REVIEW 77: SNOWDRIFT VANILLA PORTER

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company

STYLE:  Porter

ABV:  6.0%

PURCHASE:  Draught (60-oz. pitcher), $10.00

SERVING:  Said pitcher, poured into pint glass. Standard pour resulted in 2 1/2" head, and a slower one got only slightly less than that. Ironically, a faster pour on Round 3 got less than an inch. Retention was average to slightly worse than average, at any rate.

APPEARANCE:  Dark, dark ruby-brown, like Guinness. Tannish-beige head. Decent bubble action, particularly for a porter. Almost no lacing in the glass, though there was some in the pitcher.

BOUQUET:  Smells kind of like Guinness, too. Vanilla? I suppose. It's not obvious; let's just put it that way. The main aroma here was coffee complemented by malted grain. There is arguably a tinge of hops, but nothing significant in that respect.

PALATE:  Thin body with the usual level of carbonation. Entry is semi-malty, mid-palate is semi-roasty. Emphasis on the "semi" prefix. Mid-palate also sees the emergence of a toasted-grain essence that dominates the picture from that point forward, although a coffee/tea note joins it in the aftertaste. Vanilla? I suppose. It's not obvious; let's just put it that way.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  The Leinenkugel Brewery makes its debut appearance on Crockett's Cold Ones with this, the "Snowdrift" Vanilla Porter. In other words, eh. 

I will concede that this one was at the upper end of that category. Regardless, I've always felt that Leinies were, more or less, what Anheuser-Busch would put out if they had a craft beer division. Tonight's session only reaffirmed that prejudice. Cue the Budweiser Clydesdales.




GRADE:  C