Wild Goose Snow Goose Winter Ale

Brewed by Wild Goose LLC (Flying Dog)
Style: English Strong Ale
Frederick, Maryland USA

Snow Goose pours to a deep brown color with a nice, creamy tan head, and a soft carbonation. This beer has some really nice, fragrant hop aromas. Piney, citric hop aromas marry with aromas of sweet malt, toast, and caramel. The palate is a very firm malt backbone. Rich flavors of sweet malt, caramel, toast, and toffee coat the tongue. Really a muscular malt body, not too hefty, but satisfying. Snow Goose finishes malty up front then dries with a long, citric bitter hop bite that lingers, and a slightly warming burn. Really a very well done winter ale. Really good balance of malt and hop flavors and aromas. I don’t think it will ever return to the ringwood glory days, but this Snow Goose is the best I have had in the past two or three years. The big hop character is welcome in my opinion. I would match this beer with hearty fare. This would work well with roasted turkey or pork. I would even pair this with a nice grilled steak and baked potato.

brownish colour, nice roast aroma. Nice body, hint of a toffee/chocolate/coffee taste aftertaste is a bit dry, ggod carbonation.

A nice winter seasonal. A nice, medium to full-bodied ale that is both complex and very drinkable. Nice mouthfeel, sweet up front but balanced quickly with hop spicing and some estery character. Nice fruit character and pleasnat spicy finish.

A pour from a 12 ounce bottle presents a dark amber bodied ale with a decent sized rocky, tan head that leaves moderate lacing. The nose is rather mediocre with some roasty malt and subtle hop aromas; there’s a tad of bready yeast here, too. Caramel and molasses flavors dominate the palate, but a well hopped finish with some good orange citrus tang lead to a long-lasting finish.

From Bottle

poured Amber, with hufe fluffy white head that I had to let settle. Aroma of slight fruitness. Flavor of caramel, malts and spice. Nutmeg maybe. Creamy, velvety mouthfeel. Smooth and easy to drink. Didn’t pick up any hops intil it warmed then the hops were present in the taste, not overpowering though.

Draft, Baja Bean, Staunton VA. Ruby-brown color with offwhite head. Little nose, mostly light sweet caramel malt and a twinge of earthy hops. Medium bodied with flavors of medium caramel/toffee malt and a subtle but present hop accent in the finish. A fine drinkin’ beer, but not what I’d hoped for in a winter seasonal.

bottle-this one was pretty good! poured a plum amber hue with a sudsy off- white head. aroma of plums, raspberries, light smoke, red wine notes-very fruity! flavors exhibit the plums and some tannens/smokey tones-very interesting. very good for an english stong ale. palate was just a tad fizzy but other than that, very good!

Paid $1.65 for a 12-oz single at Wine Warehouse, Charlottesville, VA. Pours dark amber/mahogany with a 1" tanish head. Smells bready, slightly sour, and slightly malty. Flavor is malty, has a tiny bit of dark fruits and maybe orange, with a hint of smoke... and finishes rather peppery. Slight, very light, caramel in the spicy finish as well. Not a bad brew at all, just doesn’t overly excite me.