Happy New Year! It's the new year and that means we take a look back at 2018, talk about the beers that were, highlights from the year and look forward to 2019 (oh we will have a musical episode). Of course we also have beers to review. This episode we have the Wicked Weed Ferme de Chien, a brett sour ale with cherries and Brewski/Cycle Brewing collab simpled titles Eric, a coffee oatmeal imperial stout.

It's the final episode and we're given our final Belgian beer of the box. Delirium Christmas is a traditional Belgian triple. Sweet, rich and boozy, the Delirium Christmas is a fitting end to the big box of Belgian and Belgian inspired beers. We review the box, offer some constructive criticism of the advent calendar and make some suggestions on how it could improve in future years. Thanks to everyone for listening and we have some great plans for next years advent calendar.

We've tried the St. Bernardus Christmas ale, St. Bernardus Wit and now we have the St. Bernardus Abt 12. Widely regarded as the best of the St. Bernardus beers, the Abt 12 is a delicious 10% abv Belgian triple. It's the pentultimate episode of the advent calendar and it looks like things are finally looking up.

A sour beer is a nice entry into the calendar. Liefmans Goudenband is a classic beer and kind of a gateway sour. A little bit of Flemish red mixed with something else. We're guessing lots of pennies. This one has a strong metallic smell and flavor, reminiscent of someone having washed change in water.

Martin is back to discuss La Trappe Triple. It's a perfect example of a Belgian style triple.  While both think it's a fine beer, for the price point there are so many other beers that could have just as easily fit this profile. Still, with the crap shoot this advent calendar has been, it's nice to have something dependable to rely on.

According to Brew Age, Bienenstich "reveals a soft and gentle character" with "a generous helping of wild honey from Austrian beekeepers." Martin and I both got a generous helping of earth and dirt with no honey or sweetness. Not sure what happened with this bottle but it was garbage, we're curious how it was stored prior to the calendar.  Day 20 was just wrong.

Mathias has the flu so Martin joins the podcast again today. We both love Flemish reds and Rodenbach makes the best Flemish reds on the market. Tangy, berries, with a nice funkiness that reminds you of fingernail polish, the Rodenbach Grand Cru makes day 19 a real treat.

How does a Hancock beer end up in an advent calendar. There are so many amazing Danish breweries, To Ol, Mikkeller, Dry & Bitter, Amager, Bad Seed, Beer Here, Ebeltoft, Flying Couch and on and on. There are so many breweries to choose from, why would anyone pick Hancock Old Lambrinus Dark for an advent box. Day 18 was not a happy day.

This is our second offering from the monks at St. Bernardus. Their wit beer is a refreshing, citrusy, welcome entry into the calendar. It's a beautiful example of what a wit beer should be. If you don't like wit beers, you should give this a try. It will change your mind.

It wouldn't be an advent calendar if we didn't get a bottle of the To Ol Snowball Saison. This is the third time to try this beer on the show and dare say it's the best it's ever been. Day 16 is a wonderous day of joy and intense saisony goodness.