She just uses a old wine box and goes to a local store known for beer selection and they help her pick them out.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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Got a photo of the full advent calendar? I didnt go looking for it, maybe i should have. How much they cost?

I vaguely recall they're about $85? Maybe??

[ThePenIsMightier]

DAY 2: SUPER SYMMETRY OATMEAL STOUT
From Category 12 Brewing on the Saanich Peninsula near Victoria, BC. (Home of legit NHL players Jamie and Jordie Benn).

It's pretty much fuckin delicious.
Darker than a black bear's ass at midnight and quite gently carbonated, as one may expect. Full of all the right flavours but no dominance from the toasty or caramel ends of the spectrum. That was a bit of a surprise, but not a let down. A nice & gentle 5.9% alcohol makes this well-placed for a Monday, December 2 as there will be some whoppers in this calendar case and if I got one today, I swear I'd have trouble not getting carried away and missing work tomorrow. (Pssst - "missing" it wouldn't necessarily be my feeling, Bob!)
They state that all their beer is unfiltered and sediment is expected. I honestly didn't expect it from a stout, but you see it during the last couple sips and it's surprisingly grotesque looking. Big deal, but... It really looks like... Shit.

I'd buy this again if I was shopping for a stout, which is a rare occurrence, but it was a perfectly nice treat.

[ThePenIsMightier]

DAY 3: LIGHTER LAGER
From Spearhead Brewing in Kingston, Ontario.

This is an easy one. It's everything you like about Grasshopper and maybe only 5% of what you don't like. It's slightly, barely cloudy which is surprising for a lower alcohol lager but that's fine. It is missing most of that tart, wheat flavour that makes Grasshopper sit heavy in your belly. Much more crisp and clean with good carbonation and a pleasant, palatable taste.
This would be a proper session beer. The term "session beer" has lost ALL meaning with this hipster nonsense but this is truly one that you could sit down and drink 100oz of over a long, summer evening. Only 4.2% alcohol.

I really like it, yet I can't picture many occasions when I'd actually buy it. Plus, I can't recall ever hearing of one of this brewery's beers out here or ever seeing one for sale. Maybe I'm wrong.

[you&me]

Was in Costco last weekend, saw the advent calendars and passed... May reconsider and have to play catch-up...

[ThePenIsMightier]

DAY 4: BLACKSMITH
From Village Brewing in Calgary.

Always loves me a Black Lager although they call this a Black Ale and it does seem a little different. I frequently order this on tap at pubs. Nice & toasty and not too heavy but a little heavier than many black lagers I've had. A very suitable Christmas beer but not a crazy Bock or Porter, at all. Just a hint of things to come.

So far, we are four for four but I put tomorrow's selection in the fridge already and it's got a chance of breaking the streak. Stay tuned...

[ThePenIsMightier]

DAY 5: WHITE KNUCKLE White IPA
From Mt. Begbie Brewing Company in beautiful Revelstoke, BC.

IBU of 40 and enough bits of coriander, chamomile, orange & lemon peel to make it not just cloudy, but literally have floaties! All signs point to disaster.
I find I can enjoy IBU up to about 30 and some rare exceptions where the higher number is somehow balanced by something else that isn't also objectionable.
This isn't that, but it was still surprisingly OK. I had no trouble drinking it. It's not overly bitter and not a lemon peel mess, so that was nice.
Mt. Begbie makes so many excellent beers, so props to them.
This ain't for me, but still a great chance to try something out of your comfort zone over the holidays.

[ThePenIsMightier]

DAY 6: GAHAN BLUEBERRY ALE
From Prince Edward Island Brewing Company

Will update later as I got a hot date.
Fruits and berries in beer is for girls, so I guess I gotta find myself saying "who wants to pound my vag?!!!?"
because this shit is good, as is virtually EVERYTHING from PEI Brewing. I wish we could get Beach Chair here.
More later...

Edit Update: This is quite wonderful. Like their label says, it's not afraid to be a beer. It somehow tastes like zero alcohol but it's still 4.5% and it's the only blueberry product I've ever consumed that doesn't make your burps smell like gangrene anus wrinkle, so that's a plus.

[ThePenIsMightier]

DAY 7: BIG RIG GOLD LAGERED ALE
From Kanata, Ontario.

Second one from Big Rig within the first week seems odd. It's plenty good but a little too plain and a little too much wheat flavour. I'm getting a little nervous that nearly everything from the first week has been fairly neutral and approachable. I don't want 75% of the rest to be concentrated hop juice from a spittoon.



*I updated the blueberry one from the previous day and sorry I'm late with this one!

[thinmyster]

Enjoying this. Keep it up.

[ThePenIsMightier]

DAY 8: TORQUE BLONDE
From Torque Brewing Company in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

One third through, already! It's making me nervous how quickly the time is passing. Thanks again for the nice comments and Rep but always feel free to say I'm full of shit if you think I've missed the mark on something.

Today's beer is one of the most ideal candidates I've ever come across to get someone off of the typical Molson/Labatt/Coors train and step into micro brewed beer. The worst thing you can do is hand someone an Electric Unicorn stinky, cloudy, hop bomb trying to get that Old Milwaukee out of their hand. All that does is teach them "I don't like micro brew" when they totally could have gotten into it with a better first step.
So, in a way, that's a compliment to Torque Blonde but in another way, it also means it's just a bit bland. Extremely safe and that's great - it's just not a treat.

Once again, I've never seen a product from this brewery out here, so I'm super grateful for the opportunity. I don't think I'd buy this unless, like I said, I was trying to create a new convert or just wanted something that's a safe bet for a party or camping.


I'm still getting nervous the I'm staring down a solid week of Bock at some point because there has been so much Lager, but we'll see... I've even stuck tomorrow's in the fridge already and it's a freaking light beer!

[ThePenIsMightier]

DAY 9: LIGHT PILSNER
From Goat Locker Brewing Co. in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Another easy drinking lager-esque beer! This thing is crazy! I wasn't looking forward to this, but I gotta keep an open mind and it was easy once I cracked this open.

Have you ever been to Vegas and started most of your days off with a heavy-double vodka soda before a trainwreck day of day-drinking debauchery where at some point your mouth starts to feel dry and you become concerned you're going to get kicked out of Gilley's because you fall back into your chair when you try to get up to go to the can and getting kicked out of Gilley's would be a pretty fuckin low point in your life and really put a damper on the ol vacay?
Me neither... Just asking for a friend.
So... What do you do? You get your shit together and reach for a "soberin-up-beer" aka: Bud Light because they're as available as tap water in 'Murica and even though they're shitty, if you've been drinking all day in hot weather and it ain't exactly the first time you've done this, that American Canoe Screw will hydrate you and dial you a notch back before you... Well, get kicked out of Gilley's because honestly, WtF were you even doing there in the first place!

Goat Locker Light Pilsner is exactly what you'd want to be reaching for instead of that shitty Bud Light. Fresh, tasty, crisp, and not a foamy mess. Some slight hint of citrus that's gentle and appropriate and you can absolutely slam this thing down if you need to on a screaming hot day.
The slightest touch of sediment in the bottom was surprising, but not off-putting.
If I was ever having a hankering for a 3.5% light beer (and I nearly never am) this would be my go-to. This should be a gold mine for the dieter's beer market. I think it's the best light beer I've ever had, so that was a nice surprise.