Beer Advent Calendar 2016 - On your marks.

Greetings.

I've stocked up on the beers for this years calendar.  Plenty of new one's in the mix, though I've tried not to go for too many strong beers or American IPA.

I'm not sure how I'll score this year, or what I'll write.  I've been doing this for so many years and the standard of drinks has improved measurably, it's difficult to find something that I wouldn't give a reasonable grade to.

I think I'll go for something broad, but not too harsh.  Like if I was Eurogamer and I was reviewing beer.

I'll go with

• Damn tasty.
• Pretty damn tasty.
• It's beer.
• Not really tasty.
• Ew.

If I give something an "It's beer", that doesn't mean it's bad, or even average. It means I enjoyed it.  The 2 grades above are for beers that deserve a better grade, or are remarkably tasty.

I'm away on holiday from November 26th until December 4th, so I'll have the terrible responsibility of consuming four beers, and writing four blogs - whilst having not slept for...umm...

Get up 8am (EST)
Take off 8pm (EST)
Land at 6am (GMT)
Home at 1pm (GMT)

...however many hours that is.  Too many hours!

I'm sure it'll be fun, anyway.

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 24th

And here we are.  All over.  I think next year I need to find a better method for delivering my thoughts on the beers, since my heart wasn't really in writing, this time.  There was just too much excellent beer this year.  Woe is me.

Brewdog -  Candy Kaiser
I think Candy Kaiser is a victim of Brewdog's occasional fervour* when it comes to describing their beers.
Pours nicely, just the right amount of head and a good malty aroma.  It's really smooth and tremendously drinkable, however I get the impression that the malts might be too much were any considerable volume consumed.  Like walking around Cardiff and constantly taking large breathes through the nose when Brains are brewing.
A little sweet.

6/10


*"When this alt hits your palate, the steely bitterness combines with the rich dry malt and the subtle alcohol warmth in a full throttle attack on your taste buds." 

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 23rd

Bad Seed - Espresso Stout
Final stout of the calendar!

This is quite a nice stout, but this bottle at least - was lacking some typical characteristics.  The head was non-existent, even after a very aggressive pour I couldn't get one going.
The smell of coffee is really nice, not hampered by the fact it was in a beer.  Fresh.
Tastes OK, lives on the dark side of stout.  A little carbonation.

It's alright.

5/10

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 22nd

Ahhhhh a disappointing beer.  It was about time! :-)

Brewdog - Hello my name is holy moose
This is a bit of a mash-up beer, a combination of all the "Hello my name is [...]" beers.  Not as enjoyable as any of it's brethren.

It looks nice, might be one of the reason it tastes a little disappointing!
Strange mixture of bitterness, citrus, fruits, sourness, and butter...?  Nice carbonation and mouth feel though.

Really not very enjoyable.

4/10

I am aware I have been a day behind all week.  I'm a lazy bastard.

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 21st

Pressure Drop - Strictly Roots
Interesting beer this one, sadly not as exciting as I wanted it to be!
Nice and soft, very...woody (paper?) earthy note in the flavour which was nice.  A little bitter, plenty of roasted flavours.

Meh!

6/10

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 20th

Highly anticipated beer today (yesterday...sorry I'm getting lazy).

Brooklyn - Sorachi Ace
This beer sounded interesting when I picked it up, a farmhouse ale, with Belgian yeast and a cultured Japanese hop (sorachi).
Pours clear, no head to speak of.  For an unfiltered beer I wasn't expecting it to be so clear.
Smells fresh and light, nice lemon twang with a surprising amount of floral smells coming through.
The taste matches the smell, except for the addition of the malt flavour which takes the lead before the floral flavours kick in. It actually reminded me of Golden Glory for a moment.

Just when I thought the stouts were running away with it this year!

10/10

Beer Advent Calendar 2015 - December 19th

Another day, another delicious stout. As the saying goes...

Brewdog - Black Eyed King Imp (Vietnamese coffee edition)
Next year I'm going to have to deliberately buy crap looking beer, because I can hardly think of anything to write about all these delicious ones...

Oily black pour (not unlike black Albert) with a huge coffee aroma, little bit of chocolate sweetness, little bit of liquorice.  Long roasted chocolate flavour with a little bit of a whisky tinge.

10/10