Ghost Whale Other Worldly Advent Calendar 2020
It’s the most wonderful time of the year; BEER ADVENT CALENDAR TIME.
The fifth year we’ve dabbled in the festive delights of beer advent calendars (and the fifth time we’ve had the same opening line, probably) and the first time we’ve returned to a previous provider.
After the absolute triumph of last year’s Mega Luxury Big Bev calendar, Ghost Whale earned our repeat business. However, the options they offered up this year were slightly different. There are still two options but they’ve been selected differently, with a tweak to pricing. I’ll let Ghost Whale explain:
Homegrown Heaven - £99.95
The UK brewing scene is now so unbelievably strong that we simply had to put together a calendar to pay tribute to homegrown talent. Dive into Ghost Whale’s first Advent Calendar focused solely on the best craft breweries from across the the country.
Other Worldly - £149.95
If, like us, your thirst to discover new beers often sees you drawn to breweries from beyond our shores then fear not, we’ve thought of you! We pride ourselves on sourcing some of the best beers from all over the world and this Calendar will be a brilliant example of that.
It’ll boast 24 beers from 24 breweries (not exactly from 24 countries… but a lot!) and will be our ode to the best beers we can get our hands on, from both across the world over and our very own incredible UK scene. It’s going to be pretty bloody special, if we say so ourselves
We are obviously people of the world and having a blog dedicated to beer and travel it almost felt serendipitous that we get the Other Worldly version. So that’s exactly what we did.
I’ve tempered my expectations a little as I don’t think it’ll quite match the box from last year due to it being £50ish cheaper and the number of boxes not being as limited but I’m still expecting greatness - I wouldn’t have bought it otherwise.
Let’s get stuck in.
Day 1: Millennial Burnout - Pale Ale 5% // Temescal Brewing 🇺🇸
First stop of the world tour is the west coast of the U S of A with a beer from Oakland, California’s Temescal Brewing. This is my first ever beer from Temescal so I was interested to see if their fairly big reputation was justified (at least from a beer prick like me that lusts over US breweries far more than I probably should).
This is billed as a ‘ripe, fruity, hazy pale ale’ and probably has more in common with beers you’d see from the East Coast - it’s soft and fluffy and eminently drinkable.
I think the UK has more or less caught up with the USA in terms of big juicy high ABV beers but beers of that ilk on the lower strength spectrum are still a bit off (5% and under), I think. It packs in the flavour of a much stronger beer and is one you’d happily drink all day.
Drinking this at the end of 2020, a year restricted almost entirely to my flat has me pining for American adventures. Good start. Cheers!
Day 2: NEW KICKS - West Coast IPA 6.5% // Garage Beer Co. 🇪🇸
Next stop, España with Barcelona haze merchants, Garage Beer Co.
Highly regarded for their excellent array of hazy pales, I was happy to get to try their take on a West Coast IPA as I don’t think I’ve tried one from Garage before. 2020 was definitely a year I returned to more bitter beers - not sure if fatigue from NEIPA (still one of my favourite styles) or just my palate changing but I pined (geddit?) for sticky bitterness of a West Coast IPA more than any other beer this year.
This one was up there as one of the best of the year. Piney bitterness in waves but with the addition of citra hops it gave quite a orangey finish making the beer all the more drinkable and moreish.
I actually visited Garage’s taproom in Barcelona in 2018 (I should probably write about that trip) and although it was a bit of a flying visit, this beer has me hankering for a return for pints and pintxos. Salud!
Day 3: Apocalypse Dreams - DIPA 8% // Whiplash 🇮🇪
Fiddle-dee-dee, we’re off to Ireland and a tangerine dream with this DIPA from Whiplash.
As well as the excellent, striking white colour and gorgeous artwork of their cans - I really love that the cans list the malt and hops used in the beer in nice clear lettering just below the beer name (it’s on the back of the can in the pic, I wanted to show the design!).
This beer was made using one hop - Amarillo (I will not make a Tony Christie joke. I will not). Amarillo gives a beautiful citrus note - predominantly orange but hints of peach are also creeping through with this beer. Not many single hop beers are made with Amarillo but a DIPA feels like the perfect showcase for it. Pillowy soft and ridiculously quaffable, this beer did not last very long despite its 8% ABV.
