This beer holds a very special place in my heart. In November of 2008, at a hotel after party in St. Paul, Minnesota following the first night of the Heathen Crusade 3 festival, someone brought the Sam winter pack and offered it to us all. There, during an impromptu performance by an Estonian band member, I happened to pick this beer, my first craft beer (I wasn’t even 21 yet…), And this launched my lifelong love affair for craft beers.
Anyway, onto the beer, flashlight shows deep reddish-orange colors and the head retention is moderate. Smell is toasty, doughy breadiness with hints of smoke and a little floral hop beneath it all. The beer has a very creamy, velvety smooth body that pairs perfectly with a smoky, chocolatey, and quite sweet malt flavor. The hops then enter the scene and balance out the flavor exquisitely and develop into a very neutral finish with just the faintest remnants of smoked malt and herbal hop flavors. I am absolutely biased here, but this is a world-class beer in my opinion, I could drink a whole keg of this myself.