Samuel Adams recently asserted that their Cold Snap White Ale is the official beer of Groundhog Day. We are not exactly certain how that “official beer” designation came about. And we don’t approve.
There is certainly room to debate what the official beer of Groundhog Day is. Pennsylvania boasts some well-loved cheap beers. There is no way that Sam Adams, all the way up there in Boston, is going to be the choice of most (any?) folks who really care about Phil the groundhog.
Yuengling is further from Phil’s home in Punxsutawney – some 150 miles – than Iron City in Pittsburgh. But Latrobe, the ostensible home of Rolling Rock, is even closer. However, we know that people all over the privately owned portions of Gobbler’s Knob (the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club does not allow any drinking on their property) were drinking all three of these beers in volume.
And while we can’t imagine that a craft brewery would ever truly be the official beer of a kitschy event in small-town central Pennsylvania. But if one craft beer did capture the hearts of Groundhog Day lovers, Sam Adams’s generic Cold Snap White Ale it would not be. Instead, one of the following brews that actually pays homage to Phil would.
Great Notion Brewery, based all the way out in Portland, Oregon, is a bit far from Punxsutawney. But they at least respect the mammal with their Groundhog Day double IPA. As they explain, “This hazy DIPA will certainly cast a shadow when you pour out this opaque stunner. Just like the portly rodent, we keep this beer extra fluffy with a grain bill of almost 60% oats and wheat.”
Logyard Brewing Company is about an hour up the road from Punxsutawney in Kane, Pennsylvania. So, they have a little more claim on the little marmont. And the brewery has been putting out a seasonal Prognosticator Pilsner. In 2022, they even proclaimed on the can that that year’s Prognosticator Pils was “The Official Beer of Groundhog Day”.
Another brewery up the road from Phil’s home, Straub, puts out a Groundhog Altbier. As an altbier, it is a traditional, German style winter ale that Straub brews up at the end of every fall.
The oldest craft brewery in Pennsylvania, Penn Brewery in Pittsburgh, also honors the mammal. And, actually, they seem to be the only beer maker that actually uses Phil’s name with their Punxsutawney Philsner.
Personally, we don’t think February 2nd is the sort of day to be spending your extra hard earned money on a fancy craft brewed beer. Better to save it for a trip to Florida, where you can be drinking cheap beer under the sun with your toes in the sand. But if you are not going to stick with one of the Pennsylvania cheap beer classics for Groundhog Day, then at least pick something more appropriate than Sam Adams Cold Snap White Ale.