Whiplash’s brewery and taproom wasn’t a thing when I visited Dublin but I am now desperate to return to give them a visit. Sláinte!
Day 4: Phi - Blond Sour 8% // Brouwerij Alvinne 🇧🇪
We had a sour from Alvinne in last year’s calendar and whilst I made a pledge to try more, I failed. So I’m delighted we have a return with this blond sour from the Flanders’ based microbrewery.
Compared to the complexity of the oak barrel-aged sour last year, this has a very clean, refreshing acidity to it that would be absolutely brilliant in the summer. It’s still brilliant in winter, to be fair. A lot of sour beers these days tend to be heavily fruited sours which are more akin to fruit juice than having much sourness to them so I’m very glad to have a sour beer that is actually sour for once. Always trust the Belgians when it comes to sours.
I feel like I’ve tried the beers backwards as this feels like a very good stepping stone into Flemish style sours. This is by no means a criticism as I still enjoyed it immensely. Proost!
Day 5: Dunk Contest - DIPA 8% // Magnify Brewing Company 🇺🇸
We’re heading back to America but the other side of it for this excellent DIPA from Noo Joysey’s Magnify.
Boomshakalaka! This beer is named after NBA Jam, a basketball video game released in the 1990’s. The beer packs in five different hops (Citra, Nelson, Mosaic, Citra Cryo and Mosaic Cryo) and is a real slam dunk of flavour. I’m sorry but I bet every review of this beer makes that joke and I couldn’t not.
It’s peachy, lemony, mango-y but still has that bite of bitterness you’d expect from a beer and is just a really well rounded DIPA. I could easily drink three points (pints) of this. Hmm.
This is my first Magnify beer and was the sort of beer I was hoping to get in the advent calendar - a new beer from a new brewery so it has ticked all the boxes for me. Cheers!
Day 6: Santa's Secret: Mochaccino Messiah Triple Shot - Brown Ale 8.2% // To Øl 🇩🇰
When I pulled this beer out I thought I’d had it before but turns out I was wrong. I’d had the double shot version in the To Ølekalender 2018 a few years ago.
This version of the Dane’s brown ale was made with buckets of triple shot Mochacchinos for three times the amount of coffee as the double version. I’ve never been a huge coffee head but have always loved it in beer so was interested to see how this compared to my foggy memory (and review) of the double shot iteration.
It’s… pretty, pretty good! Obviously the coffee is more dominant here but the underlying flavours from the cardamom and cinnamon are still there, just a little muted. I do love a brown ale but it’s a style that is very much not popular so I rarely get to drink them - nice to add another good one to the list. Skål!
Day 7: Sunrise To Sunset (2020) - IPA 4.5% // FrauGruber Brewing 🇩🇪
Guten Tag! We’re off to Germany for day 7 with this very summery can from FrauGruber.
A FrauGruber beer was in last year’s advent and was very enjoyable - could this beer make it 2/2?
Yeah, I guess. It’s hard to get particularly enthused about a session IPA due to their ubiquity. It’s not a bad beer but it was never going to blow my socks off either.
Still, it’s nice to drink a beer from Germany that isn’t a lager. Prost!
Day 8: Beyond The Spectrum
- NEIPA 7.2% // Amundsen Brewery 🇳🇴
Staying in Europe and heading north to Norway with a NEIPA from hop slingers and adjunct aficionados, Amundsen.
Amundsen have built up a reputation for tasty beers with both their hazy pales and imperial stouts, particularly the Dessert In A Can series of imperial stouts made with all sorts of dessert based ingredients.
This, however, is one of their juicy NEIPAs which is absolutely brilliant. The aroma of the beer is as striking as the colourful can label - it’s almost like someone has liquidised a Fruit Salad chew bar.
I drank this remarkably quickly so don’t really remember specifics other than I would happily chin several more. Skål!
Day 9: Copenhagen Creamsicle - Blonde Ale 5.5% //
Alefarm Brewing 🇩🇰
Staying in Scandinavia with our second trip to Denmark in the advent calendar with this Københavnerblonde ale from Alefarm.
A Københavnerblonde ale is a Copenhagen blonde ale, apparently. I was excited to try this as blonde ales are few and far between these days. It didn’t really taste like a blonde ale to me but maybe this is an accurate representation of one from Copenhagen?
