The can for today’s advent calendar beer makes me think of the 80s. A rockin gold eagle on the can and a background that looks like old, dark wood paneling.
Eaglebräu Weizenbier Dunkel
I crack it open and hear the eagle cry, perhaps accompanied by an electric guitar riff from your mom’s basement. The beer pours a light brown color, reminding me of cloudy iced tea. Lifting the glass I instantly notice yeast on the nose.
The flavor is mostly built of biscuit malt with some whole wheat bread characteristics. Subtle floral hops come through the finish along with a hint of Cavendish tobacco. The yeast I smelled also comes through on the palate: strong, but not in the pleasant, fruity style of Belgian yeast.
This is a moderate beer, but in the end reminds me of the 80s basement brought to mind from the can. In the end, this beer tastes a little murky and dank. It’s nothing overly terrible, but perhaps like a cigar that’s been sitting around a little too long, or tea leaves that have dried out and don’t really brew the best cup.
Privatbrauerei H. Egerer
There have been a few entries in this series now that I've been unable to find the original brewer. Only two so far were certainly brewed by Privatbrauerei Heinrich Egerer, the others falling to their claim by export re-branding or perhaps as a contract brew.
You'd think with a title like Eaglebräu and "International Trademark" emblazoned on the front of the can, it would be easier to find some concrete brewer information. Again, this is a beer not found in their product listings. The only information is on the can (which lists them as brewer on EVERY beer, and we already know that's not true) and internet searches only pull up beer review websites, which all list Egerer as the brewer and say this beer was had as part of the advent calendar.
That leads me to wonder if a small selection of these beers (the ones I didn't share a brewer history) don't exist outside this advent calendar. If that's the case, thankfully they didn't make up the majority of the series. Here's to hoping the final three beers finish the series well with delicious taste and interesting backgrounds.
Beer photographs by me.
Previous Advent Calendar entries: Intro - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20