Not Quite Snowbound in Central Indiana

This week has been a little rough. First off, the weather: Cold and icy early early this week - and roads slick enough that I spun my car into a mailbox, then a day where the temperature mysteriously touched the low fifties before plummeting back to the teens, but worst of all, a canceled roundtable with my Hoosier Beer Geek co-conspirators (all for fear of weather that never happened). So the current temperature, a balmy ten degrees, is not what really what I was hoping for. At least it's not snowing.

I've made the best of what I've been given, though - I made a big pot of chickpea curry, and now I'm enjoying it with a Left Hand Snow Bound Winter Ale. Believe it or not, this is a beer I had a small part in creating - while on a trip out west for GABF this year, we stopped in at Left Hand and helped produce the orange zest used in the beer.

This is a darker beer, with a color that's only slightly darker than the brown of your typical beer bottle. A really thin head leaves a nice lacing on the glass. A strong ginger nose won't be a huge surprises to anyone that's had Left Hand's Juju Ginger, but for those of you who haven't had a ginger beer, it's not what you might call a typical beer element. The front is all ginger, with a hint of honey and orange, and is followed up with a creamy mouthfeel and a nice alcohol zing on the back. This is an 8.6% ABV beer, and it leaves a nice warming feeling in the throat and stomach - the perfect kind of antidote to a gusty winter's day.