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Left Hand Snow Bound Winter Ale

 (RETIRED)
Percentile
76
overall

bottled
common

on tap
available

Broad Distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
3363.32/5.03.31/5.0Winter8.6%83.2Lager glass, Tumbler
Commercial Description:
Fight cabin fever! Made with Rocky Mountain water, malted barley, hops, yeast, honey, orange zest, and other spices.

Editor’s Note: beginning in 2006, Snow Bound became the name for Left Hand’s strong winter seasonal beer made with honey and spices. It was previously known as XXXmas Ale. Below is the original XXXmas Ale description for reference.

XXXmas Ale is a spiced strong ale, using all natural ingredients to give it its festive nature. We brew this beer from a relatively high initial gravity to give it strength and body. This is (in our opinion) appropriate to a winter beer, and it helps to balance the numerous spices added. Honey is also added to increase fermentable sugars and give additional sweetness. Northern Brewer and Saaz hops are used sparingly, to allow the spices to evidence themselves. We add ground nutmeg, whole cloves, crushed cinnamon, orange zest and chopped ginger to spice the beer. Carbonation is kept low to accentuate the flavor of the beer and spices. It’s like a liquid cake. Brew water is relatively soft.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 Barrios (858), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/56/104/514/20
Feb 4, 2009  
22oz bottle with Butters. Pours a light tan head that laces with a dark amber body with ruby highlights. Tastes of ginger, citrus, and some spice. The ginger lingers and is a bit too strong for me.


 Palidor19 (1772), Brandon, Florida, USA
3.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/56/103/513/20
Feb 4, 2009  
love the way this beer smells with high dark fruits, holiday spices and dark honey, looks decent wit ha transparent red brown color, taste sweet and strong. great for the winter, hench the name


 nick76 (2656), Tampa, Florida, USA
2.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/56/103/510/20
Feb 4, 2009  
The aroma is like a christmas should be. It’s got spice, pine, fruit, bread, and molasses. The appearance is medium red brown with a small head. The flavor is like the aroma but the finish is astringent and soapy. The palate is a little thin. Overall it’s good but could have been great had it not has such a bitter finish.


 rustychiles (1023), Mesa, Arizona, USA
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/515/20
Jan 29, 2009  
Bottle courtesy of SecretSanta BeerandBlues. Pours a dark brown with a small light brown head. Aroma is rasins, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, dark malts. Flavor is dark malts, spices, almost like a pumpkinless-pumpkin beer as noted by other raters. Interesting winter brew, I actually enjoyed this one a bit.


 Butters (1646), Virginia, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/105/57/103/512/20
Jan 28, 2009  
Here comes the 300th rating for this beer! Bomber split with Barrios. Pours a very dark brown with brilliant clarity and chestnut highlights and a fair very light tan head. Massive nutmeg is the overwhelming aroma note. More complexities come out in flavor. Anise, cinnamon, ginger is predominant, nutmeg, clove. Medium body with medium carbonation. I totally agree with nqualls assessment that this is like a pumkin beer without the pumpkin. Nice change of pace.


 nqualls (1429), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/514/20
Jan 15, 2009  
22 oz bomber purchased at Frugal MacDoogal’s about a year ago. Poured a dark amber/red color with a one finger off white head. The aroma was very spicy with cinnamon and cloves. The flavor was not as malty as I expected. The same spices in the aroma are still very present. This tastes like a pumpkin beer, without the pumpkin finish.


 mesperon (135), Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
4/103/53/103/57/20
Jan 14, 2009  
Poured a nice deep amber to brown with a decent head and nice lacing. The aroma smacks you in the face with spice, and you can find some sweet malt if you really search for it. Ginger is overpowering, along with cinnamon and cloves. The taste matches the aroma: nothing but spice. It was hard to drink, but I kept going back looking for more and didn’t find it. It was a good idea, but needed more balance with a little more hops, and a lot more malt to complement all the spice.


 JaBier (1212), Capital City, Ohio, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/103/515/20
Jan 13, 2009  
Growler from the brewpub. Pours light brown with a medium tan head. Heavily spiced aroma of cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg. Cinnamon spice flavor with honey sweetness, ginger, some hop and a touch of alcohol. Pretty good overall.



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