Today is an off-kilter beer from an off-kilter company.  Left Hand Brewing.  Ever since I sampled the Left Hand beer at the Great American Beer Fest in 2003, I’ve been a big fan.  Today’s beer is a relatively new one from them … the 400 pound monkey.

This beer is an English-style IPA (seems a lot like what I define as an East-Coast IPA).  The hops are prevalent in this beer.  It’s well-balanced though and makes it a pleasure to drink.

The only problem I have with any IPA that doesn’t go over the top with the hops is that it leaves me craving more hops.  So I end up bringing out an even more hopped up beer then the last one.  If I want subtle from a beer, I don’t pick an IPA … so I’m not sure why anyone would want to try and make a subtle IPA.  Oh well, the joy of trying new creations — that’s why I love American Craft Brewers!

Beer Mentor

Today I moved away from the IPAs … I’ve been on a long kick with them … but I think it’s just because I’m catching up from my six months away from them.  Plus, I really like IPAs.  Oh well.  Another of my favorite styles is the Saison.  I was at Whole Foods today and ran across this beer.   My daughter collects bottle caps so we were looking at beers from that perspective.  The Heavy Seas brewery has a pretty cool bottle cap…especially if you like pirates, which she does.  Then I looked at the Bottle: Red Sky at Night. I couldn’t tell what this beer was until I looked closer.  As soon as I saw it was a Saison, I got a sixer.  ha ha!

If you are really observant, you’ll see that this is poured in a Schneider-Weisse Beer glass — I’d just enjoyed an Aventinus before trying this Saison.  That may have clouded my judgement a little.  This was a decent Saison … once I was halfway through with it, the flavor of the Saison really started coming through … that subtle wheat … nice mouthfeel.  Yes, I will drink the rest of my six-pack, unless my daughter beats me to it! LOL!

Beer Mentor