Carwyn Cellars is a name that every Australian Craft Beer lover should know. It’s the preeminent bottle shops in the country. For their advent calendar, they’ve partnered with 24 Australian Craft Breweries to make an exclusive canned release for their “Canvent Calendar”.

In my eyes this is the best beer advent calendar on the market & as I’ve done the last two years I’ll be documenting it all here. Also along for the ride this year will be Richo, after a lot hiatus from Beer O’Clock Australia writing he’ll be back offering his thoughts on the beers of the day. This year the plan is to do 6 posts of 4 beers each – timeliness has never been a Beer O’Clock Australia quality so there should be no spoiler issues as long as you’re only a couple of days behind…

Day 9 – 3 Ravens Thornbury Fresca – I wasn’t stoked to see this when I pulled out a Brut IPA. Long term readers would be well aware of my disdain for the style & how much I celebrated its demise.

“Glad to see a 3 Ravens entry! Floral hops on the nose with a hint of fruit and resin. Very dry IPA works perfectly with the tart grapefruit. Refreshing, tart with a hint of a bite. The can notes it’s the “closest thing to a seltzer” they’ll do and for that I am glad. Could put away many of these on a hot summer day.”

I have to concur with Richo; this was tasty, super dry & very refreshing. I would even buy it again, which is a huge compliment to a Brut IPA. I’d love to see them up the grapefruit on the rebrew.

Day 10 – Boatrocker Razza Matazz – One of the beers I was most excited about this year was the Deeds Chardonnay Barrel Aged Pilsner. Boatrocker have taken that a step further by releasing an Imperial Chardonnay Barrel Aged Pilsner, clocking in at 9%, for the Canvent!

“Excited for this one just by looking at the can. Immediate scent of Chardonnay straight from opening the can! Complex palate with notes of oak, butter, citrus and only a hint of the alcohol on the palate. Once it heats up the strong flavors of the classic pilsner start coming through leading to a delightful drinking experience.”

Day 11 – Fox Friday Pucker Up Hazy Pale – I got a bit of a kick out of seeing how many people on social media thought this was a sour because of the name. Funny how preconceived ideas can dictate what you think you can taste. It was a reference to mistletoe everybody! And it’s a straight up and down Hazy Pale Ale.

“Surprised to only see my first true hazy pale this far in. But a fantastic expression of of the beer type. Thick, almost creamy mouthfeel, slight bittering from the hops. Floral and tropical nose. Very drinkable, smooth and easy, belying the 1.7 alcohol percentage.”

I got a lot of stonefruit in addition to the notes Richo has picked up. I should also note that this is my first beer from Fox Friday, something that I keep meaning to rectify.

Day 12 – Sailors Grave x Currumbin Valley AMA – The first collaboration to appear in this years Canvent is from Sailors Grave & Currumbin Valley. Abalone, Lemon & Aniseed Myrtles Gose is something that only those guys could come up with. I’m pretty intrigued to see where the flavours go.

“Fantastic can art! A complex and interesting gose by Sailors Grave. Flavors of sea salt, hints of licorice and the tart lemon flavor at the beginning. Evokes imagery of fresh seafood and a seaside escape. One of the more interesting sours on the list this year.”

The most fascinating part of this beer for me was how the aniseed flavour come in and out of focus throughout the drinking experience. At times it would be very prominent before almost disappearing behind the lemon & salt.

As tends to happen with these I fell way behind & you’ve probably already finished all of your beers. In any case I’ll get all of these up over the next few days as a matter of posterity. I thought these were a really interesting clumping of 4 beers, with brewers who’d embraced the idea of the Canvent; fun, unique but suitable for the summer months.

Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!