Schell's Snowstorm 2017
August Schell Brewing Company

 

 

Tan head. Lace left. Copper color.

This one is just too much rye for me. Bready and malty. I get that it is a rye beer, but there is not much else to it. Caramel and toffee. Rye spice. Medium bodied. Dry.
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Edit. Drinking a bottle 12/22. It has aged wonderfully. Rye has cut down but shows nicely. Rye, caramel, toffee, cocoa, dark dried fruits. 4.1

 

 

 

 

Zingy "red-brown" ale that tastes like a brown ale. It is overall light, but has a bit of a chewy feel. Rye spice, molasses, slight raisin, good malt and hop balance. Very good, almost great if it had less of a standard brown ale vibe and more rye or something to make it live up to the limited special release category.

Look: amber color, small head, no lacing. Aroma: caramel, caraway, rye bread, green tea. Taste: more tea, caraway, light caramel, and a hint of cocoa powder. Finish: sweet, clean. Mouthfeel: medium bodied, velvety texture. Comments: it's a good, drinkable beer.

Poured from a 12oz bottle into glass. Date code stamped on bottle neck is '032518'.
Body color is clear, ruby brown. Overflow upon opening. Upon pouring head settles to light tan cap. Few spots of lacing.
Malt and caramel in the aroma.
Taste is rather sweet, but back end balanced by spicy rye bread. Molasses, dark fruit, and floral hops are involved. Nutty.
Medium mouth feel. Quite smooth.
Very easy drinking, slightly spicy, rye beer.

I picked up a 6 pack for $6.99 at Woodman’s in Madison, WI. I’ve always had a soft spot of Schell ever since visiting their brewery.

Poured into a pint glass, the beer is a clear red/tan with a decent beige head.

The beer has an aroma of malts, a bit of something sweet and just a smidgen of rye.

The taste is slightly sweet and caramel like. There is a bit of red apple and the rye adds a little bit of spice. I would like to see the rye turned up a notch.

The mouth is medium with a touch of slickness.

I liked this beer but would like to see the taste amped up a bit with more rye.

Pours a ruby-chestnut color with an off-white popcorn colored head of 1 finger in the snifter. Nice clarity.

Aromas of dry grain and rye spiciness, slight berry fruitiness and a hint of leather.

The rye comes out in a bold, spicy format and constructs a wall that the other flavors jump from. Supporting tastes include blackberry, cilantro, and pepper. Finish is of rye spice and blackberry-flavored Clearly Canadian.

Feel is crisp and relatively clean, with a faint resin, and a tight carbonation. Semi-dry finish.

Overall, an impressive rye lager. I don't typically like the flavor of rye, especially in beers, but this one is an exception. Snowstorm is always good no matter what they decide to do. Some are better than others. Glad I could try this one.

Malty molasses goodness, easy drinking with a lightly grassy aftertaste
A splendid compliment to Indian food in my opinion

Oh boy, Snowstorm and a rye ale to boot! One of our favorite ales. Clear and clean, rich very dark amber. Light head which fades fast in the tulip glass. Aroma of grain, malt and molasses. As a rye beer, the spicey, faintly shap are familiar from other ryle ales. A little light on the carbonation, but otherwise well-crafted. Seek it out and enjoy.

Rye! Needed to grab one to see if I need to stock up – I’m always looking for a special local rye. Could this be the one? Let’s hold some hands.

The pour is garnet, clear. Smells like rye bread with a touch of pepper. Not whelming.

Snowstorm Rye 2017 is a safe, tame, moderate. The rye is no doubt up front – languid spice, subdued earthiness, caramel. All of it on mute, all the flavors turned down to 3 (OK, the spicy rye might be at 4.6) Light, almost airy, & super easy to drink. If I were caught in a snowstorm with this, it wouldn’t last long.

This one seems like it was tuned directly to the casual drinker, with any potential high-interest edges sanded off with prejudice. Good, solid beer, but I was hoping for more.

When I first saw this was a rye beer I had moment of secret hope that they were bringing Emerald Rye back for a brief visit. Alas, no such luck...this is a brown ale. And though that is far from one of my favorite styles, this is a pretty good brown ale and when they write on the label that this beer is well "suited for brisk Northern nights" that seems about right. Great clear reddish copper body with a nice foamy 2 finger off-white head with good retention and very good lacing. Nose is full of sweet and warm notes: a lot of caramel and/or toffee, some biscuity bready grainy malt, some faint dark fruits, a faint herbal hoppy edge...I'm not getting the rye in the nose at least. Kind of in the English style to me. Taste pretty much follows the nose, though I'm not sure there's any herbal hoppiness there and the warm sweetness is all around, together with a little more nutty woody edge in there, which makes things a little more interesting. Body and carb are middling and it doesn't really develop much over the mouthful, doesn't really come to a point...it's just kind of all there at once. Would have liked to have a little more spicy rye...I don't really get it at all. Still, all in all, this is pretty good.

 

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a chalice.

Appearance: Pours a deep brownish amber. Moderate amount of bubbles and a slight finger of off white head that settles into a thin patchy layer.

Smell: A bready and toasty malt driven aroma with a scent of biscuit, caramel, and rye. Malt scent of biscuit, grains, toast, rye, caramel, nuts, and cracker with some yeast. Also some hints of dark fruit and floral hops. A pretty solid aroma.

Taste: Like it smells, a bready and toasty malt driven taste with notes of biscuit, caramel, and rye. Malt notes of biscuit, toast, grains, rye, caramel, cracker, and nuts along with yeast. Light undertones of dark fruit and earthy hops. A pretty nice taste.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Crisp and very smooth.

Overall: A pretty solid lager. Nice mix of toasty malt flavor with a touch of rye.

 

Appearance: Clear brown, big head.

Smell: Toasted bread, bits of spice.

Taste: Fruity-dark fruit, pretty sweet throughout. No real distinct hop flavor in the finish.

Overall: Picked up a sixer of Snowstorm since it wasn't a Belgian style this year. The rye doesn't make much of an impression to my senses, not particularly spicy or bready. Actually seems kind of dubbel-like but without the earthy finish.