December 14th and this is what was in my two X-mas calendars:

🎄The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar🎄

Awful Gato by Mikkeller San Diego – Coffee, a bit of vanilla, some sweetness and a tiny hint of citrus in the nose. Taste is full-blown coffee at first followed by vanilla and chocolate flavors. Bitterness sneaks up just before you take the next sip. Between every sip, this beer makes you mouth water flow. This is a super easy drinking beer. It’s definitely one of the best brown ales I have had in a very long time.

🎄My wife’s homemade X-mas calendar🎄

Brewer’s Reserve Vanilla Bean Stout by Central Waters Brewing Company – Evident bourbon barrel and some vanilla hit the nose followed by a faint note of dark chocolate. Flavors of coconut are dominant at first followed by evident bourbon and quite a lot of vanilla without overpowering anything else. Somewhere in between all this is a bit of oak and a tasty mix of faint chocolate and licorice. This is really a sipper that changes as the temperature of the beer is rising. This is a super tasty beer!

Yesterday’s beers were black. Today’s beers are brown and black. I think it fits the season quite well. Coffee and vanilla seem to be the keywords today, but then bourbon enters the stage and takes over completely. Brewer’s Reserve Vanilla Bean Stout really is a treat. If you like imperial stouts aged in bourbon barrels this is a beer you need to find. The balance between bourbon barrel and vanilla is superb. This is a beer that makes me wanna buy some more to store for the future. Both beers today are way above average and if you really force me to choose I have to go with Brewer’s Reserve Vanilla Bean Stout by Central Waters Brewing Company since is just absolutely amazing. 

All through December, I’m opening my two X-mas beer calendars. The two calendars are The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar and my wife’s homemade X-mas calendar.

See you tomorrow!

December 13th and this is what was in my two X-mas calendars:

🎄The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar🎄

Milk Stout by Mikkeller – Aroma of coffee and sweetness is what hits the nose at first followed by a smoky note. Bitter coffee and quite a lot of sweetness is dominant in taste followed by that good old smooth stout feeling that you probably know? This is just a well-executed stout and that evident coffee taste is apparently from roasted malt – no added coffee.

🎄My wife’s homemade X-mas calendar🎄

Double Negative by Grimm Artisan Ales – Espresso and chocolate are dominant aromas followed by a bit of black currant. Mouthfeel instantly is extremely creamy and smooth and gives way to coffee and chocolate flavors followed by a tasty lingering bitterness and nice notes of roasted malt. By the way, the tan head falls very slowly to a lingering lacing that stays all the way to the bottom of the glass. This is a very tasty imperial stout!

Friday the 13th and only black beers! Today it’s not a bad omen, but just about as tasty as Friday can be! Both stouts are tasty beers and it’s nice to have a milk stout that’s just plain and simple, but nonetheless, a great representation of the style such as the Mikkeller one is. Double Negative by Grimm Artisan Ales is just the better beer today! It’s a downright delicious beer that’s insanely smooth and with a coffee flavor that’s balanced to something just shy of perfection. If I had to choose an imperial stout with coffee flavors to bring as my only beer on a deserted island Double Negative could easily be the one. Today’s beers are once again the proof that life is great!   

All through December, I’m opening my two X-mas beer calendars. The two calendars are The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar and my wife’s homemade X-mas calendar.

See you tomorrow!

December 12th and this is what was in my two X-mas calendars:

🎄The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar🎄

Beer Geek Fudgesicle by Mikkeller and Lervig – Loads of chocolate fudge in the nose with a tiny bit of roasted malt in the background. Taste is equally great flavors of chocolate fudge and a bit of butterscotch and some roasted malt. This beer is quite sweet, but still the feeling of liquid chocolate cake with lumps of chocolate fudge is very nice. This is like a liquid dessert.

