Beer of the Weekend #292: Snow Day Winter Ale
Tomorrow is the deadline for my December LV recommendation so I am having a late brown bottle lunch to knock off one of the final two holiday beers I am sampling. The next will be served tonight.
The beer for this afternoon hour is Snow Day Winter Ale, brewed by the New Belgium Brewing Company of Fort Collins, Colorado.
Serving type: One 12-ounce bottle. The “BEST BEFORE” date on the back label is “04MAR12.”
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is very deep brown that is close to, but not quite, black; light passes through to give it ruby tones. Three fingers of creamy, rocky, tan head dissipated very slowly to leave a ton of foam trails on the glass and a thick ring around the edge.
Smell: New Belgium suggests a super cold serving temperature, which is surprising. At that temp there is really nothing more noticeable than grapefruit citrus and candy and toasted caramel. (I even get a nose full of cold air.) I let the beer warm a little and got a nice whiff of chocolate. It is a very pleasant and enticing mélange.
Taste: Mostly hoppy, but not intensely so. Lots of grapefruit citrus up front. As my taste buds adjusted, the sweet caramel and cocoa emerge, but both are still overshadowed by the hop citrus. Each sip leaves a lasting, almost metallic, bitterness.
Drinkability: It is a nice brew, but I think it is a little overhopped for the holiday season. I prefer my holiday spice to be holiday spice.
Fun facts about Snow Day:
-Style: BA classifies it as “American Black Ale.” Here are the details:
-Price: $1.79/bottle at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: The label says, “Serve at 3ºC (37ºF).” That is fucking cold for a beer that is not a macro adjunct.
-Alcohol content: 6.2 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Neither New Belgium or BA offer any pairing suggestions. Weird.
-IBU: 55.
-Here is some cool and informative nerdiness from the beer’s webpage:
-Here is more nerdiness from the bottle:
I think this is the perfect analogy to summarize Colorado and west coast craft brewing. “Hmm… We have this handful of malts, so lets just dump a truckload of hops in with them.”
-Calories: 190 per bottle.
-I cannot confirm this, but I think Snow Day has replaced New Belgium’s other winter brew, 2º Below Winter Ale. Or, perhaps it is a rebrand, though I think that is unlikely since BA classifies 2º as ESB. 2º is not listed on the New Belgium site.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
The beer for this afternoon hour is Snow Day Winter Ale, brewed by the New Belgium Brewing Company of Fort Collins, Colorado.
Serving type: One 12-ounce bottle. The “BEST BEFORE” date on the back label is “04MAR12.”
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is very deep brown that is close to, but not quite, black; light passes through to give it ruby tones. Three fingers of creamy, rocky, tan head dissipated very slowly to leave a ton of foam trails on the glass and a thick ring around the edge.
Smell: New Belgium suggests a super cold serving temperature, which is surprising. At that temp there is really nothing more noticeable than grapefruit citrus and candy and toasted caramel. (I even get a nose full of cold air.) I let the beer warm a little and got a nice whiff of chocolate. It is a very pleasant and enticing mélange.
Taste: Mostly hoppy, but not intensely so. Lots of grapefruit citrus up front. As my taste buds adjusted, the sweet caramel and cocoa emerge, but both are still overshadowed by the hop citrus. Each sip leaves a lasting, almost metallic, bitterness.
Drinkability: It is a nice brew, but I think it is a little overhopped for the holiday season. I prefer my holiday spice to be holiday spice.
Fun facts about Snow Day:
-Style: BA classifies it as “American Black Ale.” Here are the details:
Also referred to as a Black IPA (India Pale Ale) or Cascadian Dark Ale, ales of this style range from dark brown to pitch black and showcase malty and light to moderate roasty notes and are often quite hoppy generally with the use of American hops. Alcohol can range from average to high depending on if the brewery is going for a "dobule [sic] / imperial" version.
-Price: $1.79/bottle at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: The label says, “Serve at 3ºC (37ºF).” That is fucking cold for a beer that is not a macro adjunct.
-Alcohol content: 6.2 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Neither New Belgium or BA offer any pairing suggestions. Weird.
-IBU: 55.
-Here is some cool and informative nerdiness from the beer’s webpage:
In 2003, we had a massive 37-inch snowstorm over two days in Fort Collins. Everything shut down for a couple days – no work, no school, no cars. The only way you could get around was by ski or toboggan. When we began brewing Snow Day, we looked to this one storm for inspiration. The dark characters of the malt bill reflect the dark stormy sky at the beginning of the snowfall. But on the third day, the sun broke through and everything was glorious! The name Snow Day evoked joyful freedom. Everyone remembers waiting for the school report as little kids. When you heard your school was closed, you suddenly had all day to play in the transformed, white landscape. Well, that’s the kind of emotion we put into this beer.
Pleasantly hoppy, Snow Day carries the subtle chocolate and caramel flavors of a new brewing malt known as Midnight Wheat. The Styrian Golding, Centennial and Cascade hops bring the backbone of hoppy bitterness to complement the roasty undertones. This beer is the deep garnet of a roasted walnut and presents a creamy tan head, floating artfully atop. Snow Day is bold and hoppy, drinkable and strong.
It reminds you to enjoy the unexpected.
-Here is more nerdiness from the bottle:
With 3 feet of powder closing the roads, a brewery is not a bad place to get snowed in. Given the unanticipated hall pass of a snow day, our brewers decided to experiment. Hmm…what about this dark caramel roasted Midnight Wheat braced with a serious load of Styrian Goldings, Centennial and Cascade hops? Shovel it in. What a deliciously unexpected way to spend a SNOW DAY!
I think this is the perfect analogy to summarize Colorado and west coast craft brewing. “Hmm… We have this handful of malts, so lets just dump a truckload of hops in with them.”
-Calories: 190 per bottle.
-I cannot confirm this, but I think Snow Day has replaced New Belgium’s other winter brew, 2º Below Winter Ale. Or, perhaps it is a rebrand, though I think that is unlikely since BA classifies 2º as ESB. 2º is not listed on the New Belgium site.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
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