Beer republic advent calendar tasting 2024. Can. Malty aroma and taste, light roastyness, bourbon barrel notes, chocolate, medium bitter, light sweet. Full body, malty roasty choco bourbon barrel bitter sweet finish. Good.

Can from day 24 of the Beer Republic Advent Calendar. Aroma is bitter. Smoky peat and boozy. Burnt caramel. Dark and glossy opaque cola brown. Virtually no head - a few beige microbubbles. Flavour matches the aroma. Burnt caramel underbelly Big bitter boozy peat and black coffee. Light-medium bodied. Slick verging on oily. Soft-fizzy carbonation. Long dry astringent finish. One of those barrel aged beers where I'd like to try the original to see how overpowering the barrel aging has been.

12 oz. can from Total Wine - San Antonio, TX. Pours a crystal clear gold color with a small, fizzy white head and poor retention. No lacing. Pretty standard pale lager aroma with a hint of bread. Likewise, the taste is almost all pale lager, with little to no blonde ale characteristics. That said, it is a smooth, clean, and easy drinking lager. Very chuggable. Medium-light body. Medium-light carbonation. Not bitter. Maybe not a good blonde, but a refreshing beer.

12 oz. can from Total Wine, San Antonio, TX. Pours a crystal clear gold color with a small white head and fair retention. Zero lacing. Basic pale malt aroma. Basic pale malt flavor to match the nose. I'm not getting any caramel notes. Not much of an amber lager, but it's a good pale lager. Clean and crisp mouthfeel. More carbonation than I expected after the semi-flat pour. Medium-light body. Zero bitterness. Basic and good, but room for improvement.

Bottle, another forgotten gem that I should have drank years ago - but to my surprise the batch one ( totally different beer) I had yesterday was still pretty good, after 10+ years. So hopes here are slightly higher than they were ! This one pours a clear, warm blonde. medium large white head with the lower of average stability. It was a very slight and slow gusher, even when cooled. Nothing problematic, but this does point to a higher carbonation level. Scent is full, again - just like B1 yesterday - showing sóme age, but nowhere near the 10+ years - more like 2. saison can be recognized, but it misses some of the crispyness (can you blame that? ) smokey character is very mild, and seems more phenolic than actual smokey malts - which I understood they used? Taste is sharp, more smokyness here. Strong bitterness remains. Mild age factor - honeyed character , not paper yet. Very high carbonation indeed. not terrible at all - and again shockingly great for it's age. I'd say it taste a bit more aged than the Batch 1 at this point (which is slightly older) but it's still drinkable, still enjoyable even. Mild smoke character doesn't bother me as much as I feared and thought it would have. Damn, these expected drainpours are better than some fresh craft's from nowadays !

Pours a rather clear, darker blonde. Big white, stable head. Scent is bit hay-like, sharp, phenolic, hoppy in a way ( regardless of the age) . not nearly as bad / over the top oxidized as I anticipated it to be. Taste is bitter, fairly sharp, higher carbonation. A certain amount of age can be detected, but nowhere near the 10+ years - this aged pretty damn awesome, concidering. Still vibrant, and very saison like if anything. Since I expected this to have become a drainpour, i'm pleasantly surprised.

19.2 oz. can from HEB in San Antonio, TX. Pours a semi-clear gold color with a white head and decent retention. No lacing. Very light lime aroma. Similar light lime flavor with a light salty finish, as advertised. Slick, kinda slimy mouthfeel. Light body. No bitterness. Not enough carbonation for a lager. Okay, but not as good as a regular lager.

12 oz. can from Spec's - Boerne. Pours a clear orange-gold color with a white head and fair retention. Very few spots of lacing. Very light bready malt aroma. The flavor follows the aroma. Light bready malt flavor with no caramel notes. This is more of a German festbier than a marzen. It's a good clean beer, but very forgettable. Medium body and medium carbonation. No bitterness.