🎄My wife’s homemade X-mas calendar🎄

Internationally Known by To Øl and Finback Brewery – Huge juicy grapefruit hop aroma. Taste is equally juicy with loads of citrus flavors from both Centennial cryo hops and from the Citra hops. Tropical fruit flavors also takes a place in this super tasty hop-loaded double IPA. Mouthfeel is extremely smooth and bitterness is just about right. This is yet another double IPA as I like them – not too sweet and with a fair amount of bitterness. Another killer DIPA!

Today I feel incredibly lucky once again. Both beers are amazing and boy am I lucky that have these two great X-mas calendars. Internationally Known is another super nice DIPA that just make you wanna have one more sip as quickly as possible. The juice-factor in this beer is extremely high and makes all my thoughts about overly sweet DIPAs disappear in an instant. Beer Geek Fudgesicle on the other hand is extremely sweet, but it fits this beer very well. The feeling of drinking liquid chocolate fudge is very evident. This is a very well made pastry stout and actually it’s not too sweet. It’s just downright tasty.  

All through December, I’m opening my two X-mas beer calendars. The two calendars are The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar and my wife’s homemade X-mas calendar.

See you tomorrow!

December 11th and this is what was in my two X-mas calendars:

🎄The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar🎄

K:rlek Höst/vinter (2019) by Mikkeller – Nelson hops are very evident in the nose paired with different kinds of fruit. Tropical, floral and hoppy flavors are center stage in taste on top of a quite crisp, but still juicy and smooth pale ale. This beer has enough bitterness to stand out in the modern crowd of very sweet New England pale ales. Nice change of pace.

🎄My wife’s homemade X-mas calendar🎄

Confirmation Bias by Cloudwater Brew Co. – Fruity, tropical and floral notes tickles the nose with a bit of malt sweetness as a sidedish. Taste is very juicy fruits in a nicely balanced double IPA. Mouthfeel is soft and smooth with enough bitterness to make this beer almost dangerously easy-drinking. This is a killer DIPA!

Today’s beers are all about hops. Both beers are loaded with nice fruity hops. K:rlek Höst/vinter (2019) has the bitterness to make it a welcome change from sticky and sweet X-mas beers. Confirmation Bias is a double IPA as I like them. Great hop flavors on a wall of malt and smoothness that’s not overwhelmingly sweet. It a very balanced DIPA without that boozy or cloyingly sweet feeling that sometimes make me regret that I opened another DIPA. As you probably know by now I like my hoppy beers with enough bitterness to make them shy a bit away from being pure juice.

All through December, I’m opening my two X-mas beer calendars. The two calendars are The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar and my wife’s homemade X-mas calendar.

See you tomorrow!

December 10th and this is what was in my two X-mas calendars:

🎄The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar🎄

Owls In The Marshes/Ugler I Mosen by Mikkeller – Nice fruity hop aroma with hints of pithy citrus and a bit of sweetness. Taste is a very citrus forward crisp, dry and quite bitter pale ale. This is a nice standard pale ale. It’s not bad at all, but it’s not something extraordinary either.

🎄My wife’s homemade X-mas calendar🎄

GRYLA by Cervisiam – Coffee and a smoky note is dominant in the nose with a bit of vanilla and a slight hint of pecan and maple in the background. The first sip is oily thick and sweet with flavors of coffee and vanilla. On the following sips pecan and maple pairs well with the coffee-vanilla mix. This is a very sweet pastry stout, but loads of adjuncts bring some bitterness that is balancing the sweetness well. This is a beer with very distinct flavors, but still a tasty beer.

I like a good pale ale and I like a good imperial/pastry stout equally much, but today I have to go with the stout. GRYLA is a solid pastry stout that actually is sweet and thick enough to mimic a piece of pastry. GRYLA is not the best pastry stout I have had but it does what it’s supposed to do – showcase the adjuncts. The pale ale – Owls In The Marshes/Ugler I Mosen – is a quite bitter pale ale, like the once from yesteryear. To me it lacks some juiciness to play against the quite firm bitterness – I like bitterness in beers, but this one is maybe a bit too one-dimensional.

