Costco Brewer's Advent Calendar (2020)

Wife did for me last year drank about half before I quit super tinny n oxidized but some people loved them...good luck

 

You think there is a reasonable likelihood that we are actually going to make it to 2021?

 

This would be the first year I would actually be on board, but I'm still not going to stores and I can't instacart it. Too bad cause 2020 is the year of "Fuck it. I'll drink that."

 

still not going to stores?! That’s rough.

 

That made me laugh... when I read your reference to doing "research" I assumed that meant you were starting to drink the contents early. The thought never occurred to me that you were really going to look at BA ratings as "research" on the quality of the contents.

 

That looks to be a much better selection than what I got 2 years ago. Last time, 10 beers were all from the same brewery.

 

My wife gave this to me last year. No beers were outstanding, but most were enjoyable.

 

I don't know. I'm kind of loving having everything just show up at my house. Grocery delivery is awesome.

 

Frankly, considering their buying power and the excellent job they do with wine, Costco could have done a much better job with beer.

 

~ half of those beers were in last year's Costco box (indicated by bold).

My average rating for the 20 beers I had (I bought the box off of a friend after he had consumed 4 of the beers) was 3.47, ranging from a low of 2.55 to a high of 4.21, with most being in the 3.5 to 3.8 range.

But, I got the remaining 20 beers in the box in late February (as I recall) so they all had a bit of age on them, especially the last few since I spread them out over the next few months (!?!).

 

Now THIS is extra credit research! Well done!

 

Probably not
See mummy revealed as Egyptian coffin is opened for first time in 2,500 years

 

Are you saying we are cursed?

 

Yeah, pretty much

 

My rating of 2019 was an A- for selection.
2020 was relatively disappointing, currently a C+ based on selection.
Why the rapid drop ?
2019 hit my sweet-spot. My beer strategy is to try as many different brewers as possible. From the 2019 case, I believe I had 18 brewers new to me, or 75% of the 24 beers. The other beers, made inexpensive Christmas gifts to my nephews. Fine. Mission Accomplished. A great find indeed, since I'd only been to Bavaria once and only for two days. It pays to find locals who can find micros for you.

So, I eagerly anticipated Kalea's 2020 Calendar. But, it turns out to be less curated than I thought. This year, there are only five new brewers, or 20.8% of the case. Another 6 beers were brews I had not tried, but were repeats of brewers from 2019. And 13 beers -- over half -- were repeats from last year. While a few may be worth repeating, I probably won't as I try to save my allowable calories for new brewers (or saisons.) But even as gifts to my nephews, Kalea's Calendar is still a good value. It also is great marketing to spread the mission of Bavarian beer.

Bottom-line: if you want to maximize new brewers for every Advent Calendar that you buy, then buy one every three years.

 

My loving sister bought me one in 2018 and the beers were not good. Most were very can-bound and nearly undrinkable, as I recall.

I was just at her house (600 miles away) so she gave me a 2020 (and one for my son) to take back. We will not wait until December to start - they are probably over the hill enough already. Sitting in her garage for weeks can't have helped. Advent will start before Halloween this year.

I've seen some others out there (including BREWDOG!!) but I get a Costco from my sis.

With gifts it's the thought that counts! I'm an atheist anyway!

 

I'm trying to drink through these before they go bad, spoiling the fun of an Advent calendar. I had a great idea (as I cracked open the third of these).

I can reenact Bad Santa by refilling the calendar with whatever brews we like and throw in a Pepsi or a Bud Light because "they can't all be winners, kid."

 

Kind of late entry to this discussion - I might be the only person who opened their beer calendar on December 1st.... Anyways, I thought it's a nice start, liked the Flötzinger a lot. The breweries and beers appear to be legit. There used to be beer calendars out there where the majority of the "craft" beers were from made-up, obscure breweries, produced and canned all in the same place. This here seems legit. Not the most creative assortment, but I enjoy the fact that I get a beer every day that I could not buy anywhere else stateside. When I go to Germany over the holidays, I will most likely enjoy many beers superior to what's in the beer calendar, but all things considered I think my wife gave me a nice gift.

Prost!

 

I’m doing this in order. On beer 16 right now. Not bad not great. A couple have had that metal taste and a couple were pretty floral, but overall a fun purchase.

 

I was super excited to get this collection of 24 beers. Played the game and waited until Dec 1, yum pretty good beer. Dec 2, another pretty good although very similar beer. Dec 3, the same experience. By Dec 6, I’m feeling like I’m rotating through the same handful of very similar, mediocre beers. This might be harsh, be it’s like going from a Bud, to a Coors, to a Miller. Over all the selection was very boring. I won’t be doing it again.

 

I just had a great idea! Beer Advocate should do a beer advent calendar highlighting unique beers from across the country!

 

My suggestion would be to take them out of order to mix things up.

I didn't get this year's box, but a friend bought last year's, consumed 4, and then for health reasons, sold the remainder to me.

So, that left me with 20 beers.

Of those, I rated 1 as outstanding, 5 as very good, 6 as good, 3 as enjoyable. Leaving 5 as less than enjoyable. IDK how many are repeats year over year, but I know some are.

These are the ones I rated very good to outstanding (the top of the list is the outstanding one):

Ladenburger Weizenbock Hell
Kress Bayrisch Zwickel
Käuzle Helles Lager
Kartäuser Doppelbock Dunkel
Schlossbrauerei Rheder Original Pils
Hallertauer Hopfen-Cuvee

The ones that were below enjoyable were:

Bürgerliches Brauhaus Altbairisch Hell
Herrnbräu Jubiläums-Sud
Egerer Perlenzauber
Egerer Bären Weisse
Zwönitzer Rauchbier

YMMV, of course.

 

I'm sure it's 3x the price as the Costco one, but my wife gets me an advent box from Craft Beer Cellar every year. They always do a fantastic job, with a great variety of quality beers.

 

Where does she get that from?

 

I bought the pack last year and it was kind of average in terms of most of these beers are on par with typical German grocery store beers and qualify as a beer which doesnt blast you with flavor.