Life & Limb - Batch 2

Considering that I've mentioned it in my "Best of" posts for the past 2 years running, I feel like I've been remiss in never actually reviewing Life & Limb on here. For those of you not familiar with the beer, Life & Limb is a collaboration between Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada that was originally brewed in 2009. It uses maple and birch syrup to add a unique flavor to an American Strong Ale.

The beer sits dark and nearly opaque in the glass, with a tan head that has almost a whipped-marshmallow appearance for thickness. The dense bubbles sit a finger thick and dissipate slowly, leaving a constant coating of foam on the beer. If held up to the light, you can just see a trace of brown around the edges.

The scent of maple syrup comes through prominently in the nose, combined with caramel, a touch of alcohol, and some light floral touches. Overall it's a dense and strong smell that overpowers other aromas.

The first sip highlights the woody and sweet flavor of the syrup, with a mild bitterness following up in the back. Some toasted/roast and a very light chocolate flavor make an appearance in the back and aftertaste as well. I feel like there are some dark fruit flavors like plum in there as well, but they are more muted. This beer has an earthy, wooden, and organic taste to it. There is some alcohol flavor just around the edges of the tongue, but they are well hidden for sure.

There's some definite substance to the beer as well, with a medium-thick body, and a moderate-high level of carbonation. It's got a creamy feel to it as well, so the carbonation seems more pleasant to me. I noted just a bit of warmth going down as well.

Overall, I'm still very impressed with this offering from Dogfish and Sierra Nevada. It's extremely flavorful, and the alcohol is well hidden for 10.2 %. Although the sweetness and syrup flavors are able to come through, even prominently, the beer is still fairly well balanced and not at all cloying. Although I'm sure it will not appear on this year's "Best of" list (there's too many epic quality beers this year), it's still a well done beer and easily worth having.

-Adam

Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Fresh Hop Ale

I picked up this beer back in August while I was at the beach with my family. It was at some nicely sized liquor store in the Rehoboth area, and since I enjoyed the Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale last time I had it, I decided the Southern Hemisphere version was worth trying. I was interested to see just how different the Southern Hemisphere version would be as well.

The aroma was quite hoppy at first, but in a way that I was not familiar with before. It had a bit of a spicy pepper smell to it. Underneath it had a toasted bready malt aroma. The smell started strong, but got weaker as the beer sat for a bit. I'm not sure about the exact science behind this right now, but it's common for the hop aroma to lessen as a beer sits out.

The appearance of the beer is a dark amber color with a rocky cream colored head. The head was about 1 finger thick, and had moderate retention. The beer was also slightly hazy. It left a decent bit of lacing as I drank the glass.

There was a bit of tangy sweetness on the tip of their tongue, followed by a dull bitterness in the back half of the mouth. This bitterness also had a bit of a pepper quality to it and left a mild hotness. I thought I detected a bit of grapefruit as well. Other than the peppery taste, the beer was similar to the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which was probably the base recipe for the beer.

The beer had a medium body, and was on the higher side of a decent level of carbonation. Just a little bit less carbonation would have felt perfect to me. There was a little bit of coating on the mouth, but not really much. It wasn't dry, but wasn't quite wet either.

Overall, it was good, but not spectacular. Since it was so similar to the normal wet hop beer and pale ale with the exception of the pepper flavor, it didn't have the wow factor I look for in a special beer. It was fairly easy to get down. I kind of wonder how long I'll keep trying special beers from Sierra Nevada though since most of them taste just like the pale ale. Of course, that doesn't extend to the Dogfish Head/Sierra Nevada collaboration beer, Life and Limb. I can't wait to try that out if I can find a bottle.

- Adam

Revisited: Sierra Nevada 2009 Bigfoot

So what happens when you let a beer sit for 6 months to a year? Well, generally speaking probably some pretty terrible things. Beers with lower alcohol content tend not to hold up well, but given the right beer with a high enough alcohol content (around 8% or more) it becomes possible. The goal is to gain complexity not found in the fresh brew, and a better blending of flavors. Well, I have a bottle of 2009 Bigfoot from back in February that I'm ready to try out and see what has happened.

The first sniff pouring the beer in the glass revealed a strong fruity scent, which dropped off fairly quickly. Underneath is a roasted malty quality similar to caramel. There's a touch of apple cider as well. Mostly it's got the caramel sweetness to it that I didn't feel came out as much originally.

The appearance is identical to the fresh version, so I'll skip over it.

