OK, I'm back. Hope you got yourself a decent brew while I was away. The consensus seems to be that no, it does not snow in El Salvador. It does in Georgia, though, if only rarely. By now, of course, you're probably wondering just where the hell I'm going with this, so I'll tell you: it may not snow in El Salvador, but they do make a beer there that's a decent "snow beer": Cerveza Caguama Special Export.

 What's a snow beer you ask? It's a beer that's great for packing in snow and drinking ice cold. Years ago, I had a basement living room in Rhode Island where I'd retire to listen to music and drink beer after work. When it snowed, I could open the ground-level living room and stick bottles of cheap East-German pilsner, Beck's, St. Pauli Girl, and assorted other brews (Schmidt's and Schmidt's Bock were favorites) in the snow. Pack them tight, mind you, and just open the window when you need another. Those were the days.

Anyway, we got a rare snowstorm here in Georgia not too long ago, so I did the same with a few bottles of Caguama. Chilled in the snow, the beer was drinkable from a glass or right from the bottle, and made an adequate first beer of the night. Not something I would drink on a regular basis mind you.

I had no idea what a Caguama was until I read the brewery website:

Legend has it the fishermen of Central America sought the Great Loggerhead Turtle in warm tropical waters. It was tribal belief that this powerful turtle also known as the "Caguama," symbolized good fortune for the fisherman's village. It is our hope that you too will experience the good fortune of the Caguama when you experience this award-winning Latin beer. 

Those awards, of course, consist mostly of medals from a number of beer tasting entitities that seem to thrive on handing out medals to mediocre beers so they can say they've won medals. I for one am not impressed.

Cerveza Caguama Special Export pours to a pale straw color with a thin, flimsy head formation and a very faint nose hinting at light malt. Taking a sip, the beer is a tad watery, with a light maltiness and a touch of corn. Other than that, there's not much going on here. No discernible hops leave the finish a bit sweet, with a bit of vegetal aftertaste. Alcohol is average at 4.6% by volume.

I suppose this beer might be passable on a hot day as well as a cold one, but I can think of a plethora others I'd ask for first. It has the benefit of being relatively inexpensive, about $11 for a twelve-pack at Kroger supermarkets here in Georgia, but I think I would readily pay more for a beer with flavor.