Wild Goose Snow Goose Winter Ale

Brewed by Wild Goose LLC (Flying Dog)
Style: English Strong Ale
Frederick, Maryland USA

dark amber with off white head. the armoa is bready, so is the flavor. nutty finish.

bottle. Hazy mahogany pour with a fading tan head. Aroma is full of oaken notes, sweet caramel, and some dry fruit. This is a pretty bitter take with a woody acidity that hits the front of the palate. It fades to a sweeter grape-like taste. Tastes a bit like Scotch in between distant sips. not bad, I can think a few more appropriate winter brews, though.

Clear mahogany with a creamy tan head and a different label than the one shown here... which is not part of the beer actually - it’s got an aroma of dark caramel, cherries & plums, nuts, and a touch of charcoal. Medium bodied. The flavor is nice and malty, caramel and toffee, some roasted barley, fruit, and a quick hit of alcohol. Finishes on a fruity, sweet-sour note. Nice.

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Bottle (12oz). Deep mahogany with a somewhat large lasting foamy tan head. Roast caramel malt, fresh sweet cereal grain, light chocolate and yeast, sublte herbal hops, slightly funky, like a mild scotch ale. Taste is quite bitter, dry hops, very light wintery spices, a hint of alcohol and woodsmoke, with plenty of caramel malt, roasted almost to scorchedness, enough chocolate toffee to ameliorate the bitterness - pretty long fininsh, borders on harsh. Average body at best - I want to say a bit watery, but that’s not being fair - lively, bitter, a little astringent - very pleasing, just a little scorched, but I like this style - I could wish for more malt body and spice character.

Banana, sweet malt in the aroma. Poured brown. The flavor was dominated by a sweet maltiness.

Poured dark brown color with a normal head that provided normal lacing. The aroma was malty and somewhat nutty, similar to a brown ale. The flavor was based on caramel malts, was somewhat nutty, and finished with a nice touch of hops and spiciness. A nice holiday ale with a typical moderate body.

07-Jun-06 (12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with hopscotch, thanks Eric!) I always have compared this beer to the Blue Ridge Snowball’s Chance, especially now that they are brewed at the same place. As always, I like the Snowball better, but this is still a really nice winter seasonal. More balanced than Snowball, it’s malty, toasty, chocolaty and roasty, but also moderately hoppy and bitter. For some reason, this release seems less bitter than my notes from the 90’s indicate for those releases. The nose is also quite malty, showing lots of chocolate and toast, plus a bit of aromatic hops. Medium-full bodied with nice carbonation. If I still lived in DC, this beer would find its way into my fridge each winter.

09-Apr-05 (12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with jasonp, thanks Jason!) I’ve been drinking SnowGoose for a dozen years, but now that I’ve moved away from DC, I have to trade to get it. I’ve never been a huge fan of this beer, but yet, it’s still nice to drink this beer once again, and reminisce about my days in DC, drinking Goose with my buddies. It’s fairly roasty and malty early on with sweet caramel and a moderate hop bitterness emerging in the finish. I like the balance of this beer, but there’s an odd underlying grain maltiness running throughout the beer that seems out of place in a winter seasonal. The nose is on the light side, with some roast, grain and gentle hops contributing most of the aromas. Medium bodied, with a nice, clean mouthfeel. Chestnut brown in color, topped by a pretty small, tan head, even right after the pour. Wisps of lace sporadically decorate the glass. Good stuff. (7, 3, 6, 3, 13 = 3.2)

Medium reddish-brown color. This beer has a predominant nutty, woody flavor, and pretty dry palate. Not quite what I was expecting in a winter warm-you-up ale; perhaps a little sweetness or extra spice would provide the finish I looked for.