Ghost Whale Mega Luxury Big Bev Advent Calendar 2019
2019 will be the fourth year that Beer Voyage has indulged in beer advent calendar shenanigans and this year we’ve gone big. Mega luxury big bev that is.
Top London bottleshop Ghost Whale (or should that be bottleshops now there are two shops?) have again released two advent calendars this year - one regular (£99) and one luxury (£195). We obviously bought the luxury one because we like to spend more money than is sensible on beer.
£195 is far and away the most expensive advent calendar we’ve bought to date but with the allure that only 24 of these boxes were being sold, we were swayed by the promise of some very high quality, scarcely available beers and ordered one without much deliberation.
My expectations are pretty high because Ghost Whale often have some great beers from the US and EU on their shelves so I’m hoping for some beers from breweries I’m yet to get to experience.
Ok, no more pre-amble, lets just get on with what’s in the box. Should be a cracker!
Day One: Good Things for Everyone - Triple IPA 10% // Cloudwater Brew Co.
A triple IPA to start proceedings is definitely an opening I am one hundred percent on board with. The design is obviously aimed at the imminent election (never trust a Tory, pals) to encourage people to register to vote. If they gave out these beers as encouragement, I’m sure everyone would sign up.
Oh lawd, she thiqq! This came out syrupy and bright orange, almost reminiscent of the scrumpy cider I drank as a teen. And despite having the strength of rough cider, it definitely didn’t taste like it.
This is one of the best beers I’ve had in a long time. It’s full of mango and apricot and is sticky and syrupy and just a delightful boozey slap around the chops. Absolutely delicious and if you can get your hands on one, do it and thank me later.
Off to an absolute flyer and I’m very excited for the next few weeks of opening this box.
Day Two: Gasper Goo - American Lager 5% // American Solera
First brewery I’ve not really heard of but according to the internet, American Solera are a small brewery in Tulsa, Oklahoma specialising in oak barrel aging. This man does his research.
A solera is defined as: “a system for aging sherry and other fortified wines, in which younger wines in upper rows of casks are used to top up casks of older wines stored below in order to produce a consistently aged blend.” Except American Solera do this with beer.
Despite just discovering all this, we have a lager! So, no barrel action which is a shame. Still, a chance to try a beer from an American microbrewery is not one to be sniffed at…
It’s pretty good. Very crisp, hints of citrus with a little bit of spice and plenty of herbal earthiness from the Saaz hops. It’s a shame it’s so cold as this would go down an absolute dream in the sunshine. I’m just a little gutted to not get to try one of their barrel aged boys.
Also, a gasper goo is apparently a fish, hence the very cool can design.
Day Three: 18-Watt IPA - Session IPA 5% // SingleCut Beersmiths
Another US brewery and another new brewery for me with New York’s SingleCut Beersmiths.
SingleCut claim this beer is the redefinition of the session IPA. A pretty bold statement, but, after drinking the beer, it’s a statement I could get on board with.
I could happily drink dozens of these cans. It’s a lovely beer full of orange zest and pine but it’s the soft body combined with the tropical hops that they’ve nailed here.
When a beer of this ilk is just right it’s difficult to explain why. It’s so well balanced that I’m definitely going to keep my eye out for more beers from these guys in the future. Very well done you clever American bastards.
Day Four: Barren Lands - New England Pale Ale 3.8% // Neon Raptor Brewing Co.
Back to Blighty for day four with this low ABV New England pale ale from Nottingham’s finest, Neon Raptor.
More and more breweries are releasing low ABV beers that can stand alongside their stronger brethren and this is no exception. Gone are the days of low strength beers being flavourless and watery, huzzah!
It’s a very soft and hazy beer that is packed with flavour for its strength. It’s a very light yellow colour that looks wonderful.
Neon Raptor are one of my favourite UK breweries and I don’t think I’ve had a bad beer by them yet - this just furthers their cause. Top work.
Maybe we should pencil in a trip to Nottingham to visit?
Day Five: FrauGruberlicious - Fruited Sour 4.5% // FrauGruber Brewing
Heading to Europe now and to Augsburg in Germany for a change of style with a delicious raspberry sour from FrauGruber.
I haven’t heard of these guys either so another plus point for a new discovery.