At the first sip I got a fruity sweetness on the tip of my tongue for just a moment, cherry or apples, but it quickly went away. The hop bitterness took over on the back of the tongue, and was followed by a warmth and a somewhat grassy aftertaste. On the second sip I noticed that the bitterness was more mellow and rounded than I previously remember it being, but I found the flavor slightly astringent. There was a dark chocolate flavor just around the bitterness that I didn't think mixed well. I noticed that if I didn't hold the beer in my mouth, the unpleasant flavors subsided. The fruit loop flavor I had noticed in it with the previous bottle was gone.

The feel of the beer was pretty similar, although I felt the warmth came through more than before, and the carbonation was significantly reduced. Instead of the prickling sensation I had previously mentioned in this beer, there was just a mild tingle on the tongue.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this. After 8 months or so, I was hoping that it would make the beer much better, but I'm actually not enjoying it as much as I did when it was fresh. Granted I didn't exactly keep it temperature consistent, and the flavors have changed quite a bit. However I guess I'm not appreciating the changes as much. I think Dan has a bottle of the 09/09/09 that he's putting aside for us to try in 2012, so that will be an interesting experiment with a beer that's designed to be aged.

- Adam

Random News Update

So there's 2 fairly major things that I found out about this week pertaining to beer. First is that this year, Samuel Adams will be releasing Utopias again. This is generally regarded as the world's most expensive commercial beer, retailing at $150 a bottle. Dan and I are already on a waiting list for this beer, so depending on how many bottles are shipped in, we may end up with one. It comes in a special 24-oz bottle shaped like a copper brew-kettle. It's served uncarbonated, and at room temperature.

The other thing I was informed of was that Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada will be making a set of collaboration beers. One is called Life & Limb, the other is Limb & Life. Limb & Life will be released first as a draft beer, and is a lower ABV version of Life & Limb. Life & Limb will be released in bottles only, and is meant to be aged. More info can be found here.

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2009

It's barleywine season apparently. The last trip over to State Line with Dan showed a slew of barleywine style beers and other various craft brews. There were too many to pick up all of them, and they had run out of a few I wanted, but I did manage to pick up a few interesting selections. One of these was the 2009 Bigfoot, Sierra Nevada's barleywine. I had tried the 2008 25th anniversary Bigfoot last year, but apparently never got to the review. Looking at my notes though, there's a lot of similarities with this year's version, to the point where a seperate review would be redundant.

For those that don't know, a barleywine is a strong beer, often 8-12% alcohol. It's generally brewed during the colder months of the year, and can often be aged due to the high alcohol content and high level of hops. The style originated in England, and was known for it's fruity characteristics. For more information on the style, there's a good article by Michael Jackson (not the singer) here. Sierra Nevada puts their version out annually, and each year has a different label to mark it.

The beer poured a clear, deep reddish-brown. It supported a frothy 2-finger creamy caramel color head that had moderate retention, and left a decent bit of lacing on the glass.

The aroma was grassy but sweet, and a hop scent lurking underneath. There were fruity notes as well, reminding myself and Dan of apple skins, and I thought I detected some cherry at first. I also had a sensation of caramel with the aroma. The smell, however, was not all that strong, and I had to stick my nose nearly in the glass to really get a feel for what was going on.

The taste is of caramel on the front of the tongue at first, followed by a strong hop bitterness on the back half of the tongue as it's swallowed. As the bitterness of the aftertaste kicked in, Dan and I both briefly noticed the taste of fruit loops of all things. With additional sips, I began to notice the fruityness (possibly prune) that existed on the tip of the tongue, and just a bit of spice around the mouth. The aftertaste that developed was similar to the aftertaste of a cup of coffee. The one thing that I didn't notice much in the taste was the high level of alcohol, although as the glass progressed I certainly could feel it.

The beer had a moderate body, with a moderately strong level of prickly carbonation. It left a thin coating on the teeth, but wasn't long lasting. At first the beer had a creaminess to it from the head, which was actually quite pleasant and helped offset the bitterness, but as the beer progressed the head dissipated, leaving a much sharper sensation in the mouth. There was very little warmth to it given it's strength, just a little bit around the mouth after swallowing. It was also nicely balanced between wet and dry, not too far to one side or the other.

All in all, the drinkability of this beer is too high for it's strength. The bitterness is a little much for my tastes, although not overwhelming. It is however a beer that's meant to be sipped, not chugged. It's incredibly flavorful, and although it's a bit harsh, it has the potential to be aged, which should alter the character nicely. I'm planning on saving a bottle or two for a while, and seeing how it is in another year. It's absolutely an enjoyable drink, and one that I hope to be able to pick up every year.

