Left Hand is another brewery from Colorado with a solid small bottle line up and a series of world class big bottles (both bombers and 750s.) They have two stand outs in the small bottle line, their flagship ESB “Sawtooth Ale” and a Milk Stout. The Sawtooth was just the New York Times’ top pick in a bitters tasting. While the Black Jack is probably not going to be anyone’s top pick in a porter tasting it is a solid example of the style and plays things a bit differently than most. I’ve been noticing that most domestic porters tend favor either chocolate or coffee, the Black Jack tastes most like a chocolate covered malt ball. Super grainy and refreshingly different. The nose was quite roasty and chocolaty. Body had some heft but was still light enough to be refreshing. Hard to find this one in New York City at the moment, but definitely worth looking out for.
Breweries specialize. Chelsea Brewing here in New York makes great stouts and other malt forward beers (although their Hop Harvest IPA is consistently great, and it should be noted that their Hop Angel IPA has come a long way.) Russian River does incredible sours. Sierra Nevada practically created the hop intensive style of brewing that has dominated the American craft brewing scene for the past 25 years or so. I’ve always enjoyed their Pale Ale, not as a hop monster but as something that I can find in most places that I can actually drink. In any event they have earned my respect by being around and brewing that beer when I was drinking chocolate milk and watching the Snorks. It’s a good idea to respect your elders and I was hoping that their porter would be a similarly classy brew. Not too crazy but with something interesting to hold one’s attention. Turns out the porter is a relic from the early days of extreme brewing. Do I smell hops in my porter? Yes I do, and it’s got a head like an American brown, with a thin body to match. Tastes bitter and unloved. Stick to what you know guys.
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