This beer is Alefarm’s love letter to a popular Danish ice cream called Københavner Stang (or Copenhagen Stick to this Englishman) - a vanilla ice cream center with a thin layer of pineapple sorbet on the outside. There’s pineapple, mango, lemon, vanilla and lactose all packed into this can and I’d probably liken it more closely to a milkshake or ice cream pale than anything else. I really want to go back to Copenhagen for a Copenhagen Stick. And to blow all my savings at the various Mikkeller bars throughout the city.
Also, the can art is beautiful. Skål!
Day 10: Hoppy Crew: Are You Sure? - DIPA 8.1% //
Browar PINTA 🇵🇱
Day 10 takes us to Poland and a beer from the Hoppy Crew series from Browar PINTA.
From what I can ascertain, this series of beers are designed to showcase the staff of PINTA on the cans, snapping them in action as they make the specific beer you are drinking. It helps give the beer a personalised feel. It also helps that the beer is blummin’ delicious.
An excellent DIPA with the usual tropical fruit flavours backed up with a sticky sweet resinous that helps round out the beer.
The Polish beer scene seems to be ever growing with several Polish breweries emerging in recent years. I had my stag do in Krakow so got to sample the delights first-hand. I just hope they continue making their way over to the UK despite the Brexit distribution mess. Na Zdrowie!
Day 11: Christmas Cream - Porter 4.7% // LERVIG 🇳🇴
I was beginning to think there weren’t going to be any dark beers in this advent calendar. And then this Christmas themed delight from Norway’s Lervig arrived at just the right time.
This light porter came in a nitro can (nitrogen added to the beer during canning) which results in a super creamy and super smooth drinking experience.
I’ve not been the biggest fan of nitro beers as I feel the nitro addition seems to mute the flavours in the beer itself and I’m not sure the smooth and creamy mouthfeel is worth the trade-off in flavour.
However, after letting this beer warm up a little, the flavours began to creep through - hints of chocolate and cinnamon combine for a lovely festive tipple for December. Skål!
Day 12: The 44th Line Of Code - DIPA 8% // Wylam 🏴
The hypothetical airplane makes it’s first return to England at the half-way stage of the box (maybe to refuel?) with a landing in Newcastle and a stop at Wylam.
I’ve been desperate to get myself back to Newcastle for a proper beer visit and Wylam is top of my list. The brewery is located in Exhibition Park and looks absolutely stunning. I’ll get back there one day, I’m sure.
The beer itself is canny (as the Geordie’s would say) - a heavy DIPA that coats your mouth with a ridiculous amount of tropical fruit. It bucks the trend of a lot of beers in tasting every bit of its ABV which really makes you savour and appreciate every sip. Definitely one to buy on sight. Cheers!
Day 13: Evening Vespers - Belgian Dubbel 7.1% // Laughing Monk Brewing 🇺🇸
Our third trip to the US with San Francisco’s Laughing Monk and their interpretation of a Belgian Dubbel.
Evening Vespers are the evening prayers taken in church - in this case, presumably by laughing monks.
I was really looking forward to trying this as I don’t think I’ve ever tried a US brewery’s attempt at making a Dubbel (although I may be mistaken).
It’s bloody brilliant - pours a lovely amber colour and has all the classic aromas from a Dubbel - there’s fig, plum and raisins all swirling around your nostrils and the same flavours on first sip which takes me back to drinking similar beers in Bruges many years ago.
I always say I should drink more Belgian style beers and never really follow through so it's a welcome entry to the calendar. Cheers!
Day 14: Caramel Fudge Stout Cognac Edition
- Imperial Stout 11.5% // Brouwerij Kees 🇳🇱
Dutch brewery Kees have built a strong reputation for their excellent Caramel Fudge Stout. They’ve taken taken this further by sticking it into various different barrels to further develop the flavour. Day 14 sees us tackle the cognac version.
Kees have popped up in two previous boxes (Sticky Toffee Pudding Porter from the Ghost Whale box last year and an American Barleywine in the 2017 Honestbrew Ultimate calendar) so it felt reassuring to see one appear here.
This beer is probably the pick of the bunch though - it has the base sweetness from the caramel fudge stout but it’s amplified in the cognac barrels making this a lovely, complex sipper of a beer. Proost!