-Adam

Sierra Nevada 12th Release Wet Hop Ale

I almost didn't pick up this beer because typically I had associated hops with bitterness, and I tend not to like things that are strongly bitter. However, I had just been reading about wet hopping process that day, and seeing this bottle just felt like fate. Wet hopping is the process by which fresh, rather than dried hops, are added to the beer during the brewing process. Because the hops are perishable, they are generally picked directly off the vine during the harvest season in September, then shipped immediately to the brewery to go into the beer. A much higher weight of hops than usual are added, as the hops contain mostly water, so they are not as concentrated as dry hops. Sierra Nevada claims that this was the first US beer to be brewed with 100% fresh wet hops.

The beer poured a dark tan/red color with a 3 finger light tan head. It had good retention, and nice lacing as the glass progressed.

The aroma was mostly hoppy, with grassy overtones. There was a sweetness to the smell, a little bit of a floral scent, and some fruit. The label said it should have an aroma of pine and citrus, and although I could see the pine, I really didn't detect the citrus.

The taste was sweet just on the tip of the tongue at first, and then gave way to a strong hop bitterness. There were burnt and roasted malt flavors as well. I didn't note much alcohol, except a little in the aftertaste. I did notice that the beer got less bitter as I continued with it, either because I was getting used to it or for some other reason.

The beer had a medium-heavy body with just a light tingle from the carbonation. Overall it was on the thick side. It was a little dry as well, but definitely not too much. Not quite refreshing, but not something that would make you thirsty either.

I'm really still not sure how drinkable I considered the beer. I did enjoy it, and thought that it was good, but I don't think I would like to have more than one. It was a little bit strong, weighing in at 6.7% ABV, although certainly not too much. I can't see myself going back for another any time soon, but maybe when next year's batch rolls around I'll be in the mood for it again.

- Adam

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale 2008

Winter is here, and with it comes a slew of specialty Christmas and winter beers. As such, I'm going to post some special reviews along with the normal list I have to get through. I was over at State Line Liquors yesterday, and there were so many different exciting seasonal beers to choose from. Between the local craft breweries and offerings from overseas, it would take me years to try them all. There's a few in particular that made my "wish list" for this year though... Affligem Noel, Scaldis Noel, Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale, Mad Elf, Insanely Bad Elf (which I have waiting in my fridge), Petrus Winterbier, Anchor Christmas Ale, etc. I actually was considering doing a "12 days of Christmas" type thing, but my wallet is saying not this year.

One that I had not necessarily considered was Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale, but Solomon and Lindsey had it at thier house, so of course I had to give it a shot. Now Sierra Nevada is one of the breweries I feel like I've never given a fair chance. Once a long time ago I went to a party at a friend's house, and they had Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale and Miller Lite to drink. This was back when Miller was pretty much the only thing I'd had, so I wasn't terribly interested in the Sierra Nevada. At a friend's request I gave it a shot, and thought that it was bitter and unpleasant in comparison. It wasn't until recently that I started going back to them to try some of what they have to offer, but in a toss up, I'll generally take something a little less well known. Go figure.

Anyway, according to Beer Advocate, as a style, Winter Warmers are malty, not characteristically bitter, can contain some spices at times, and may have a warming sensation from the alcohol. Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale is none of those things. In fact, it's pretty characteristic of a standard IPA, or India Pale Ale.

The beer poured a hazy light brown/copper color. I got a small off-white head despite the moderatly vigorous pour I gave the beer. It was maybe a half finger thick, and dissipated pretty quickly. Still, there was a bit of lacing on the glass as I drank it.

The aroma was very pleasant, with a mixture of sweet maltiness, hops, and a hint of cherry. I didn't smell any type of spices or anything to indicate the seasonal nature of the beer though.

The taste was pretty much a straight IPA - malty on the tip of the tongue, then dominated by the bitterness of the hops throughout the rest of the mouth. There might have been a touch of caramel flavor in it at first, but nothing that really stood out. The finish was bitter, and left the aftertaste of the hops in my mouth for a while.

The mouthfeel was good - the body was medium-light, and the beer left a nice coating on my teeth. It was definitely well carbonated; not noticable at first, but a good strong tingle if I held it in my mouth for a second. I also noted that the beer was very crisp and refreshing - definitely more on the wet side.

The drinkability was fairly high as well. The few IPA style beers I've tried, I wasn't really a fan of. This includes Dogfishhead's 60 and 90-minute IPAs, which most people consider excellent. I've always found the hops to be too strong and overpowering, to the point where it's not even enjoyable. This beer however, I found to be well balanced. It was still bitter, but it wasn't bitter in a way that I had a hard time drinking it, or felt like getting rid of it. All in all, it was a good if not very good beer; it just wasn't particularly wintery.

- Adam