It’s very close to a berlinerweisse but has a bit of a cleaner finish. A few days earlier I had a can of Mikkeller’s Hallo Ich Bin Ein Berliner Raspberry and this beer is very similar to that. However, I actually think this might be better than the Danish supremos offering - it’s got a bit more of a punchier flavour and the fruit is a lot bolder here. That’s not to say the Mikkeller beer is bad, it’s still very good. It’s just this is better.
Maybe we should get ourselves back to Germany for a long overdue return?
Day Six: King - Grapefruit Soda IPA 7.4% // Northern Monk
This beer is inspired by the Caribbean grapefruit soft drink, Ting. I love Ting. Gin & Ting is a great drink. Ting & Hefeweizen makes a surprisingly great beer cocktail to sip in the summer. Ting on its own is wonderful. This beer was always going to be great.
It’s definitely achieved its aim in being essentially Ting beer. 600kg of grapefruit juice went into this beer so it’s clearly the dominant flavour. It has quite a different mouthfeel to the soft drink as the addition of wheat and flaked oats has made it a little thicker. It’s still quite sticky and reminiscent of a soft drink though.
It reminded me of BrewDog’s Elvis Juice at first so I was happy but whereas Elvis Juice can taste a bit synthetic at times, this definitely tasted fresher. That’s definitely a good Ting. (I’m here all week.)
Day Seven: The Orchard Project: Plumcots - Sour Wit Ale 8.7% // The Bruery Terreux
I remember back in the early days of perusing bottleshops and online beer stores I sometimes saw beers from The Bruery listed for around £20 and regularly thought, ‘what sort of idiot would pay that much for a beer?’ - a few years later I was lucky enough to try some of their wares and understood - these beers are worth every penny and demand your attention. Despite their price, the bottles never stick around long and I finally saw why. The Bruery make fantastic barrel aged beers and beers with modern twists on classic styles. The bourbon barrel aged barley wine Mash & Vanilla I tried in 2017 still sticks in my memory.
The Bruery Terreux is a subsidiary of The Bruery itself and specialises in farmhouse-style ales fermented with wild yeasts as well as oak-aged sour ales. This beer is part of their Orchard Project, an exclusive series of sour wit ales brewed with spices and aged in oak barrels with the freshest fruit available. This version is packed full of plumcots - a fruit I was not aware of until now. It appears to be a type of plum and not quite the apricot/plum hybrid I assumed it was.
The beer itself is inevitably wonderful - it’s super fresh and fruity and there’s a big raspberry flavour along with the plummy sharpness from (I assume) the plumcots. It’s almost cider-like and a beer I would absolutely love to drink in the sunshine. Preferably at The Bruery taproom in California.
Day Eight: Geeked Up - New England IPA 7% // Gamma Brewing Company
Yet another new brewery for me and one I’ve been looking out for for a while is behind the door for day 8. It’s a New England IPA from relatively new Danish upstarts, Gamma Brewing Company.
Established in 2015 in a town just north of Copenhagen (the brilliantly named, Gørløse), these guys say they are lavish with the hops and brew American style beers. Despite existing for a few years, it’s only recently I’ve spied their beers being more widely distributed in the UK so I’m very pleased to get to try one finally. Denmark have a whole host of incredible breweries - can Gamma match them? From the buzz they’ve been getting in the UK over the last year or so, it seems so…
This beer is exactly what I hoped for from a NEIPA. It’s a beautifully soft and juicy beer that finishes with a very well balanced lingering bitterness to remind you this is actually alcoholic. Saying that, it does not taste like it’s a 7% beer. I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for these guys in the future, they look set to join the pantheon of exceptional Danish breweries if they release more beers of this quality.
Also, the can art is excellent and reminds me of some of the older Cloudwater cans which is no bad comparison.
Day Nine: Yellow Belly - Pastry Stout 11% // Buxton Brewery x Omnipollo
This beer needs no introduction to beer geeks but for the uninitiated, this is one of the best imperial adjunct stouts in the world.
Yellow Belly - made as part of the Rainbow Project in 2014 is this peanut butter and biscuit stout made with no peanuts or biscuits and dressed in the most hateful, cowardly-anonymous costume the brewers could think of (a KKK hood/paper sleeve I removed for the photo).
“This beer, whilst attempting to make a commentary on the current political winds blowing through Europe, is above all, meant to be enjoyed as a celebration of all things new, open minded and progressive.”
