Tis' The Season

Snowdrift

What a long weekend it was, it was frightfully cold outside and the Minnesotans we’re on the prowl fighting the good fight with good old Mother Nature. Some calls us crazy, but we, we say we’re resilient. Exhibit A I found myself on this cool crisp late November day in Minneapolis, and of all places outside in full winter gear, hand warmers and all, screaming and yelling “Skol Vikings” Barley over 10 degrees and I couldn’t of cared less, we watched one heck of a football game, culminating into a Minnesota Vikings Victory!! It was my first cold outdoor Vikings game, and it was AWESOME.

I’m back in the great white north (Duluth) and as I’m watching Sunday Night Football I’m offered a beer. A surprisingly delightful vanilla porter. They call it Snowdrift and it’s from the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company located in Chippewa Falls, WI. I know, I know another beer review from Packer Country? Trust me, the next one will be from Viking Territory. Enough of my rambling, let’s talk beer.

First of it was offered to me in a can, not a good start, for some reason I think bottled beer has a better taste then aluminum stored beer. The beer had a very good pour, showing the typical signs of a dark porter, the opaque dark brown liquid, with a nice tan layer of head to finish off the pour in my pint glass. My first whiff of the aroma gave me hints of coffee, chocolate, and vanilla. After my first few drinks of the Snowdrift I had the taste of vanilla, and coffee mostly standing out to me. You really get these flavors because of the roasted malts they brew the beer, as well as the selected hops they use. Let’s take a look at the facts:

Style: Porter

ABV: 6.0%

IBU: 16

Color: Opaque

Brewery: Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company (Chippewa Falls, WI)

Look: Aluminum Can with decorative winter colors, big attractive logo.

Rating: 7/10

         I like the amount of effort and time they clearly took to design the label. Makes it more eye catching with the potential to drive more customers towards their brand and to purchase it. It had a surprisingly attractive color once poured into a pint glass for more observation really nice dark brown that you want to see. I however wasn’t all that impressed with the taste, it was a little too sweet in my opinion, not really giving it that really nice roasted flavor that makes it a little more bitter. The head of the beer when first poured was a solid level, but quickly disappeared to a small thin layer that you don’t want in a porter.

        My conclusion of this beer is that for what the price of the beer is, I would probably recommend you to look for something similar from different brewery, that is if you are a more traditional porter drinker and in on it being really sweet. There’s nothing wrong with their recipe, as it is clearly a popular beer for them as they make it only a few months out of the year every year. It just isn’t what I’m looking for in a seasonal porter, but that’s the whole reason of me doing this right? Too give you my thoughts on the beer I drink!

As always thank you for your time,

Cheers, Eric