A few years ago, a waiter at a restaurant mentioned to Ron Eddinger that he was getting a beer Advent calendar the next day. Eddinger’s interest was piqued.
After the waiter explained the details, Eddinger decided to do it.
“We buy 24 cases, we take them all out and number them one to 24 and put them back together, one bottle of each per case,” Eddinger said. “You get a case with bottles number one to 24 so everybody’s drinking the same beer on the same day; 24 different people, 24 different beers.”
Eddinger, a Ruscombmanor Township resident, first gave the calendars in 2015, then after taking a year off, has done it last year and again this year.
This year, he bought 48 cases to make two separate variety cases: one consisting of mostly IPAs and one of non-IPAs. There are 45 people involved this year.
“Some people got one of each,” Eddinger said. “One guy bought two extra cases to give as Christmas presents.”
All types of people participate, Eddinger said, from lawyers to nail technicians to choir members. It’s very well-received, he said.
“It exposes everybody to a different beer,” he said. “Of course, nobody’s going to like every beer. I’ve only had a few comments where people said they didn’t like a beer. No one was ever like, ‘I’ll never drink that again.’ “
Eddinger goes shopping for beer in different places. He has three sons – Geoff, who lives in Madison, Wis.; Zack, who lives in Pittsburgh; and Jesse, who attends Juniata College in Huntingdon – and they bring beer home from where they live.
“If somebody has a special request, I try to accommodate them, or I ask them what style they like, and we go shopping,” he said.
After distributing the cases, Eddinger sends a daily email to participants describing the day’s beer.
“I’ll say, ‘Here’s the beer we’re drinking, here’s the style, here’s what you should expect, here’s something about the brewery,’ ” he said. “People seem to enjoy it. I tell them delete it if you don’t care.”
Although he calls the cases Advent calendars, Eddinger said there is pretty much no talk of religion or Advent among participants.
“It’s just beer,” he said.
Contact Brad Rhen: 610-371-5047 or brhen@readingeagle.com.
