Après-Snowshoe
Whitewater Brewing Company

 

 

473 mL can from the LCBO, one of six new beers in their Après-Adventure mixed pack. No packaging date; served barely chilled.

Pours a clear copper amber colour, capped with nearly two fingers of smooth, foamy, cream-coloured head that collapses within two minutes or so. A thin collar survives, surrounding some filmy wisps on the surface; no lace at first, but there's spotty deposition as the level drops. The aroma is subdued and malty: I'm getting toffee, doughy bread and fruitcake - you know, cherry, brown sugar, raisin and plum, that sort of thing, along with a discernibly rummy booziness.

Sweet flavours right off the bat - red licorice candy, cherry, toffee and almonds, with plum/prune and raisin not far behind. Not a lot of development beyond that... the back end is boozy-sweet as expected, with just a hint of licorice, followed by more toffee & dark fruits persisting into a warm aftertaste. Medium in body, with low carbonation that can barely be detected; feels smooth on the tongue, but it's disappointingly thin for 9%. I actually really enjoyed the first half of this glass, but it became more of a slog later on.

Final Grade: 3.78, a B+. Whitewater's Après-Snowshoe is the strongest beer (by abv) in this mixed pack - it's big, bold and boozy, and makes no attempt to hide that fact. That's not a huge problem for a scotch ale, but in order to stand out within this style, you need something more than just big malt flavours and alcohol. Snowshoe is a decent strong ale, but I can't say with confidence that it *really* distinguishes itself from the other local seasonal Scotch-style ales that tend to pop up at this time of year. In summary, it's good, but not great.