Beer In Review - Left Handed Irishman

When St. Patrick's Day rolls around, some beer drinkers turn to the Irish, which typically means Guinness. Well, Saranac decided to grab some of that market with their Irish Red Ale. While it certainly won't compete with a Guinness Stout, it is an alternate choice for people who aren't big on that style.

Saranac's Irish Red Ale offers a good amount of near white head on the pour. It has good retention too. The body is a clear reddish amber (Saranac describes it as "deep garnet"). There's a decent amount of hops (Vanguard) which greet your nose on the bouquet. The maltiness is on the light side of medium. I didn't really pick up on the "caramel and toffee notes" that Saranac says are there. I suppose after all the stouts and porters I've been drinking, my palate needs more than a couple "notes." Overall, it had a lager-like mouthfeel to it. I did a bit of research on Vanguard hops and found that they're an American offshoot of Hallertau, the preeminent German hop used in lagers for centuries. 4.5% ABV

It was ok, but it didn't wow me. But that's because lagers aren't my style. Still, it would probably go well with steak and I'd order it out in a restaurant.

The other two brews I'm reviewing this month come from the Left Hand Brewing Company. Situated out in Colorado, they offer to make real beer from the snowy Rockies.

The Black Jack Porter pours out of the bottle with a decent amount of cream-colored head and forms the typical dark brown body with light ruby hues of the style. This is a robust porter with roasted malt dominant, but chocolate is quite evident too. Although it clings to your tongue while it's in your mouth, once you swallow it has a clean finish. 6.5% ABV

Checking with the website, Left Hand Brewing used Magnum hops for bittering. As its name implies, this is a very bitter hop (10.0 - 12.6 a/a). I suspect that's what why the taste really clung to my tongue. US Golding hops were there for flavor, because where would a porter be without the Golding? ;)

I also got to try the Milk Stout but I think I got an old bottle. In many ways it resembles the Porter in appearance, but there wasn't a lot of head and it died quickly. Although it uses the same hops as the Porter, I really didn't get a sense that they were present. There was a faint bouquet of chocolate and espresso which were evident on the tongue as well. 5.9% ABV

The website states that it's a cream stout with actual milk sugar added to "mellow the intense roastiness" and provide "the most incredible creamy mouthfeel." And Left Hand isn't shy about posting the accolades this beer has received. However, my one sample didn't live up to the praise. I'll have to try this one again to figure out where things went wrong. It may be some time though as Left Hand isn't available in CT.

In other brew news, CT now wants all the unclaimed bottle deposits to cover state budget shortfalls. It used to be that all those nickels went to the breweries and, in turn, it would subsidize beer prices. According to Beer Guy at my local store, only 1/3 of all cans are ever returned (he didn't mention bottles) so a lot of nickels were going to the brewers. Once the state took over, beer prices went up.

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DED