• About

Beer Rants and Books

~ Drinking beer and reading books

Beer Rants and Books

Monthly Archives: December 2020

KALEA Brewery’s Advent Calendar Part Two: Days 7 – 12

14 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by mrericness in Beer Reviews

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Advent Calendar, Austria, Beer, Beer Review, Germany, Holidays, Winter

Happy Monday folks!  Time to take a look back at the past week and see what beers my KALEA Advent Calendar had to offer.

Day Seven: Schloßbrauerei Rheder – Jubiläumsbier 333 (Rheder, Germany)

Style: Marzen

ABV: 5.3%

Overall: It poured true to style with a clear copper body beneath a bubbly, off-white head.  It had a smooth, full body featuring doughy malt and a slightly resinous sweetness at the edges.  I found it to be a very fine brew, though not necessarily one to get particularly excited about.

Day Eight: Hehenthanner Schlossbrauerei – Tannen Hell (Hohenthann, Germany)

Style: Helles

ABV: 5.0%

Overall: It arrived in my glass with a clear yellow body with lots of lively carbonation feeding a thick foam head.  The beer had a bubbly, light body and a finish that was perhaps a bit grainy.  Not my favorite beer in the set.

Day Nine: Privatbrauerei H. Egerer – Perlenzauber (Grobkollnbach, Germany)

Style: German Pale Ale

ABV: 5.4%

Overall: Pouring to a light copper body topped by a thin foam lacing, this was somewhat similar to a lightly hopped version of some of the helles style beers encountered on previous days.  A solid brew, I enjoyed this one.

Day Ten: Herrnbrau – Festbier (Ingolstadt, Germany)

Style: Marzen

ABV: 5.5%

Overall: I was initially somewhat skeptical about whether I needed a second marzen this week, but then this beer went out and impressed me!  It poured to a clean light copper body with a creamy, slightly off-white foam head.  The tastes were smooth and subtle, with a pleasing blend of bready malt and caramel sweetness.  I really enjoyed this in ways that I was not expecting to, hopefully I can find some of these in my area next fall.

Day Eleven: Ankerbrau Nordlingen – Grandl (Nordlingen, Germany)

Style: Helles

ABV: 5.0%

Overall: Similar in appearance to all the other helles brews reviewed thus far, it had a grainy/slightly yeasty finish that wasn’t for me.  Moving on,

Day Twelve: Privatbrauerei Loncium – Vienna Style Lager (Kotschach-Mauthen, Austria)

Style: Vienna Lager

ABV: 5.5%

Overall: It poured to a yellowish-copper/amber body and featured a nice hint of hops around the edges.  It was a good beer, but I’m definitely ready for something a bit different at this point.

And there you have it.  I would still rate the experience as so far so good, though I do wish the collection of brews so far was a bit more diverse.  Personal preferences aside, the beers have all been solid but unfortunately very similar.  I think the occasional heavier dark brew (thinking something along the lines of a bock, dunkelweizen, or stout) would increase the excitement level a bit and give the collection a more seasonal feeling.  See you again next Monday to find out if my holiday wish gets fulfilled.

Cheers!

Advertisement

KALEA Brewer’s Advent Calendar Part One: Days 1 – 6

07 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by mrericness in Beer Reviews

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Advent Calendar, Beer, Beer Review, Brauerei Zwonitz, Flotzinger Brau, Furst Carl Schlossbrauerei, Germany, Graminger Weissbrau, Kaizen-Brau, Propeller Bier

It’s hard to believe, but December is here and 2020 is heading into the final stretch.  To help me get through this socially distanced holiday season, my wife surprised me with the Brewer’s Advent Calendar from Costco featuring 24 cans of beer from small brewers in Germany and Austria.  I honestly have no clue what to expect from this, but it does seem like a fun way to get back into posting!  Here’s a look at what the first six days had to offer.

Day One: Flotzinger Brau – Hell (Rosenheim, Germany)

Style: Helles

ABV: 5.2%

Overall: Well, the name certainly felt like an appropriate way to begin the 2020 holiday season!  This brew poured to a clear, yellowish body with lots of lively bubbles running up the glass to feed a thin layer of foam across the top.  Tastewise it was crisp and refreshing, with a nice light sweetness sitting atop clean pale malts.  This was a nice, easy drinking brew to start the month’s journey with.

Day Two: Furst Carl Schlossbrauerei – Kellerbier (Ellingen, Germany)

Style: Kellerbier

ABV: 5.1%

Overall: It poured to an amber tinted yellow body topped by a thin layer of white foam.  As with the previous offering, this one featured some nice pale malt sweetness, but more subtle overall with hints of caramel mixed in with an earthy graininess.  The body was light with slightly above average carbonation.  Another nice, refreshing beer at the end of a long day.

Day Three: Kaizen-Brau – Kauzle (Ochsenfurt, Germany)

Style: Pilsner

ABV: 4.8%

Overall: It was a clean, crisp, and slightly sweet pilsner.  I don’t have a lot to say about this one, but it delivered what you’d want for the style.

Day Four: Brauerei Zwonitz – Zwonitzer Steinbier (Zwonitz, Germany)

Style: Steinbier

ABV: 5.6%

Overall: I’ll admit that this is a style that I do not recall having come across before.  Apparently translating to stone beer, this style is brewed without the use of metal kettles and is instead mashed in wooden tubs with hot stones used to raise temperatures.  As for this particular beverage, it had a light brownish/amber body topped by wisps of beige foam.  It had a light sweetness upfront followed by underlying notes of roasted and smoked malts.  I’m generally not a fan of smoked beers, but this one had a subtlety that made it way more approachable than most.  This one really intrigued me and I’m happy I had the chance to try something different that what I usually come across.

Day Five: Graminger Weissbrau – Kirta (Alotting, Germany)

Style: Dunkelweizen

ABV: 5.6%

Overall: This one poured to a medium brown body with a determined and persistent off-white head.  It featured some grainy, chocolatey malts upfront, some slight notes of spicy hops in the middle, and a malty finish highlighted by hints of dark fruit.  While one or two sips seemed a bit uneven in terms of blending flavors, on the whole I really enjoyed this one.

Day Six: Propeller Bier – Turbo Prop (Bad Laasphe, Germany)

Style: Imperial Pilsner

ABV: 6.5%

Overall: It poured a dark yellow/amber with some white foam lacing across the top.  The taste was a somewhat surprising blend of sticky sweet hops bitterness, caramel malts, and notes of honey.  Its smooth, creamy finish was immensely satisfying.  I’m not entirely sure this is properly a pilsner, but it is my favorite beer of the box thus far.  Wishing I had a bunch more of these!

And that concludes the first six days of my advent calendar beer adventure.  At this point I will rate the experience as so far, so good.  While most of the brews haven’t been particularly flashy by stereotypical American craft beer standards, they have all been solid and enjoyable.  I’ve even learned something along the way!  I’ll be back next week to let you know how the next six go.  Cheers!

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • October 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014

Categories

  • Baseball
  • Beer Reviews
    • Beer Festival
    • Brewery Visit
    • Oktoberfest 2015
    • Pumpkin Beer Tasting 2015
    • Summer Session 2016
  • Book Reviews
    • Fantasy
    • Fiction
    • Historical Fiction
    • Horror
    • Non-Fiction
    • Sci-Fi
  • Book Tags
  • Challenges
    • 13 Days of Halloween
    • 30 Day Geek Out Challenge
  • Music Monday
  • Random Tag Tuesday
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Beer Rants and Books
    • Join 246 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Beer Rants and Books
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...