Best beer advent calendars for a very hoppy Christmas countdown in 2025

After careful deliberation, the Best of British Beer has created the best beer advent calendar. While the brand has used a similar design for several years, the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to mind. With its great selection of beers, this advent calendar won’t fail to deliver.

What sets this calendar apart is the range of included breweries. Beers range from hazy IPAs (guaranteed crowd-pleasers) to fruity beers that will appeal to those who love a hoppy tipple (the chocolate honeycomb stout from Seven Bro7hers brewery, for example). I appreciated the mix of bottle and can sizes too – with 330ml, 440ml and 500ml bottles and cans included – which ramps up its appeal.

In recent years, everyone from John Lewis to Fortnum and Mason has launched own-brand booze-filled advent calendars, so it’s great to see smaller breweries getting in on the act. And Black Sheep Brewery’s Christmas beer advent calendar is a great premium pick.

Black Sheep Brewery, based in Masham, North Yorkshire, was founded in 1992 and is known for its innovative stouts, pale and blonde ales and hoppy IPAs (which, I should point out, have bagged a pretty impressive haul of awards).

The calendar includes plenty of bestsellers, although I was especially excited about the seasonal sips such as the Blitzen beer, a true winter warmer infused with notes of chocolate and caramel (the bottle, featuring a Santa hat-wearing sheep, is also incredibly cool). Similarly, the two included coasters will certainly come in useful.

The brewery has clearly given the calendar’s design some thought – I love the “This box belongs to…” space that allows the owner to add their name (and ramps up its suitability as a gift). The design of the box, which features icicles on the side, is fantastically festive, too.

Woodforde is a Norwich-based brewery that has been doing its thing since 1981. While I’m often wary about calendars that only contain a single brewery’s tipples, Woodfoorde has an impressive portfolio, which means there were no such concerns here. And I found it the best mix of beers and ciders.

Despite its heritage, this is a brewery that has something to offer every type of beer drinker – the tropical IPA was unexpectedly delicious, as was the Santa’s tipple festive lager (who can resist a beer in a can adorned with a beer-swigging Santa?). As a traditionalist, I loved the inclusion of the deliciously drinkable wherry amber ale.

My one gripe is that it’s packed with landfill-destined foam noodles – I’d have appreciated more sustainable packaging.

I was seriously impressed by the range of beers in Best of British Beer’s lager advent calendar, which is a great option for anyone hoping to expand their beer palate.

Thanks to this Christmas countdown, I now have a serious weakness for Williams Bros Brewing’s wonderfully citrusy che guava radical lager, as well as some of the lagers from smaller breweries rarely represented in the advent calendar world (Surrey-based Hogstar Brewing). There’s even a lager made with champagne yeast. Sounds weird, but somehow, it works.

I also loved how cardboard shreds (as opposed to foam noodles) were used to cushion the contents.

BrewDog beer advent calendar has a funky, rather than festive, design. It’s seriously stylish, adorned with what can only be described as post-modern Christmas trees. And it happens to be one of the most sturdy out of all those I tested.

With 25 doors – one more than all of the other calendars I tested (although one of the items is a pin badge, not a beer) – you’ll find all the brand’s big-hitters here, including wingman craft lager, clockwork tangerine and punk IPA, as well as a pint glass. A great option for fans of BrewDog.

I often find myself thinking about why beer advent calendars don’t have a more exciting design, and although the design of Menkind’s beer advent calendar is rather simple, I absolutely love it. The ring pull-shaped doors are genius and incredibly easy to open.

I loved the inclusion of lesser-known breweries such as Toast Brewing (a London-based brewery that uses surplus bread to brew its beer). But my one gripe is the price tag – given that all of the cans are 330ml, I expected it to be slightly lower.

Signature Brew pub in a box is the best beer advent calendar for gifting. It offers brilliant value and includes multiple non-beer added extras, including a signature brew pint glass, some bar snacks (the salted nuts were delicious) and coasters.

I love the suggested Spotify playlist, with songs to match every beer. The box contains eight cans of Signature Brew’s craft beer, including its bestselling backstage IPA and its studio lager. But as this isn’t a traditional festive countdown, I’d recommend saving this for Christmas Day.

If you’re looking for a beer advent calendar that introduces your nearest and dearest to tipples with which they might not be familiar, look no further. The 24 cans hidden behind the doors of this calendar include several from far-flung breweries. Take Omnipollo, for example. You may not have heard of this Swedish brewery before (apparently its beers are brewed in a church), but I can recommend its deliciously crisp pilsner, which is included in this calendar.

There’s something to tickle every tastebud here – the strawberry sundae beer might not appeal to everyone, but there are certainly plenty of beer drinkers who’ll love it (this pale pink brew was actually much tastier than I expected). There’s also a great range of offerings from the UK, including London’s Two Tribes Brewery (the cans are pure works of art, too).

This calendar might only have 12 33ml cans but the price reflects this, and it still offers fantastic value. The breweries featured are all British, and it’s another calendar that doubles as a great way to discover new favourites. Personal highlights include the West Coast IPA from Cornwall-based Firebrand Brewing, and lumina, which is a fruity IPA from Berkshire’s Siren Brewery.

I also loved the various extras, from the funky coaster to the detailed tasting notes. As a beer-drinker who’s toured breweries all over the world, I’ll happily raise a glass to this well-priced calendar full of British brews.