All through December, I’m opening my two X-mas beer calendars. The two calendars are The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar and my wife’s homemade X-mas calendar.

See you tomorrow!

December 9th and this is what was in my two X-mas calendars:

🎄The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar🎄

Beer Geek Breakfast (2019) by Mikkeller – This is a Mikkeller classic! Aroma is loads of coffee, some caramelized sugar and a bit of soya sauce. On the palate, it’s full-blown coffee that’s nicely balanced with a fair amount bitterness, some sweetness and a bit of licorice. All of this is backed up by a very well-executed imperial stout. No surprise this is a Mikkeller classic!

🎄My wife’s homemade X-mas calendar🎄

Carolyn (Vintage 2017) by Penyllan – Aroma is wine, Brettanomyces, some fruity citrus, a bit of bread and something like wet iron…? Taste is in-your-face acidity followed by a nice wine-like flavor with apricots, orange blossom honey and something like orange pith. Mouthfeel is light and crisp with a lot of bubbles. This is yet another very tasty beer from Jessica (brewer and master blender at Penyllan) and the island of Bornholm.

Once again the beers from Penyllan amazes me with their complexity and very harmonic flavors from the barrel aging and being blended to something just short of perfection. Jessica sure knows what she is doing and boy am I happy that I have been able to taste that many of the tasty beers from her hands. The Beer Geek Breakfast by Mikkeller is so much a defining beer for that brewery. It’s one of the beers that made them what they are today. The barrel-aged versions and the one with Vietnamese coffee are extremely tasty beers, but this one is also a very nice one. Coffee and stout in an almost holy union. If I’m forced to choose between the two beers Carolyn is the winner. It’s a fantastic blend of golden ale and red wine flavors – the 18 months in the red wine barrels has done magic to this beer. 

All through December, I’m opening my two X-mas beer calendars. The two calendars are The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar and my wife’s homemade X-mas calendar.

See you tomorrow!

December 6th and this is what was in my two X-mas calendars:

🎄The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar🎄

Beer Geek Vanilla Maple Shake by Mikkeller and Lervig – Kind of aggressive maple hits the nose and is mixed with a bit of dark chocolate and a tiny hint of vanilla. Taste is intense maple on top of vanilla, coffee and a tasty smooth imperial stout with a creamy mouthfeel that almost reminds me of milk-foam on a cappuccino. This is a seriously nice beer!

🎄My wife’s homemade X-mas calendar🎄

8th Anniversary Pecan Cookie Stout By Westbrook Brewing Co. – This is a crazy beer from the moment it hits the glass. Aroma is cookies all the way with slightly burnt sugar, pecan, and chocolate. Taste is equally amazing! Chocolate chip cookies with roasted pecans is the first thing that springs to mind. This beer is sufficiently thick and oily without being too much or turning cloyingly sweet. Every adjunct is nicely balanced and makes this beer a pure joy to drink!

It seems that both calendars continue to hit the same beer styles on the same day. Today as well as the other days it’s no pitty. Both beers today are amazing and if I’m forced to choose one over the other I think it must be 8th Anniversary Pecan Cookie Stout. It’s just a tiny bit more smooth and maybe also a tad more balanced than Beer Geek Vanilla Maple Shake. Going to a deserted island and only being able to bring a lifetime supply of stout both would be acceptable choices. Today is the day of Saint Niclas (Santa Claus) and these two beers seem appropriate to celebrate this day.

All through December, I’m opening my two X-mas beer calendars. The two calendars are The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar and my wife’s homemade X-mas calendar.

See you tomorrow!

December 5th and this is what was in my two X-mas calendars:

🎄The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar🎄
Organic German Pilsner by Mikkeller – Aroma is bready with a bit of floral hops as expected in a German pilsner. Taste too is what you would expect in a well-executed German pilsner being clean and crisp with a firm bitterness and light floral hops. This beer is what it is supposed to be. A well-brewed lager with evident bitterness. I’m a fan!