It’s just wonderful and if you haven’t had it yet, I urge you to seek a bottle out. Billed as the final batch due to a copyright issue, this beer will definitely return under a new name because of how popular and how good it is. Despite the lack of actual peanuts and biscuits, this beer is ALL peanut and biscuits. A taste sensation worthy of anyone’s time.
Day Ten: Cleo - New England IPA 7% // Omnipollo x Dugges Bryggeri
This is billed on the bottle as a ‘lobster roll IPA’ which is definitely a first for me. However, it doesn’t have any lobster roll in it thankfully, it’s just a bloody good NEIPA.
Named as such to celebrate the opening of Omnipollos Gothenburg, the latest bar from the Swedish beer Willy Wonka, it was designed to pair perfectly with the lobster roll on the menu there - the bar has a decidedly nautical theme and predominantly serves seafood.
I can’t vouch if this pairs well with lobster rolls but it does pair perfectly with my palate and I sank this beer like there’s no tomorrow. A very well executed beer that just works beautifully.
Day Eleven: Farmhouse Lager - Amber Lager 5.8% // The Lost Abbey
A second lager from a US brewery that does not specialise in lager. More known for their Belgian, barrel-aged and sour beers, I was hoping for one of those styles but when it’s a highly regarded brewery like The Lost Abbey, my interest was piqued.
Their first foray into the smaller form bottles (they are mostly known for big bois - 750ml bottles) sees them tweak their Avant Garde (a Bière de Garde - ‘beer for keeping’) into something more accessible and refreshing.
I didn’t know any of the above going into it as I like to try a beer without any influence. I could tell it was Belgian influenced but very subtly. It’s crisp and malty and a little bready. Being completely honest, I thought it was good but not great. I think knowing the above would’ve made me want to like it more because of the background.
I’m not sure what I’m trying to say here, I’ve had three beers from the calendar today to try and catch up. Something about unconscious bias. You work it out.
Day Twelve: Dream Like Sequence - DIPA 8% // Polly’s Brew Co.
It’s crazy how much of a reputation Polly’s Brew Co. (formerly Loka Polly) have managed to gain for big, bold, juicy beers in just under two years but it’s well deserved.
I was delighted to see a beer from them in the calendar and even more delighted when I saw it was a DIPA. Brewed with four of the best hops (Enigma, Galaxy, Citra and Mosaic) and with a smidge of lactose chucked in, this is up there with the beers the established hop slingers in the UK are producing.
It’s got a lovely sweetness followed by all of the juice. I couldn’t believe how quickly I wolfed this down - they should sell litre cans of this stuff.
We’re halfway through now and it’s been hit after hit. Not one dud so far.
Day Thirteen:
Oude Gueuze Tilquin à L'Ancienne
- Gueuze Lambic 7% //
Gueuzerie Tilquin
I rarely buy proper classic Belgian beers so to get a Tilquin lambic in this calendar is very welcome. If nothing else, it’s a reminder I should probably buy more of them.
After overdoing it on a trip to Bruges a few years ago, it’s only recently I’ve gotten back into Belgian beer properly so the timing of this couldn’t have been better. It’s a beer that’s a blend of 1, 2 and 3 year old lambics and refermented for 6 months in oak.
It’s very complex and there’s so many layers of flavour to this beer, it’s difficult to describe. It’s sharp and sour but also has a big woody kick to it that really rounds off the taste. A beautiful beer.
I should probably go back to Belgium again after this.
Day Fourteen: Yanga Wake AM
- Pastry Stout 12% //
Stigbergets Bryggeri
Look at that can. A thing of beauty. I think it’s the first gold can I’ve ever seen and I’m a sucker for it. More of this please.
The beer itself isn’t bad either. A chocolate cinnamon vanilla Imperial Stout? I’m a total pastry stout fan boy so this is pretty much perfect for me. I’d argue it rivals any adjunct imperial stout from Swedish counterparts and adjunct maestros, Omnipollo.
I’d describe the flavours but I’d just be repeating ‘chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla’ repeatedly until my hands hurt from typing. Those three flavours obviously work brilliantly together. The warmth from the booziness really rounds it out. I keep drinking it and saying ‘oh yes’ like a pathetic wanker.
A beautiful, big, boozy dessert stout worth its weight in gold (can).
