Brewdog Advent calendar review: a Christmas essential for craft beer lovers

RECENTLY idiosyncratic successful the bureau told maine that they could retrieve the days erstwhile each you recovered down the doors of Advent calendars were pictures.

Looking astatine the Brewdog Advent Calendar I've been tasked with reviewing, it's harmless to accidental we've travel a agelong way.

Craft Beer Advent Calendar, £55 from Brewdog

I can't ideate the German Lutherans who came up with the Advent calendar successful the 19th period envisioned that wrong a mates of 100 years, their thought would person morphed into a 10kg container containing 24 cans of beer. (Then again, being German, possibly they did).

Anyway, I'm not complaining — it's surely much amusive to reappraisal 2 twelve cans of brew than pictures of the Nativity.

With that said, work connected for my afloat Brewdog Advent Calendar review.

Pros:

• No duplicates
• Full-size cans
• Comes with a stylish brew glass
• Crowd-pleasing enactment of beers with immoderate festive specials

Cons

• While it's not expensive, it doesn't prevention immoderate wealth compared to buying the beers separately
• Heavy (but that's to beryllium expected)
• Not the astir stylish design
• Flimsy box

Rating: 4/5

Brewdog Advent calendar review: speedy summary

Brewdog is 1 of the lone breweries I tin deliberation of that is large capable to connection a calendar similar this.

There isn't a azygous repetition brew here, and wrong you'll find lagers, IPAs, stouts and adjacent a fewer seasonal specials included. It's a testament to however acold the marque has come.

Admittedly, the container is simply a spot naff; erstwhile you unfastened 1 doorway it's hard not to unfastened different 3 with it by accident, and the novelty-Christmas-jumper plan isn't going to beryllium winning immoderate awards.

But if you similar Brewdog beer, you won't attraction astir that. This is simply a container that allows you to effort a caller Brewdog merchandise each azygous day.

Of course, you astir apt won't similar each azygous brew included and I'm definite cans similar the Rocky Road stout volition ruffle the moustaches of brew traditionalists, but it's bully to spot the marque bringing immoderate amusive to the festive season.

My lone different tiny contented is the price. After doing immoderate unsmooth maths, I deliberation that if you could bargain each of the beers separately connected Brewdog's website (which you can't), it'd outgo you astir the aforesaid arsenic buying the Advent calendar.

Admittedly that's not the volition of this calendar; instead, it's a mode to illustration a wide enactment of Brewdog brew without having to bargain a ridiculous fig of multipacks.

However, it would person been bully to spot immoderate benignant of currency redeeming — the reasoning being that lone a tiny percent of radical volition really similar each azygous brew offered successful the calendar.

Brewdog Advent Calendar review: however I tested

Craft Beer Advent Calendar, £55 from Brewdog

I'm the reviews manager astatine Sun Shopping, and astatine this clip of year, I get the accidental to reappraisal a wide assortment of Advent calendars, containing everything from IPAs to oculus creams.

Beer calendars are immoderate of my favourites to reappraisal — it's large to consciousness similar you're being productive portion making your mode done 10 kilos of beer. It takes maine backmost to my days of moving successful pubs.

Once I'd managed to get the weighty calendar home, I blasphemously opened each doorway and person since been trying the beers portion standing the wide calendar for its design, assortment and worth for money.

Brewdog Advent Calendar review: afloat review

First impressions

Craft Beer Advent Calendar, £55 from Brewdog

The Brewdog Advent Calendar is extraordinarily heavy.

This mightiness consciousness similar an evident constituent to marque — aft all, the container contains 10kg of brew — but I made the mistake of getting the calendar delivered to The Sun's office, and aft lugging it location I consciousness the request to pass immoderate imaginable buyers to get it delivered to their house, not their workplace.

Design-wise, it's not winning immoderate awards; Brewdog has gone down the novelty route, and the effect is simply a container reminiscent of a supermarket Christmas jumper.

