Leinenkugel Snowdrift Vanilla Porter:
Hello one and all and as we are looking at an outside shot at a white Christmas here in the Lone Star State I figured there was no better time to look at a beer named Snowdrift than now.  Leinenkugel is one of those beer companies that is hit or miss with me and drinking their version of a winter beer which is not a winter warmer but a vanilla porter wasn‘t a for sure enjoyable experince.  Quickly I have to point out the redundancy on this bottles label with the “Snowdrift Vanilla Porter” then right underneath it “Porter With Vanilla.”  I guess they wanted to make sure they told us the was a porter made with vanilla, you know, a vanilla porter.  So how does it taste?  Well the beer pours the traditional dark brown with an aggressively building khaki colored head that leaves a good amount of lacing in the glass and a subtle nose of coffee and malts.  The beer’s taste is a very pedestrian porter with overly strong notes of coffee and a touch of booze and nothing else initially.  However on the after taste (particularly when you exhale) a strong vanilla flavor pops its head up with a touch of sweetness to it.  Needless to say I was surprised by this and it quickly elevated this beer from “meh” to “tasty” and definitely a repeat in the future for me.  This would be a good beer to give those who like coffee and tolerate beer because the vanilla is strong enough to make one forget about the beer you just took a pull from and makes you coming back for more.