Aldi Beer Advent Calendar 2020 Review Beers 17-24

This is the third and final part of my review, part 1 and part 2 linked here. It's finally over. Twenty-four beers and days later and here I am putting my final thoughts to paper. I learned a very valuable lesson doing this process: I don't like being obligated to drink beers every day. It is almost like being forced to grab a beer with that one coworker you are cool with at work but never want to see outside of work. No other word really sums it up quite like obligation. Below are the reviews for the last 8 beers, some wildly impressive breakdowns, and the thing every Advent Calendar review needs: a power ranking.

Day 17: O’Shea’s Double IPA

Origin: Ireland
Best by date: 28 AUG 2021

What is surprising is how much malt I am getting. It’s sweet, oh so sweet. The bottle says “generous malt backbone”, and that is an understatement. If I were to come up with an analogy, it is what is leftover after Sub-Zero does his fatality. Maybe there are notes of citrus? The finish is just mildly bitter and herby. This just tastes like a very old IPA where the hops have totally fallen off. It’s not bad, it’s not good; it’s totally fine. Rating: 3/5

Aldi Beer Advent Calendar 2020 Review Beers 9-16

Here we are with the second of three installments of the Aldi Advent Beer Calendar review. If you haven't already, I recommend you check out the first part.

Now that I have gotten through 16 beers, I thought I should focus on where these beers actually came from. The back of the box breaks them down by origin: Germany, Belgium, and Ireland. As with many generic beers, information on origin and production can be limited. I tried to do some research (aka aimless googling) to identify where all of these beers actually came from. I find generic beer to be absolutely fascinating - I think this might be a character flaw. If you don't find it interesting, just scroll down to the beer reviews.

Germany

Interestingly, there are only two beers from Germany and each came from a different brewery - or so the box makes you believe. Wernesgruner, unsurprisingly, comes from the Wernesgruner Brewery. Googling their name actually brings you to Bitburger's website. For those who don't know, Bitburger is a German brewery most well known for their very true-to-style German Pilsner. When I was first learning about beer, Bitburger was ingrained in my head as THE German Pilsner. If they are using the same facility or even techniques to brew, it makes sense why I enjoyed Wernesgruner Pilsner so much. Per Bitburger's website, Bitburger purchased Wernesgruner in 2002 but as of October of this year, the brand was sold to Carlsberg. It will be interesting to see if anything changes as the result of this sale.

The other German brewery, Licher, is also a subsidiary of Bitburger. Per their website, it looks like they have a history of brewing wheat beers. Not surprisingly their contribution to the calendar is a wheat beer. Interestingly, the two German beers are from two separate facilities owned by the same parent company.

Aldi Beer Advent Calendar 2020 Review Beers 1-8

Let’s go back to another lifetime. It’s November 4th, 2020. The day after the election. No winner had been declared, John King had become an Internet sensation, and slow counting Nevada memes weren’t even a thing yet. With all this uncertainty in the world, one thing was certain: I was heading to Aldi.

Aldi’s beer advent calendar made its debut in 2019, building on the existing hype of the wine and cheese calendar offered in the past. In 2019, I wrestled with buying the beer calendar but ended up passing. For some reason, the fact there were repeats in a $50 package bothered me. I want 24 different beers for 24 days. Then 2020 came in to rectify the problem. The second I saw 24 different beers, even for the same $50, I jumped into action, researching like Dexter (reference once again relevant with the reboot).