Day Fifteen: Rendition - Belgian Blonde 7.5% //
8 Wired Brewing Co.
A modern take on a Belgian Blonde for day fifteen from New Zealand’s 8 Wired - brewed with NZ hops, fermented with Belgian yeast and then refermented with Brettanomyces.
8 Wired are a brewery I’ve not had many beers from (the last being in my 2017 calendar no less) but this is a real beauty. It’s very close to saison but much more full flavoured. It’s got a lovely peachy flavour rounded out by a bit of a spicy kick.
I’m always a bit wary when breweries try and make a modern version of a traditional beer but 8 Wired have absolutely nailed this.
This ‘rendition’ (get it?) gets two thumbs up from me, I’d love to try it in a few years to see how the brett has developed.
Day Sixteen: Pockets of Sunlight - Saison 6.5% // Jackie O’s Brewery
From one Belgian beer to another comes this incredible beer from Ohio’s Jackie O’s Brewery. A bit of a gusher, I lost a tiny bit of this after opening it as the wild fermentation caused this beer to come rushing out of the bottle. Luckily I had my glass to hand so only saw a little bit go down the drain. Thankfully.
A saison brewed with honey, coriander & lemon verbena and fermented with a mixed culture of classic saison strains, wild yeast, & bacteria. This is exactly the type of beer I expected in this calendar.
Amazingly light and crisp, I was quite taken aback at how refreshing it was at first. Then the honey and lemon hit and in a sweet/sour combo to balance it out. Deeeelicious.
Day Seventeen: Days of Creation - Fruited Sour 7% // Thornbridge Brewery
Silver medal winner of 'Wood and Barrel-Aged Sour Beers' at the World Beer Cup 2016 comes this sour lil fella from Derbyshire’s Thornbridge. Days of Creation is a Sour red ale aged in red Burgundy barrels with raspberries.
I expected it to pour a deep red colour because of the wine barrels and fruit but it was a lot lighter in colour. It smells slightly fruity but has that tannic aroma you get from wine so I was braced for something very sour. However, it isn’t. It’s still sour, don’t get me wrong, but it’s very well balanced (there’s that word again) against the raspberries.
It was aged in the barrels for a year before bottling and that time has developed the beer into something wonderful. There’s a slight funk to it but it’s got a clean sourness and quite a dry aftertaste. Definitely toes the line between beer and wine expertly and a beer I’m very happy I got to try.
Day Eighteen: Farmhouse Fleur
- Saison 4.8% //
pFriem Family Brewers
pFriem (‘Freem’ if you’re saying it out loud) hail from the Pacific Northwest, specifically Hood River in Oregon. Despite that, they are a small brewery that specialise in Belgian style beers.
Farmhouse Fleur is their ode to the saison - “Brewed with rose hips, calendula, and white peppercorns, lively aromas of lemon and banana and complex notes of key lime and spice abound.”
I have to say this was ever so slightly underwhelming. After reading the above I was expecting a saison akin to the Jackie O’s from day sixteen but it fell a bit short. I’m not sure if I had an old or a dodgy bottle () but the flavours that were promised were very muted. It was a decent saison and very light and refreshing but nothing more than that. Still very drinkable but in comparison to the rest of this advent calendar, it was a little disappointing.
Onto the next!
Day Nineteen: Sticky Toffee Pudding Porter
- Pastry Stout 14% //
Brouwerij Kees
I keep writing about how every strong beer doesn’t taste its strength. Well, step aside lads, because this behemoth from Kees absolutely does.
It’s an adult sticky toffee pudding. It’s luxurious and unctuous and is a beer to be savoured.
There’s caramel, there’s toffee, there’s chocolate, there’s burnt sugar, there’s liquorice, and there’s a big slap of booze to remind you this is a big ol’ beer.
Even though it’s very much a dessert beer, it’s not overly sweet as the bitter flavours really dominate here. After finishing this, I immediately got very sleepy so I’d highly recommend this as a nightcap beer.
Day Twenty:
Sour'ire De Mortagne
- Sour Quadrupel 11% //
Brouwerij Alvinne
Alvinne are purveyors of everything sour and everything innovative so I was very keen to crack this open having not come across any of their beers for several years.
