New Belgium Snow Day

One of the best things about the calendar rolling over to November is the return of winter beers. Warming, flavorful, and delicious, winter beers are most definitely one of the things that make my season bright.

My first seasonal fling of the year comes on the heels of a 37 inch snow storm that rendered transportation in Fort Collins, CO to nothing more than skis and toboggans in 2003. This minor winter blizzard was the inspiration for New Belgium's featured winter ale this year.

Replacing 2 Below, Snow Day is unlike most other winter ales I’ve tried. While most of these seasonal beers come with a heavy dose of spice, Snow day is more like brown ale. The prevailing taste is clearly nut paired with undertones of caramel. Although it’s not a terrible marriage of tastes, it does lack a certain kick.

The head is thick and sweet, but once you pass the deliciously sweet carbonation you are left with an oaky beer that could only be considered a unique and novel taste if drank on a very limited basis. I won’t single out Snow Day as a bad beer because of its bland and uninspired taste, but I do find fault with New Belgium for attempting to turn, in my humble opinion, one of the world’s most underwhelming beer styles into something it’s not.

I’ll give Snow Day an extra point because I was unfairly expecting too much from a beer that replaced one of my favorite brews. That being said, I can’t bring myself to give Snow Day anything higher than 5.5 mugs out of 10.

Buffalo Bill’s America’s Original Pumpkin Ale

If there’s one thing I told myself I was going to do with this blog, it was trying as many a new beer as I could get my hands on. This includes expanding my horizons to styles I would never even consider trying if it weren’t for blogging purposes.

With fall beer season at its end, I suppose it’s time I get around to writing up the review for the one particular style I have feared the most, pumpkin beer. Now just because I made a promise to try the beer doesn’t mean I have to go crazy when first tasting the style.

So when I stumbled upon a sixer of Buffalo Bills: America’s Original Pumpkin Ale for the low low price of $2.99, I knew it was destiny that Buffalo Bill be my first. Now, when buying beer at a discount price, there are certain things one must expect, quality not being one.

When I encountered a ketchup smell, I was kind of off put. I understand you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to craft beer, but the last thing I expected was a sudden craving for tater tots. The intrigue however went far past the aroma.

Pouring a very heavy red, the taste had a definite tang to it. It was a little difficult to pinpoint exactly what the tang reminded me of, but by the time I had finished the bottle I came to the conclusion that drinking  America’s Original Pumpkin Ale was like drinking lil’ smokies smothered in sweet chili sauce.

Although I did not particularly enjoy this beer, I admit to being intrigued enough to give a legitimate pumpkin beer a shot, next year.

Buffalo Bills: America’s Original Pumpkin Ale comes in at 4.5 mugs out of 10.