Schell's Snowstorm 2017 Rye Ale / Minnesota Breweries One by One #54

Schell's Snowstorm 2017. Rye Ale. 6.1% ABV. August Schell Brewing, New Ulm, MN.

Clear, bright  auburn color, ample cream-toned froth atop. Looking nice.

In the nose: spicy, biscuity-y, rye malt. Just sweet enough.

In the mouth: Nice! Rye malt spices up the malt, body is smooth, on the light side. It's a good drinker, easy going, tasty. Not too much complexity to this, but the flavor is fine and plentiful. Good one.

Reddish brown ale with hints of spicy rye and bread crust. Ideally suited for brisk Northern nights.

Hey, while we're at it, let's take a moment and look back at my visit to August Schell Brewing Company last year. It's a lovely day, and the Bier Garten is open on a Sunday, so Jason and I drove (well, he drove, I sat in the passenger seat) 93 miles, for 1 hour and 45 minutes to New Ulm, MN, and the 54th brewery that I visited last year. We couldn't go inside, mind you, and there was no taproom. A window was open and we could purchase our beers there and drink them in the Garten, stroll through the grounds, soak up all the history and beauty.

This was only my second time at Schell's, the first being six years prior, on the occasion of their 150th Anniversary. I couldn't live with myself having not been to Minnesota's oldest brewery, and the second oldest family-owned brewing operation in the nation, and in that case it was Jason and Angie who helped me get there, too. What excellent friends they are. That time there was a tour, and we could go inside, and get a guided history lesson, and a much wider variety of beers to try. On the other hand, there were no deer to be seen, and only a pea-hen, and some pea-chicks, but not a single peacock. Were they all hiding from the crowds? August Schell routinely finds itself on every list you can find of the most essential, most beautiful breweries to visit, but without the deer and peacocks, I felt cheated.

Look, way in the back, it's a Schell's deer!

Not this time, there were plenty of deer resting in a fenced off area, and peacocks roamed at will. As far as beers, I had two, the Hefe Weizen, and it was an appropriate choice for the day's weather, and the new Fort Road Helles lager, which is now available in cans. It was perfectly fine as a Helles lager, but I'm not much of a lager fan, so I've never bought a six-pack of it. (And this was certainly not an occasion for jotting down notes in the ol' notebook. And don't go telling me to use my phone.) I'll definitely review it if someone from Schell's gives me a sample, hint, hint. It went down nice and easy in the July heat.

It was a beautiful Sunday, and the beer was right, the grounds were stunning and gorgeous. All you have to do is walk around and enjoy the pretty. A perfect way to while away an afternoon. After two beers, Jason and I had to get on the road in order to click a few more breweries off the checklist in our quest to see them all in 2016. Our next stop was a brewery in Blue Earth, 66 miles due south and over an hour away, and we had to get there, then off to stop number three before it got late and dark. I'll tell you about those visits, too, soon. Meanwhile, a few more pictures:

Jason at the fountain. 

I got a deer to pose with me,
but he didn't have much to say.

drunken gnome!

peacock on the rooftop!

peacock in the parking lot!

contented gnomes.

One further note before I forget. We were trying to coordinate our visit to Schell's with an appearance at the Starkeller taproom, which had yet to open, elsewhere in New Ulm. That didn't happen in 2016, so I was glad we got a stop at Schell's in of some kind. StarKeller, the home for their barrel-aging program finally opened earlier this year, and is high on my list of new beer place to see, and drink at.