This beer is mental. An oak aged 11% sour quad that is both a face-melting, mouth-puckering sour but also an astonishing interpretation of a quadrupel. Once the tartness calms down there’s a fantastic woodiness that lingers around seemingly forever. It’s definitely a beer to savour and enjoy the flavours over time and not one to chug.
I am definitely going to go back to Belgium as soon as realistically possible after all these great beers.
Day Twenty One: Strawberry Skies - Fruited Sour 8.5% // Vault City Brewing
Mixed fermentation sour ale brewed with local Scottish barley and wheat. Conditioned on strawberry puree, hibiscus flowers and Madagascan vanilla beans.
Another brewery building up a big reputation in a short space of time is Edinburgh’s Vault City. A lot of people have been championing their sours and I managed to try their blood orange sour in the summer which definitely lived up to the hype. This beer, however, is another level.
Strawberry sours are quite few and far between but after drinking this I’ve decided there should be more. It’s decadent and sweet with just a little mouth puckering sourness at the end. Not one for the ‘beer should taste like beer’ bores but for anyone else, definitely give this beer a go. It’s bloody marvellous.
Day Twenty Two: Oud Kriek (Vielle) - Kriek Lambic 6% //
Brouwerij Oud Beersel
Strawberries to cherries for day twenty two. A cherry lambic matured in old barrels. 400 grams of cherries per litre that is. Combine that with the no added sugar, no artificial flavourings or preservatives and you have yourself a face contorting sour delight.
This isn’t a beer everyone will enjoy and I think had I had this a few years ago I would’ve probably wrote it off as too sour. Sipping it now though on a cold December night and I am fully on board. The sour cherries and oak from the barrels are a delightful blend of tart and wood. Much like day thirteen, this is a very layered and complex beer that is worth savouring.
I am definitely, definitely, definitely going back to Belgium as soon as possible.
Day Twenty Three: Never Leave Amsterdam - Sour 5.9% //
VonSeitz TheoreticAles
Oh yes, this is another perfect example of the type of beer I was expecting in this box.
A blended, fruited sour ale with blackberries and cherries added. Von Seitz TheoreticAles are a tiny Tennessee based brewery specialised in wild, sour and mixed fermentation beers. They only have a four barrel system and their barrel aged and blended beers are only released in small batches of less than 25 cases.
It’s no surprised then, that I’d never even heard of these until I did some research. The beer itself is pretty bloody good. A fruited sour ale with blackberries and cherries was always going to be. A smattering of acidity and quite a dry, spicy finish.
It’s unlikely I’ll see a beer by them for a long time but it’s great to be able to experience something so lovingly made.
(Also, the name is from Jude Johnstone’s song, ‘Never Leave Amsterdam’.)
Day Twenty Four: Bourbon County Brand Stout (2018) - Imperial Stout 15.2% // Goose Island Beer Co.
What a beer to finish on! I was lucky enough to stumble into a Goose Island tap takeover in Top Hops in New York City last Thanksgiving when this beer was released so got to try this on tap a year ago and it was ridiculous. (They had about 8 different variations of this beer so I had a very good time and a very sour head the next day.)
A friend also bought me a bottle last year from Ghost Whale no less (thanks Chris!) but I never got round to drinking it, so seeing this pop up on the final day was amazing. I’ll let Goose Island explain the origins of this beer:
“Originally brewed in honor of the 1000th batch at our original Clybourn brewpub. A liquid as dark and dense as a black hole with thick foam the color of a bourbon barrel. The nose is an intense mix of charred oak, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and smoke. One sip has more flavor than your average case of beer.”
Hyperbole aside, this is a ridiculous, ridiculous beer. It’s everything you want in a big impy stout. It’s boozy, it’s chocolately, it’s decadent. I’m very glad I have another bottle to squirrel away and crack open in the future to see how much this develops in the bottle.
(I hope you enjoy the picture I took on Boxing Day at my in-laws.)
So, there you have it. An absolutely stellar advent calendar and far and away the best one we’ve ever had at Beer Voyage. Not a single bad beer in here - I could be super picky about the pFriem beer but I think it speaks volumes that my expectations were so high that I was a little disappointed with something more subtle than I’d hoped.
I mean, was it ever really in doubt that this box would be superb? Sure, the price point is very high but it’s completely justified when it delivers what you were hoping and more.
Going to be hard to beat next year!