Day 15: Hell
- Helles 5.2% // Privatbrauerei Einsiedler Brauhaus 🇩🇪
A German Helles imaginatively titled Hell for Day 15 from Privatbrauerei Einsiedler Brauhaus based out of Chemnitz, Germany.
Lager is one of those styles that a lot of beer fans tend to overlook in search of the big DIPAs and crazy flavoured imperial stouts but it’s definitely a beer style that has its place alongside them.
This beer was clearly meant for drinking in a beer garden in the blazing sunshine so I don’t think I appreciated quite so much sat in my flat on a cold day in December.
Nevertheless, it’s a fine example of a Helles - a beer that is mildly sweet, light-coloured with low bitterness designed to be quaffed in spades. That’s exactly what this is and I’d love to be sat in a German beer garden drinking copious amounts of this with my pals. Prost!
Day 16: Double Dippy Doo - NEIPA 7.5% //
Dry & Bitter Brewing Company 🇩🇰
Our third trip to Denmark with this delightfully vibrant can from Dry & Bitter.
Despite the brewery name, this beer is anything but dry and bitter. It’s dank and juicy and ridiculously drinkable. Just look at that head!
I’m loathe to call it a DIPA (8% is the threshold for a DIPA in my own defined rules) but it’s not far off and ticks nearly all the DIPA boxes.
Having so many Danish brews in this calendar has really made me pine for a return to Copenhagen which is up there as one of the best beer cities in the world. One day I’ll be back. Skål!
Day 17: Jõuluöö - Porter 8% // Põhjala 🇪🇪
In terms of our next Beer Voyage, Tallinn in Estonia is probably top of my list and it’s almost entirely because of Põhjala. Is there a better brewery in the world than them at making porters? They have absolutely nailed every dark beer I’ve tried from them but seem to have really perfected the porter and anything porter-adjacent.
This just adds itself to the list. Jõuluöö translates to ‘Christmas night’ so is a very apt for addition to an advent calendar. This beer is aged on cacao nibs, fresh vanilla pods, and French oak which gives the beer a feeling of pure indulgence. It’s jet black in colour, smooth as butter and just smells divine.
The taste is all chocolate and vanilla and I drank this alongside a little chocolate mousse which just amplified the flavours tenfold. The woodiness from the oak is there but it’s more of a subtle hint than being hit in the face with a tree.
Definitely the best dark beer from the box so far. Terviseks!
Day 18: Zumo - NEIPA 6% //
Basqueland Brewing 🇪🇸
A trip to Basque country for day 18 with this fruity boi from Basqueland Brewery.
If it wasn’t obvious from the can label full of oranges and the name (‘zumo’ means ‘juice’), this is pretty much alcoholic orange juice.
If the label wasn’t subtle enough, the aroma as soon as you crack the can will tell you all about this beer. Just orange. Orange everywhere. It’s the same as you sip. So much orange. It’s a wonderful, wonderful beer with a pithy bitterness there to remind you that you probably shouldn’t be drinking this with your breakfast.
I’ve only had a handful of beers from Basqueland but have been impressed with every single one so they are definitely a brewery I need to explore further. Their brewery and taproom is only a 10-15 minute drive from San Sebastian in nearby Hernani, so definitely has potentially for a trip out there to drink at the source. Salud!
Day 19: Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston (season 18|19) Blend No. 13 - Lambic Gueuze 7.1% // Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen 🇧🇪
Another trip back to Belgium and another classic style, the Gueuze - a blend of lambics that is then bottled and allowed to mature and secondary ferment.
As 3 Fonteinen explain: “This particular Cuvée Armand & Gaston has been blended with lambics from 6 different barrels and originating from 12 different brews. This blends consists of 45% two- and three-year old lambics, originating from 6 brews.”
Complexity and layers of flavour in this behemoth. It’s funky and fruity with a lot of apple punctuating the woodiness. The acidity is obviously there too but it is really well balanced. It finishes dry with tart apple and lemon puckering your mouth. A wonderful beer. Proost!
Day 20: Higher Revelation - Kellerbier 5.4% // Wise Man Brewing 🇺🇸
A brewery I’ve never heard of as we hit the home straight of the calendar. Wise Man Brewing hail from North Carolina in the US and are a relative baby compared to some of the breweries in this calendar - their brewery and taproom only opened in 2017!
