Final Reflections on the 5th Annual Advent-ure Calendar

Thanks for following along during another Holiday Beer Advent-ure. We can’t believe this is our 5th year doing this! As always, we like to gather everyone’s final thoughts on the year’s calendar and share them with you. What did you think? Did we try any of your favorites? Do you have any suggestions for next year’s? Please share YOUR thoughts with us, we’d love to hear them!

Final Reflections

Beard & Broad
Beard: Scott said this multiple times this month: this might have been the best year yet in terms of quality beers on the calendar. Nothing really came across as skunky or oxidized or old. Stand outs for me were some of the classics: Anchor and Citra Noel. But, there were some impressive newcomers in S’more Gratitude from MadTree and Spencer Trappist Holiday Ale. The dark bois and hoppy bois were still my favorites, but even the spiced guys we had were pretty balanced and not overpowering. This time of year always reaffirms how lucky we are in Cleveland to have access to such good beers from around the country. Cheers to another great beer year!

Broad: Wow, what a lineup this year! This is one of my favorite blog events every single year. I love waiting for everyone’s response each night to see if they match up with ours! I’m so happy we had some of our favorites such as Holly Jolly and Citra Noel. I loved finding new favorites such as Spencer and MadTree S’mores. I’m also thrilled we ended on Anchor, it’s such a classic holiday beer. I would really not like to see Mad Elf or Moerlein back, as this was their second or third time. This also confirmed I enjoy a warm, dark holiday beer and like to throw in the occasional hoppy, light beer in the mix. My tastes are wide and just because it’s a certain season doesn’t mean I can drink one kind of beer. I like to keep things spicy!

Adam & Alex
Adam: I very much love doing this every year but as Alex and I have been involved since the start I notice that it takes a lot more to impress me. Perhaps it’s being friends with Ben and now I am a fancy boi but if I am not blown away by the balance of a holiday ale or surprised because of a new taste, I am instantly turned off or disappointed. A perfect example is Citra Noel most years as a different version of a holiday beer that we keep coming back from. The slender Trappist holiday ale takes the crown for the best new beer in my mind this year. I loved that Belgian champagne aspect of it. The Morlein was probably the worst but I am thinking it might’ve been an old can so I would try it again. It’s great to see all of our friends thoughts and then sass each other for those thoughts. Merry merry, everyone.

Alex: This years holiday drinking advent-ure was one of the better ones we have had in my opinion.  I feel like I tried a significant amount of beers I never have had before, and in doing so found some new favorites, like Spencer Trappist Holiday Ale.  I think my least favorite was probably the Mad Elf, but that isn’t news.  Merry Christmas!!!

Scott & Christa
Scott:  I vote this year as the best collection of delicious, new holiday beers we’ve experienced. There were so many new ones along this journey that I’ve never had and really hope to see again on future Advent-ures!  As we keep expanding the tasting group (welcome forever Heather and Brad) I get more excited to see everyone’s reactions, especially when they’re so different than my own experience.

Christa: I look forward to this every year and I’m so thankful for our friends to include us in such a fun tradition. It’s become a highlight every holiday and I look forward to Scott getting home from work with the beer poured. We end up talking about more than the beer and it ends up forcing us, new busy parents, to stop and take in the quiet moments where we can. I love watching the varying reviews come in, it’s always so funny to see how much we differ (see: Old Man Winter and Christkindl). I love my friends, our little family at this point, and will forever love this Advent-ture with them.

Tony & Megan
Tony: Another amazing year of the holiday beer Advent-ure! Always a great time! Megan and I got married half way through this year’s Advent-ure! We also welcomed two new members to the crew, Brad and Heather, who jumped right in, had great beer review skills, and made it even more fun. Cheers guys! I think we also had the most new beers added to the list this year, which was awesome.

If you’re like me and you gravitate toward darker beers, then I definitely encourage you to try any of my top favorites from this year, which include Madtree’s S’Mores Gratitude, Zaftig’s I Believe in Santa, Three Floyds’ Alpha Klaus, and Goodwood’s Chocolate Milk Stout.

I would stay away from Troegs Mad Elf and Moerlein’s Christkindl, unless you’re on the naughty list and lookin to punish yourself 😜

Anyway, thank you to the Beard and Broad for hosting such an awesome annual tradition! Happy Holidays everyone! Cheers! 🍻

Megan: Doing the advent beer calendar is so much fun! Tony and I really look forward to it every year! Trying a new beer is always a little risky when it only comes in a 6 pack so this is a great opportunity to try new beers. It’s even more fun when you can share this experience with some of your favorite people at Christmas time.

Some of my favorites this season include –
Madtree S’more Gratitude
Three Floyds Alpha Klaus
Fat Heads Holly Jolly
Spencer Trappist Holiday Ale

Some of my least favorites include –
Flying Dog Winter Warmer
Troegs Mad Elf
Morlein Christkindle

Thanks for letting us be a part of this adventure!
Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Brad & Heather
Brad: I made it everyone! I was able to drink a different holiday beer for 25 straight days and lived to recap the highlights. The adventure was a lot of fun and I look forward to many more years of constant December beer. Overall the beers were in the average to above average range. Nothing completely blew me away but I did love the Brew Kettle Winter Warmer, and our last Anchor holiday brew. Many others I will be happy to drink again as long as that Cincinnati beer, Moerlein, is nowhere in site. If I see another Moerlein, I’m giving it to Scott. My only regret is not loving Revolution Fistmas as much as Julia was expecting me to. I let her down and I will never let it happen again. At the end of this journey, I’m hoping I helped at least one reader out there decide on which beer to pick up for their holiday party and which ones to never talk about again, Moerlein.

Heather: This was a fun way to try new beers for someone who typically sticks to tried and trues in two to three styles (🙋🏻‍♀️). Some of them reaffirmed my distaste for super hoppy beers, while others stood out as brews I’ll definitely add to my approved list (here’s looking at you Brew Kettle Winter Warmer, Spencer Trappist Holiday Ale, and Bell’s Bright White). Overall, I really enjoyed the advent-ure and expanding my beer experience! CHEERS!