Leinenkugels Snowdrift Vanilla Porter

Brewed by Leinenkugel Brewing Company (Tenth & Blake Beer Co.)
Style: Porter
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Bottle. Medium-dark brown with an average tan head. Very fake vanilla aroma and flavour, some nice roast undertones, but the fake vanilla kind of killed this for me. On the thin side too.

Almost non-existent aroma, thin head, terrible vanilla flavor ruins what might be an otherwise average porter.

Pours dark brown. Flavor really throws you with this one -- it smells like a pretty standard porter, with some chocolate and darker malts (although there really isn’t much there) -- but the flavor brings in root beer and vanilla cream soda. It has a really weird artificial sweetness that doesn’t do it any good. This tastes more like a novelty beverage you’d get for a college party than it does like something they put a good amount of effort into. The vanilla is too sweet and artificial, and doesn’t add much complexity. Really more like a soda than a beer.

Vanilla, touch of cocoa. Not robust or velvety. Might be a good porter to introduce people to get them away from the fizzy yellow stuff, but nothing special to anyone well versed in craft beer. Light porter.

A brown pour with amber highlights and a thin head. Aroma is artificial vanilla, light chocolate and hint of black cherry. Flavour is cola like sweetness. Vanilla and light cocoa. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

UPDATED: JAN 7, 2013 On tap poured into pint glass. Dark brown color with no head whatsoever, although this may be due to how the bartender poured it. Aroma and taste of vanilla, cocoa, caramel and roasted malts which all blend together well with none overwhelming the others. Body is rather thin for a porter. Decent amount of carbonation, neither too high or too low. Overall this is very tastey and easy drinking. Basically this is like they took Breckenridge Vanilla Porter and watered it down. Definitely LeinenCoors best non-Big Eddy series beer and certainly a huge step up from their normal basic, boring fare.

Cola brown color with a creamy off-white head. Velvet mouthfeel with an aroma of vanilla, caramel, and toasted malt. Lots of vanilla flavor with chocolate, caramel, and a hint of roasted malt. Very nice and easy to drink.

Snowdrift pours a rich deep pure brown with a thick head of small off white bubbles. Nose is subtle vanilla and just a hint of sweet caramel. Taste is sweet burnt caramel, slight bitters and just a bit of coffee on the finish. Body is very fluid, texture is medium and carbonation is slight. Finish is warming good lingering roasted nut, coffee and slight sweetness. Overall, beer has an interesting flavor profile but could use a bit more depth.

One of the better offerings from this brewer, which I generally find to be below average. I’d say this is about average. From a bottle into a port-style glass, it’s the color of root beer and has a fizzy head the disappears almost immediately. Slight aroma. Flavor is good, with the vanilla complementing the porter well, though it’s a bit thin-bodied and weak for a porter. Slight bitter finish that is not unpleasant. I’d have this again.

Dark with red hue. Minimal, dissipating head, no lacing. Malty, slightly chocolate aroma. Clean, crisp and thin--especially for a porter. Pleasant vanilla finish with a dirty, coffee-like aftertaste. Surprisingly good and well-suited for a cold night.