🎄My wife’s homemade X-mas calendar🎄
55|Double IPA – Mosaic & Citra by Brew By Numbers – Wow! Hop aroma is instant when the can is opened. Huge Citra and Mosaic punch in the nose – this is what an IPA should smell like! Taste is loads of tropical, stone and citrus fruits with a bit of pine. Mouthfeel is smooth and bitterness a bit above average for hazy double IPAs which makes this a super tasty beer.

Two very different beers today and that makes for a tough choice. Organic German Pilsner is great for the style but it never becomes super exciting. 55|Double IPA – Mosaic & Citra, on the other hand, is a super exciting DIPA. The mix of Citra and Mosaic hops seems to be great no matter what you do to it. This beer packs so much aroma and flavor that it’s enough for a full year’s production of boring macro lagers in Denmark. To be true the Organic German Pilsner doesn’t stand a chance against 55|Double IPA – Mosaic & Citra. It’s a clear (but hazy…) winner today, but don’t be mistaken, Organic German Pilsner is a very nice beer.

All through December, I’m opening my two X-mas beer calendars. The two calendars are The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar and my wife’s homemade X-mas calendar.

See you tomorrow!

December 4th and this is what was in my two X-mas calendars:

🎄The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar🎄
Hallo Ich Bin Berliner Weisse Raspberry by Mikkeller
Very evident and kind of sweet raspberries in the nose. It almost smells like sweet raspberry jam. Taste is equally loaded with raspberries and has a nice yoghurt-like acidity to it. This is a super crushable fruited berliner weisse, but to my taste it would have been even better with a mouthfeel that was a bit lighter. Still a tasty beer though.

🎄My wife’s homemade X-mas calendar🎄
North X Northern Bloc – Sorbet Sour by North Brewing Co. – Heavy raspberry and rhubarb aroma. This smells insanely nice! Taste is raspberry and rhubarb galore with a very nicely balanced acidity t back it up. I definitely get that sour sorbet feeling. This is a really tasty and highly drinkable fruited sour. The fruited sours from North Brewing Co. just never let you down!

Today was really close both of these fruited sour beers were very tasty. The North X Northern Bloc – Sorbet Sour from North Brewing Co. was maybe a bit better than the other, but a very close call. The feeling of raspberries and rhubarb was just crazy. With beers of this quality it’s not needed to choose one over the other. It’s just to sit back and enjoy both of them.

All through December, I’m opening my two X-mas beer calendars. The two calendars are The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar and my wife’s homemade X-mas calendar.

See you tomorrow!

December 3rd and this is what was in my two X-mas calendars:

🎄The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar🎄
Henry & Irma Hazy Session IPA by Mikkeller
Initial fruity hops in the nose paired with some bread/wheat. Being a 3.5% ABV hazy session IPA the mouthfeel is a bit thin as I would expect it to be. The flavor is citrus/grapefruit hops, a bit of bread and a rather present bitterness. This is a quite nice session IPA.

🎄My wife’s homemade X-mas calendar🎄
Deep Space Xmas Party by Põhjala (and Kihoskh) – Imperial chocolate porter with a clear coffee aroma on top of some milk chocolate and rye bread. Taste evident coffee, milk chocolate from the cocoa nibs, vanilla beans lend some sweetness and oak is just there to stay until the end. This is a quite nice imperial chocolate porter.
Once again the Põhjala guys deliver a tasty black beer. I actually don’t think I have ever had a porter or stout from their hands that wasn’t tasty!

This was the first day with a clear difference in the level of the two beers. Don’t be mistaken that these are both well-executed beers, but to my taste, Deep Space Xmas Party is just way more interesting than Henry & Irma Hazy Session IPA. Session IPAs are often suffering from being thin and watery and in that light, it’s really no surprise that my favorite today is the Xmas coffee porter from Põhjala.

All through December, I’m opening my two X-mas beer calendars. The two calendars are The Great Mikkeller X-mas Calendar and my wife’s homemade X-mas calendar.

See you tomorrow!