Snow Goose
Sleeping Giant Brewing Co.

12oz can. Poured out an opaque, jet-black color with a small, light brown head of foam. It left thin rings of lace on the glass. It smelled of vanilla, coffee, chocolate and toffee. Nice coffee and vanilla taste with chocolate and caramel.

473 mL can from the LCBO, included in Sleeping Giant's Northern Party Pack. Dated Sep 6 2022 and served barely chilled. Listed at 6.4%.

Pours a clear chestnut brown hue with ruby-red highlights; it's topped with about an inch of lumpy, foamy, light beige-tinged head that holds on for five-plus minutes. A generous coat of lace is left behind, with a wide collar and patchy cap holding steady - looks great to me. Subtle yet intriguing aroma of roasted grains, coffee and vanilla, with suggestions of toffee, toasted bread and floral hops. Off to a good start.

Big vanilla flavours at the forefront, with notes of milk chocolate, toasted bread and caramelized sugars quickly picking up the slack. Coffee flavours come through on the back end, joined by hints of cocoa, earthy hops and burnt sugar; vanilla persists into the aftertaste, as does a slight hint of coffee roastiness. Medium-light in body, with moderate carbonation that adds some bite to this porter's smooth, soft mouthfeel. Surprisingly drinkable given its strength, assuming you like vanilla more than I do.

Final Grade: 3.88, a B+. Snow Goose is a solid flavoured porter, but I think I'd take their Skull Rock Stout over this. Goose is a little sugary IMO, with the vanilla flavour being a little overstated for my tastes... keeping in mind that I don't really care for vanilla beer in the first place, and that this is hardly the worst offender I've come across. In other words, it's a quality vanilla porter, and worth a try if you're interested in that sort of thing. Too bad I'm not.