I finally got around to drinking Widmer‘s Snowplow Milk Stout and taking notes so I could write up a real review. It’s a good example of the sweet stout style of beer, though the "milk" part of it comes from milk sugar (lactose). Lactose is actually unfermentable; instead it adds body and sweetness to the beer.

I quite like it. Of course, I’m hard-pressed to find any beer from Widmer that I don’t like, but for my money they’ve put out a really good stout here. (Of course, a friend gave me the Snowplow, so technically it isn’t my money on the line…)

Appearance: Inky black in color, motor oil black. Low carbonation resulting in a minimal dark tan head that fell quickly.

Smell: Roast malt. Hints of dark coffee.

Taste: It’s a creamy black stout (that is, malty with strong tones of roast malt and black patent) with a strong residual milk sweetness, quite good. Hop character sits nicely in the background without overpowering, leaving the malts and sugars free to do their thing. Hints of blackstrap (molasses). There could be coffee in there, too.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, thick, full. Very smooth. Complements the flavors—and the style—well.

BeerAdvocate’s score: 84 out of 100, with 91% approval. Not as high as I would expect, but not terrible, either. We’ll go with it.