It hits each the classical Christmas notes — red, green, snowflakes, trees — but considering the effort Brewdog has enactment into curating a festive enactment of beer, it could person enactment a fewer other minutes into popping it into an charismatic box.

I consciousness similar the plan is particularly important with an Advent calendar specified arsenic this one, which is 65.5cm wide and 37cm tall; realistically you'll person to person it retired determination successful your location for the full month.

Brewdog does get brownie points for making its calendar afloat recyclable, though its flimsy cardboard operation means that erstwhile you unfastened 1 door, it's casual to accidentally rip unfastened different a the aforesaid time.

What's successful the Brewdog Advent Calendar?

Realistically, though, astir buyers of the Brewdog calendar won't beryllium buying it for its design; it's the contents that count.

Brewdog has packed 24 antithetic beers into its calendar, and it's a well-curated selection.

There are Brewdog classics (Punk IPA, Hazy Jane and Lost Lager, for example), a mates of festive specials including 1 named aft the Christmas movie Elf, and immoderate constricted editions that are present sold retired connected the Brewdog site.

Craft Beer Advent Calendar, £55 from Brewdog

To similar each brew here, you'll request to person a beauteous unfastened caput and palette; the enactment ranges from middle-of-the-road lagers similar the 3.4% Cold Beer to much outlandish choices similar the 6.8% Rocky Road Marshmallow Stout.

This is thing that I was pleased to see; aft all, Brewdog has made a sanction for itself acknowledgment to its bold attack to beer-making, and I'd alternatively not similar a mates of beers included than beryllium sent a container afloat of nondescript crowdpleasers.

There are a mates of different Brewdog signatures here, too, including immoderate hoppy, fruity IPAs similar Hazy Jane Guava and Hoppy Xmas, and immoderate high-alcohol beers similar the 8.4% King Crush and the 8% Arcade Made.

Despite the esoteric enactment of beers, I enjoyed astir each of them; the Marshmallow Stout was a astonishment winner, and I besides liked the fruit-infused IPAs similar the Hazy Jane Peach.

In fact, the lone brew I didn't similar was the aforementioned King Crush; an 8.4% Mango Passionfruit Milkshake IPA was conscionable a measurement excessively acold for me.

How overmuch is the Brewdog Advent Calendar?

The Brewdog calendar is £55, and Standard UK transportation is thrown successful for escaped (if you privation next-day delivery, you'll person to fork retired £2.95).

As I mentioned earlier, that doesn't prevention you overmuch wealth compared to buying the beers separately.

However, that's not thing you tin really bash (most are lone disposable successful multipacks and immoderate are sold out), and if you comparison it to different Beer Advent Calendars, it's much affordable anyway.

For example, the Beer52 Advent Calendar, which besides contains 24 beers and comes with a escaped tasting glass, is £64.99 — a tenner much costly than Brewdog's. However, the Beer52 calendar does assertion to beryllium worthy implicit £140, which Brewdog can't vie with.

A amended examination mightiness beryllium the Beavertown Advent Calendar, which similar Brewdog's, contains beers made by a azygous brewery and comes with a escaped tasting glass.

The Beavertown calendar is £69 — £14 much than the Brewdog calendar.

Where to bargain the Brewdog Advent Calendar

The Brewdog Advent Calendar is disposable from the Brewdog website.

There you'll besides find the company's different festive offerings, which see a festive 12 brew enactment box and adjacent a Christmas cocktail selection.

Brewdog Advent Calendar review: the verdict

I'd urge the Brewdog Advent Calendar for anyone looking for an affordable brew Advent calendar containing a varied enactment of brews.

While I bash person issues with the plan of the calendar, its contents marque it a must-have for brew non-traditionalists who are apt to emotion a high-strength, unusually-flavoured brew arsenic they are a middle-of-the-road lager oregon stout.

I wouldn't urge it for much accepted brew drinkers, oregon those looking to effort beers from a enactment of breweries.