Samuel Adams – Cold Snap 2016 – A First Sampling

While I would never admit to looking forward to this time of year, I will gladly admit I do look forward to some of the unique beers that hit the shelves in January.  A big thank you to Samuel Adams for helping us kick off our Friday night with some fresh Cold Snap.

Cold snap is an unfiltered Belgian-style wheat beer with what they call a “bright snap of seasonal citrus fruit.”  The beer uses an exotic blend of fruits, flowers and spices:  Grains of Paradise from West Africa, anise from Turkey, hibiscus from Egypt and Nigeria, tamarind from India and coriander from California.  With all that going on you would think the beer would be too busy, but it’s not. 

Cold Snap snap is aromatic and really floral in the nose and the beer pours slightly cloudy (in a good way) thanks in part to the wheat malts.  Cold Snap starts with flavors of orange peel and dark fruits with a slightly spicy and clean finish.  The mouthfeel is soft and effervescent and the balance of fruits, spices, Belgian-yeast and hops really works well….and thanks to the “dry-spicing” (like dry-hopping only with spices), the finishing flavors are really unique

As if that’s not enough fun, Samuel Adams till be creating a Twitter-based Cold Snap Cold Map.  The city with the most tweets about the weather will win Cold Snap parties so be sure to play along with #SnaptheCold while you’re enjoying your Samuel Adams Cold Snap.

Be sure to try a Samuel Adams Cold Snap for yourself (in cans and bottles), and as always, be sure to let us know what YOU think.