Snow Plow is Widmer’s limited-release winter seasonal beer, a sweet milk stout with an interesting history. It started as a Collaborator project with the Oregon Brew Crew back in 1998 and it was, in fact, the first Collaborator beer Widmer brewed (and subsequently bottled). In 2004, it won the gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the “British Stout” category.

Milk stouts are chewier and sweeter than ordinary stouts due to the use of lactose (milk sugar), which is unfermentable by the yeast—thereby giving the finished beer more residual sweetness, body, and (often) creamy texture. When brewed properly, they are amazing.

Snow Plow is a milk stout done properly.

Appearance: Black with creamy cocoa-froth head; very straightforward.

Smell: Creamy and very mellow… roasted malt notes are there, along with some chocolate notes, but it’s all smoothed out and mild.

Taste: Super-smooth and creamy; dark, very rich, any bitter astringency is almost completely absent. A bit of a mocha flavor, spiked with sweet cocoa syrup, a touch of very rich, thick, fresh cow’s-milk cream.

Mouthfeel: Smooth beyond what you’d have any right to expect. Full body, amazing creamy texture, finishes sweet and thick.

Overall: Delicious; this is an amazing stout that I keep overlooking but is quickly (with each sip) becoming a favorite all over again. World class.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of B. On RateBeer, it scores 3.41 out of 5 and is in their 77th percentile.