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

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!

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

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!