East End Snow Melt

Brewed by East End Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Growler provided by pghlee and glid02 shared at the Brick Store. This one pours a hazy caramel brown that looks a good bit like iced tea when held up to light. The head is small, very short-lived and leaves no lacing. The aroma is mostly caramel malts but with some coffee and a hint of hops. There is also an understated tobacco and smoke presence as it warms. The taste has the sweet malts with some chocolate and coffee bitterness which last through the finish along with a distinct woody character. The tobacco comes through in the finish as well. The mouthfeel is actually a bit heavier than I was expecting and is very smooth with less than moderate carbonation. This is an interesting winter warmer with more bitterness than I was expecting. It also drinks a bit heavier than the ABV.

Very good wimter warmer. A little differnt from typical warmers (if there is such a thing as a typical warmer). A little sweet for my taste, but that’s part of the style I guess. I great strong ale for a cold weekend day.

Growler Courtesy Naka. Pours amber/black with an eggshell head. Nose of caramel and chocolate with toffee and slight sugar. Taste is caramel and chocolate with mild astringency. MIid bitter and astringency at the end. Yummy warmer.

Suprisingly good beer from a microbrew. Had on Bado’s on tap in Mt. Lebanon. Good clean and crisp strong ale. A little thick hence the name but nothing overbearing or absurd. Decent offering.

tried this beer at a local bar and had to buy a quarter barrell for my home, strong dark winter ale with lots of aroma and lots of flavor

Pint at Jean Bonnet Tavern. Dark sludgy brown. Nose of spiced roast, chocolate malt, toast, and light wood and char. Seems like a hybrid stout-winter warmer. Chewy chunky weizen bock texture, gritty and pasty. A strange beer, OK at first but by the end of the glass I was sick of it,

On tap at Bocktown. Not one of his better beers but after Smokestack, anything is forgiveable. Aroma was so so. Could pick up some faint hoppiness with a little sugar. Pour was beautiful. A nice deep read with a 3 finger tan head. This is how a beer should look. Taste was a little thin and watery. Could not pick up much flavor over the carbonation other than some roasted malt. I’d like to try this somewhere else as it seems beers on tap at Bocktown are hit or miss with me.

On tap at Capone’s, poured a hazy, ruby color with a huge fluffy tan head into the shaker glass with a good deal of lacing. The scent was a mix of hops, chocolate, dried fruits and honey. A very interesting flavor here...with a strong hoppy, piney flavor, balanced off by a heavy, malty, chocolatey finish. I really enjoyed this beer.

On cask at Zeno’s Pub - State College, PA. Aroma is a confusing Cascade and yeast, there’s some clove oils mingled with bubblegum and plant leaf. Pours in deep murky brown-red. Tan head, softly soaping. Flavor is dominated by yeast, bananas, esters, soft chocolate and leaf. I don’t know what this beer is supposed to be, but it’s weird and confused. The flavors aren’t bad...so it crested a 3.0, but they just aren’t really in line. The malt is decent and composed of dry chocolate and light brown sugar. Yeast is probably the most dominant profile in the beer, which is way off style for a Winter Warmer, but they’re not bad yeast products. Finally, a robust hop bill makes for an interesting finish. Palate is respectable and holds up to the cask presentation. All I have to say is that for a Winter Warmer, this beer is a pretty good Dunkelweizen. Enough said.

Sampled on cask at Zeno’s in State College PA this beer poured a cloudy dark brown with a large light brown head. The aroma was light floral hops with an undertone of roasty malts. The flavor was lightly bitter with fruity hops and roasty malts that blended into a rather deep and complex swirl of flavors with a hint of chocolate in the finish. The mouthfeel was smooth and creamy. The alcohol was very well hidden. A rather interesting and complex brew.