2019 Advent Calendar – beers 7 – 12
This is the second beer review posting in our 2019 Brewer’s Advent Calendar series of posts. The first 6 beers can be found here, and the overall Series is linked on the 2019 Brewer’s Advent Calendar Post.
Well I made a bit of a snafu on the first post about the advent calendar. As we discussed a bit in out Winter Warlock Birthday Box Video post, if we go with a week of beers, then we’ll end up with three posts with 7 beers each, and then one post with just 3. Being the more sensible of the two of us, Jesse pointed out that we should feature 6 beers at a time, this way we get 4 posts with a nice even number each.
I’ve enjoyed all of the beers in this batch, but I have to say that they kind of blend together. They are so similar, but really a pleasure to drink. Maybe it’s my American Palate coming out, wanting to be shocked a bit more, have a little more contrast in the selections?
[Jesse] I have to agree with Mike about how these beers are beginning to blur together. There’s not been too much variety. Malt forward beer with low hop flavor most of the days. Granted there is some dunkel vs. helles and wheat vs. pilsner variation, but nothing really outside the box. Don’t misunderstand me, all of the beers have exceeded my expectations in terms of quality. These are some fantastic beers.
But, I get the impression that, apart from the wheat beers obviously, these beers adhere to The Reinheitsgebot, so the creativity of the brewer is likely pretty limited, so the similarity is understandable. I think there are some rauchbiers and other oddities coming up in the next week or so, I’m looking forward to those.
Beer: Perlenzauber
Brewer: Privatbrauerei H. Egerer
Style: International Pale Ale
This was most absolutely the raciest can of the group so far 🙂
It had a nice orange hop aroma and flavor to it, much closer aligned to the pale ales that I’m used to, but not over hopped like many are. The balance was slightly bitter.
Beer: Weizenbock Hell
Brewer: Brauerei Ladenburger
Style: Weizenbock
Nice hazy yellow / gold appearance, lovely head on it. It had a fruity aroma and slight banana flavor. Very tasty.
[Jesse] I had to look this style up and it seems to be basically a hefeweizen, but maltier. That would explain the banana that Mike (and I) picked up. I quite liked this one.
Beer: Bürgerliches Brauhaus Altbairisch Hell
Brewer: Herrnbräu
Style: Helles
Clear and pale, it has a really delicate grain flavor, and nice crisp bitterness. Still pretty balanced.
[Jesse] I found this one to be pretty malty with a sweet finish.
Beer: Märzenbier
Brewer: Privatbrauerei Hösl
Style: Märzen
Malty and slightly sweet. Much lighter than most Marzens I’m used to. Moderatly dry finish, not cloying. Very balanced. I’m going to have to try and get closer to this with my own Marzens, it was really delicious.
[Jesse] This is what I have in mind when I think of a Märzen. Quite malty with a dry finish. One of my favorites of the calendar so far.
Beer: Grandl
Brewer: Ankerbräu Nördlingen
Style: Helles
Light an brilliantly clear. It was very tasty, but I have to admit, I didn’t get a whole lot more to comment on. I would be glad to drink it some more to research further.
Beer: Graminger Kirta
Brewer: Graminger Weissbräu
Style: Dunkelweizen
Light malt flavor, pretty light beer overall. Interesting images on the can for sure.
[Jesse] A dunkel weissbier (dunkelweizen), or dark wheat beer. This had a slight banana flavor that was mellowed by the sweetness of the malt. I picked up some hop bitterness at the finish as well. I could see myself becoming a fan of these.