I’m not a huge fan of a Kellerbier, and tend to only really enjoy them on draught. It’s one of my least favourite lager styles so after the initial excitement of a new brewery, I was a little deflated to see it was this style.
I need not worry though because this is a lovely beer. Maybe my initial prejudice to the style made me appreciate it more but I was really impressed with this. There was a light spiciness from the rye and quite a bready undertone which made drinking this on a cold winter’s day in front of a roaring fire a very pleasant experience. Cheers!
Day 21: Billionaires Should Not Exist - NEIPA 7.2% // Pressure Drop Brewing 🏴
London’s finest for day 20 with a cracker of a New England IPA from Pressure Drop.
Drinking this a few days before Christmas felt very strange as it’s clearly a beer meant for sunshine. It’s soft, juicy and pillowy soft - all the hallmarks of a great NEIPA. I’m a big fan of pineapple and this is full of it - both Azacca and Galaxy are hops that impart pineapple flavour and it’s here in spades.
Pressure Drop are one of my favourite London breweries - they just consistently churn out really tasty beers from a variety of styles. Their core beer, Pale Fire, is a craft classic.
It’s one of those beers you drink quicker than you realise just because it’s so refreshing and thirst-quenching and very quickly, it’s all gone and you are sad. It was just a bit weird to drink it sat next to a Christmas tree. Cheers!
Day 22: Père Noël - Belgian Pale Ale 7% //
Brouwerij De Ranke 🇧🇪
From one very much Not Christmas beer to one that very much is. We’re back in Belgium for an ‘Xceptional Xmas Beer’ from Brouwerij De Ranke.
It’s not your traditional Christmas beer - there are no festive spices or dark roasted malts here, instead, it’s an amber coloured Belgian ale that’s surprisingly bitter. It’s quite an astringent bitterness that I’m not massively keen on and the beer itself is quite peppery and dry.
Overall I’m a bit disappointed because I thought I was getting a Christmas style beer and was thrown this twist. I like twists now and then but I’m not sure why they are labelling it as a Christmas beer when it’s pretty much a regular Belgian pale with bitterness dialled up to 11. Probably the first beer I’ve not really enjoyed but we’re on day 22 so that’s a decent hit rate. Proost!
Day 23: Even More Jesus - Imperial Stout 12% // Evil Twin Brewing 🇺🇸
The penultimate day and an absolute belter from Brooklyn’s Evil Twin. Surprisingly, the first beer I’ve actually had before. But when the beer is this good, who cares? I’d have this several times over and then I’d have it some more.
The last time I drank this beer was during a particularly heavy night on the stouts that resulted in a £400 carpet cleaning bill due to me painting the floor of my Airbnb a lovely shade of black vomit. Turns out that doesn’t mix well with cream carpet. Idiot.
Anyway, happy to report this time around there was no spewing involved. Only me spewing superlatives to describe this beer, amirite?! It’s a amazing combination of those famous stout smells and tastes - chocolate, coffee, dark fruits and brown sugar. The strongest beer in the box and just pure decadence and indulgence. Lovely old job. Cheers!
Day 24: Framboise Northwest (2019) - Barrel Aged Blonde Ale 7.9% //
Cascade Brewing 🇺🇸
Staying in the US for our final stop but heading to the west coast to sample a mouth-puckering beer from Portland’s finest sour merchants, Cascade Brewing.
“Framboise Northwest is blend of sour blond ales aged in oak wine barrels for up to two years with locally grown raspberries.”
I didn’t expect it to be so sharp and tart and was taken aback at first. I drank a lot of sours this year that have been closer to a fruit smoothie than a sour so was very pleased to try something that, to paraphrase Rage Against The Machine, brought the sour back.
The biting flavour almost hides the woodiness imparted from the wine barrels but it develops once the tang has subsided. A lip-smacking end to the calendar. Cheers!
Summary
On balance, I think Ghost Whale have delivered again. As I said at the top of this post, my expectations were tempered somewhat and whilst it didn’t match last year’s advent calendar, it’s still a great advent calendar with plenty of variety in both styles of beer and different breweries. I would’ve liked maybe a few more darker beers but happy with the trade-off in getting beers from lesser known breweries from around the world.
Will 2021 see Ghost Whale make it a hat-trick of advents for Beer Voyage? See you in a year to find out!
