Lakefront Brewery: Snake Chaser

Welcome to week 2 of our variety eight-pack from the Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, WI. Hopefully, by now, you've recovered from St. Patrick's Day. Us? We're still game for more, so this week's tasting is most appropriate: Snake Chaser, an Irish-style Stout. The name and label are obviously a tip of the hat to St. Patrick, who drove pagans (oops, we meant snakes) out of Ireland. But we digress.

Lakefront Brewery Snake Chaser Irish-style StoutIrish Stouts tend to be dry, light to medium in body and low in alcohol content, with a distinct bitterness that comes from both roasted barley and some hops- though the roasted character will be more noticeable. They're sometimes served on nitro-draught, to mimic Guinness Draught and provide that signature velvety-smooth head and feel on the palate, but the nitro serving method isn't always preferred.

The Taste The 12-ounce bottle pours a pitch-black, topped with a creamy tan- colored head that leaves a healthy ringed lace as it settles, with a bit of stick on the glass. Deep roasted malts, some acrid notes, blackstrap molasses, fresh grist, moist earth, and hints of chocolate and coffee grounds. Nearly medium-bodied, with a mineral-tasting and slightly sweet malty roundness. Some carbonation-induced creaminess on the palate segues to an expected dryness and tangy, astringent roasted barley bite. A touch of hop bitterness provides some citric edge and melds with the acridness of the brew for a perceived sourness. Smoky characters emerge as the beer warms, as do subtle drops of caramel. The overall dryness of the beer carries through to the finish, with a semi-burnt linger and bitter end.

Final Thoughts Currently, there are only 20 reviews of Snake Chaser on our site, but it's received fair marks so far. That said, we suspect that many of the reviewers are confused as to what a Stout like this is meant to be. Personally, we think Snake Chaser is pretty damn spot-on for the style. It's not too thick; it has plenty of roasted malt and dryness for what you'd expect out of an Irish Dry Stout, and at 5 percent alcohol by volume, it's a good candidate for a decent session brew. We recommend giving this beer a chance to warm up a bit before you enjoy it, and try pairing it with some barbecue or sharp cheddar cheese.

For more info: lakefrontbrewery.com

Respect Beer.

formatting link

Reply to
beeradvocates
Loading thread data ...

I feel sorry for anybody who sits down for the night with one particular beer at one of these "sessions" I keep hearing about.

Do any of you actually have "sessions" like this? Are they fun?

Reply to
Douglas W Hoyt

I think that in Prague they have solved that manliness issue (at traditional places like the Golden Tiger) by serving beer in uniform glassware and when there is only a small puddle left in the glass you automatically get your glass swapped for a full one even if you can't possibly handle another. An endless session!

Reply to
Douglas W Hoyt

I don't recall that in Prague. Everywhere I drank there (as well as the rest of the CR), beer came in half-liters (occasionally 4 cl). And you had to ask for another.

The only places I've encountered the continual refill are in Cologne and Dusseldorf.

-Steve

Reply to
Steve Jackson

These world class places and experiences, preceded by dedicated journeys, are worth their sessions (though if a Munich pub carries a full Ayinger line I am very tempted to have more than just one of the offerings).

But for every pleasantly-yielding-some-flavor 4% beer that gets reviewed in a magazine and has a couple of nice notes that gets listed as a good session beer, I start to wonder who is going to sit down at that kind of session, without the journey, without the corresponding romantics to drink it exclusively. The number one "session beer" in the world, in the true dedication sense, and which its adherents would assert fits the admirable Lew Bryson definition, is Bud Light. I pub crawl in London and enjoy many ~4% beers and my bladder adjusts accordingly, but since I don't get to London more than once a year I like to try a whole meandering crawlful in just one night.

Anyways--great posts Jesskidden & Steve Jackson, and points taken (and I will hope to take them frequently). :>

Reply to
Douglas W Hoyt

On 3/28/2007 4:49 PM Douglas W Hoyt fell asleep at the keyboard, and awoke to find this:

There are a couple of places in Munich where you can get Ayinger, but it's also pretty easy to get out to Aying on the S-Bahn, then take the pleasant walk out to the brewery's pub-restaurant-hotel. In and of itself, that qualifies as a world-class experience, whether you content yourself with a single beer style for a session, or go for more variety.

Reply to
dgs

I got over there in 2003, and Aying was probably the best day of all, no offense to Munich and the Oktoberfest and all that... Heinz gave a great tour, and apologizing that they were setting up for a rare wedding reception in the bar, he moved us to the balcony for our samples. My god... The weather was beautiful, the beers were great, and there were hot air balloons popping up toward the mountains on the horizon. Wow.

Reply to
Russ Perry Jr.

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.