Schell's Snowstorm 2018
August Schell Brewing Company

12-oz bottle into Belgian ale glass

A - transparent body of deep amber under a finger or two of off-white; medium visible carbonation

S - biscuity malt, funky banana and clove, yeast

T - biscuity malt, Belgian yeast funk, fruity and floral notes, slightly metallic taste

M - medium body, medium carbonation

O - not bad, but not my favorite style

Got in a trade with The-Adjunct-Hippie. 12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, best before 3/15/2019. Pours slightly hazy/cloudy deep orange/copper/light reddish color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky light khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice dense spotty foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big golden raisin, plum, peach, pear, apricot, orange, melon, red apple, white grape, peppercorn, clove, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of banana, bubblegum, toffee, nuttiness, roast, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, dark/bready malts, and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with great strength. Taste of big golden raisin, plum, peach, pear, apricot, orange, melon, red apple, white grape, peppercorn, clove, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of banana, bubblegum, toffee, nuttiness, roast, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Light-moderate peppery yeast spiciness; and herbal, floral, woody, grassy, roasted bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of golden raisin, plum, peach, pear, apricot, orange, melon, red apple, white grape, peppercorn, clove, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, toasted biscuit, banana, bubblegum, nuttiness, roast, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, dark/bready malts, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with an awesome malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and no astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from bitter/spiciness and carbonation. Medium-plus carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, fairly crisp/sticky, and lightly chalky mouthfeel that is great. Minimal warming alcohol for 7.6%. Overall this is an excellent Belgian strong dark ale. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/spicy yeast, candi sugar, dark/bready malts, and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth, crisp, and easy to drink for the ABV, with the modestly bitter/spicy/drying finish. Great balance of well rounded Belgian yeast, candi sugar, and dark/Munich malt complexity; with nice noble hop presence/balance. Mild residual sweetness with crisp dryness. A very enjoyable offering, and impressively well made style example. No complaints.

 

 

 

 

On tap at Pizza Luce, Richfield. Poured a dark, dark brown color with a small, tan head of foam. It smelled of dried dark fruits, toffee and caramel. Sweet and malty with some cherry and pear taste.

 

 

 

 

 

Always look forward to the Snowstorm offering from Schell's, even if it doesn't hit it out the park it is usually a nice change-up and seasonally fitting...this 2018 offering fits the bill, though it is in the middle of the pack or lower compared to previous Snowstorms. Pours a fairly clear and carbonated reddish/amber/cola with a 2 finger off-white head that dissipates fairly quickly but leaves good lacing. Nose promises carmelized brown sugar, a sharp bubble gummy yeast, biscuity and nutty malts. Taste follows the nose, with the yeast being even more pronounced, burnt toffee instead of brown sugar, and then there’s a bite that complements the nice warming round sweetness of the malts. The mouthful doesn't quite bring it all home... not at all heavy, which is nice, but the carbonation is a little on the high side, it is a little thin and watery, and it doesn't clean up at the end quite as much as would be ideal. All things considered, this won't go down as one of the most memorable Snowstorms, but it is still an enjoyable winter beer, and I'm glad I bought a sixer. Looking forward to a few more by the fireplace, hoping it snows some more.

On tap. Khaki tan head. Copper color.

Caramel, biscuit, Belgian yeast, spice, clove, and toffee. Has a nuttiness to it in the finish that I like.

Medium bodied. Smooth and enjoyable winter brew.

Poured from 12oz bottle into glass. '032919' is stamped on the bottle neck, which I take to be the best by date.
Clear, amber brown colored body. Just a think off white head with the initial pour, which folds back to scattered islands and a bubble fed ring. Bubbly lacing mostly slides back into the body.
Aroma of biscuit malt and Belgian yeast, with an inclusion of floral hops. Interesting fruity yeast smell.
Taste is a little metallic, but has good flavors of lightly roasted malts, the Belgian yeast, and the slightly spicy hops. All in all a good balance of the slightly sweet malts, the yeast esters, and the hops that bite.
Thin to medium mouth feel. No bitterness. Okay carbonation.
Easy to drink seasonal beer that has a Belgian touch and a good balance of flavors. A good choice for a session beer by the fire.

This beer pours a slightly ruby tinted clear brown with an average head. The aroma features big sweet banana baked in brown sugar, sweet bread, caramel, cinnamon, red currant jam, licorice, and sugared raisin. The flavor is not as sweet as the aroma suggests, starting with a rye bread malt flavor, with hints of caraway and cinnamon, a suprsingly spicy hop bit, as well as clove, brown sugar, and a touch of caramel and date on the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with fuzzy carbonation. Overall a nice, well structured beer, and one the offers little surprised throughout.

This is the 100th August Schell beer I have reviewed. I like Belgian style beer but I have not been a fan of Schell's attempts at the Belgian styles. And I am not a fan of this latest Snowstorm. Reminds me a lot of Tilburg's Dutch Brown. This is thin and uninspiring. Mild Belgian yeast esters with a little dark malt. I have 11 more bottles to get through so maybe I will change my tune by the last couple. I wish Schell's would stick with British or German style beer for the Snowstorm series.

Good looking and highly drinkable. Reminds me of the SS 2015 Wallonian with an apparent stone fruit quality. This seems a little smaller than some previous SS, noted by being a little thinner and easy to put down. But still holding some enjoyable complexity. Malt forward. Both aroma and taste have a brown ale quality with less sweetness or caramel but more spiciness
Amber with browns and reds. Very clear. Beautiful tan head that is thick and rich looking. Settles slowly and attractively.
Bottom line, this is a nice drinker

Looks the way it should: Darker / cola brown in color topped with a medium tan head.

Nose is equal parts biscuit malt and Belgian specialty malt, with a more poignant touch of Belgian yeast in the end. Up front there’s a fairly classic hop profile (think: Noble hops, but less expressive), but it’s probably nothing to mention in this age of crazy-exotic hops and NE IPApalooza.

Smooth, lightly sweet, and malty (duh!) on the first sip, with nary a bitterness to it.

I might even consider this one to be a ‘dangerously drinkable’ beer if it weren’t for the fact that it’s not tripping my inbuilt “DANGER! Will Robinson!” high ABV meter (and it’s neither listed that I can see on the packaging, nor find on the interwebs). I reckon it’s below my daily regular tipple (8.1%, brothers and sisters) but still over 6%. At any rate, it is smooooooooth for its strength, and with a lighter carbonation.

Richer, married mouthfeel, lightly warming, and with a bit of bitterness providing a complement (which is not to say balance per serving, because it’s not too sweet to begin with) as the drink warms. It really is a sipper at heart, but the way some folks guzzle nowadays I reckon I need to re-think that dangerously drinkable epithet. ;)

Excellent mouthfeel as drinkability, as I’d expect from August Schell.