From an original post (here) interviewing Andy before all of the required approvals from the Feds were in it seemed like a long wait to make this trip in June, six months later, to get to taste the beers we discussed. The river across the street was frozen into small waterfalls in January, beautifully verdant in June. The food we had was good each time visited.
In January I had the opportunity to interview Andy Shaw at Snow Eagle Brewing and Grill, in Idaho Falls, 
before their brew license was approved and wrote the blog ‘Anticipation’. Following them on Facebook at Snow Eagle Brewing and Grill I was happy to see the brewing begin in late February. On vacation last week, my husband and I made a point of going through Idaho Falls to have a flight of Andy’s brews with an early dinner. We were happy to see Andy himself and spent some time talking before he headed home.
Four nicely crafted house brews round out the offerings to go with the delicious meals available from the kitchen. Local history, both natural and human, inspire the name the beers on offer.
Mangy Wolf Blonde Ale – is your preference ‘grocery-store’ beer? Give this one a try, it is an easy drinker of medium body and mild malty sweetness with a nice balance of equally mild hop bitters.
Black Canyon Scorpion NW Pale Ale – anyone hailing from the NW in the US will know that bitter has been taken to a serious level here; bitter, causes a dry sensation in the mouth, as opposed to sour, which actually causes your mouth to water. But the type of hops used can influence the bitterness taste and Andy, using Bravo & Columbus hops, both high-alpha (high-test in the hops world) has managed to bring out every bit of bitterness in this 52 IBU pale ale. Worth the try if you are adventurous or ready to step into the craft beer world in the Northwest.
Snow Eagle Strong Pale Ale – an American pale with 65 IBU’s this brew is composed of eight different malts for a complex, bready flavor balanced with Summit hops (a super bittering hop with earth aromas and a mild, clean citrus finish). Packing a punch at 9% alcohol, you want to sip and enjoy this beer.
Beaver Dick Brown Pelt Ale – 20 pounds of chocolate malt out of the 11 malts used, sounds like dessert – might be for me, but it pairs well with flavorful beef dishes too as it is nicely flavored with about 52 IBU’s of floral hops and manages to smoothly shift between sweet malts and bitter hops as you taste it. This beer is an ideal pairing with dinner and dessert and, of course, your favorite company.
Enjoy a brew at the restaurant or take a growler home with you to prolong the flavor, there are two growler labels available, Snow Eagle and Beaver Dick, with the full story of this beer’s name sake on the reverse of the bottle.
I will have to wait until next January to get to Idaho Falls again, but am looking forward to further offerings at Snow Eagle. Hope you have an opportunity to enjoy these beers.
sweetempranillo 