Snowball’s Chance Winter Ale

I sit down anxiously to enjoy this beer. It has graced my refrigerator for some time now, but I have yet to taste it. I pour the winter ale into my Rogue pint glass and receive a rich, frothy head. The events of the day go through my head as a meander to my computer, nothing particularly exciting or dismal today, but I’ve just been feeling a gloom. The beer is sounding quite good at this point. And it is pretty good.

I sipped on it for a bit, as my brother just called and we spoke for awhile. As it warmed and flattened, I’ve found myself enjoying this one more than I had before. At first, it had a flat bitterness to it that overrode most of the other flavors. Towards the bottom, this negative has subsided, giving it a nice, nonoffensive flavor, but still not too exciting.

This is another offering from the Frederick Brewing company, the makers of Blue Ridge Amber, which I loved, and has been reviewed right here on beerdrinker.org previously. I do not think that this beer compares to their amber—which has been conspicuously absent from my refrigerator for quite some time now.

Overall, this is a decent winter ale. I don’t feel that it compares to the fantastic Jubel Ale from Deschuttes, but it’s a fine option for a change. Go ahead and let it warm up a bit before getting too far into it.