It was another good holiday season with the Beer Advent Calendar from Craft Beer Cellar Grand Rapids. I was surprised each day with a gift wrapped, hand selected beer from December 1st to 24th.
Brian Beaucher and his team from the only Craft Beer Cellar location in Michigan did a solid job crafting 2019’s Beer Advent Box.
Photo Credit – Craft Beer Cellar Grand Rapids
When I met with Brian in November to pick up my box, he said that all 144 Beer Advent Boxes were sold out. He also said that he made a cider-only box in order to capitalize and highlight on the growing amount of ciders available.
This post is going to highlight my ranking of the Michigan beers featured in the box. There was a strong West Michigan presence in the box with nine of the eleven being from that part of the state. Each beer name links to Untappd and my notes for each are also included. Check out Part 1 of the Craft Beer Cellar GR Beer Advent Box list to see the other half of the box.
1. Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Cafe Brown
- Sweet with strong bourbon barrel and coffee tastes
- Saugatuck Brewing Co.
- Douglas, MI
- Day 20
2. Murk Honcho
- Dank, juicy, and tropical
- Austin Brothers Beer Co.
- Alpena, MI
- Day 4
3. Hazel’s Nuts
- Strong bourbon barrel with nutty hazelnut and coffee
- Odd Side Ales
- Grand Haven, MI
- Day 8
4. No Mooed to Bake
- Beer Review
- Railtown Brewing Co.
- Dutton, MI
- Day 17
5. Happy Friendsgiving
- Light and tart cranberry
- City Built Brewing Company
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Day 1
6. Harvest Peach Raspberry
- Clean and sour, good balance between the peach and raspberry
- Brewery Vivant
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Day 5
7. Incipient with Blackberry
- Sour, fruity, and funky
- Speciation Artisan Ales
- Comstock Park, MI (moving to Grand Rapids, MI in 2020)
- Day
8. Bright White Ale
- Strong wheat and yeast taste
- Bell’s Brewery
- Comstock, MI
- Day 15
9. Sumatra Mountain Brown
- Roasty with strong coffee
- Founders Brewing Co.
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Day 9
10. Little Saint Nick Cranberry Gose
- Very tart with the addition of the Himalayan salt, light on the cranberry
- ROAK Brewing Co.
- Royal Oak, MI
- Day 7
11. Barbados Slim
- Pucker power is strong with this one, nice wheat taste on the back end
- One Well Brewing
- Kalamazoo, MI
- Day 14
I’m looking forward to 2020, all the new beers to drink, and another round with the Beer Advent Box!
Cheers!
Disclaimer: Ed purchased the Beer Advent Box from Craft Beer Cellar Grand Rapids.
2 Comments
Bill Carney · January 1, 2020 at 12:43 pm
We stopped at Railtown yesterday and my wife picked up a 4 pack of No Mooed to Bake. She usually doesn’t come home with beer, so that’s saying a lot. She really enjoyed it.
Ed Norton · January 1, 2020 at 5:54 pm
That’s awesome, Bill! I also enjoyed it as part of the Beer Advent Box. Going to have to stop in to Railtown and try more. Cheers!