As Abebroham Lincoln once said, "Crank this shit and let's RAGE!" Smart man.
So this is the uh, Left Hand Brewery's Sawtooth Ale and the first thing that sticks out is the label. It was actually designed by Moxie Sozo and the artist was Charles Bloom; probably both nice folks. But on a gay scale between Mogwai from Jungle Book and Gary Glitter, this ranks around "Elton John in drag". I never liked suns, also one of my least favorite stars, but I feel this crap should be in the liner notes of a Sublime cover band; perhaps I'm overly critical.
Left Hand is a pretty nice outfit though. They hail from the rocky terrains of Longmont, Colorado and got started smack dab in the middle of George H.W. Bush administration, or as I call him, Herb. Dick Doore, just about the worst doors you can come across, co-founded it with his pal Eric Wallace when we were all phallus deep in Clinton. They called themselves Indian Peaks but later changed their name due some turkeys already had that name for a beer so, trivia time, they changed their name to Left Hand in respect to Chief Niwot who Magellan-ed the living shit out that area. Niwot is arapahoe-ian for "left hand"; duhhh. So, whatever, they launched and here they are, kicking ass and taking names since the late 2000's. They have about 8 regular, all season beers, and another dozen seasonals or "special-time" brews and collaborations.
I remember my first experience with Left Hand... like it was yesterday, if yesterday was 2006 or so. I got a sampler in Massachusetts and it was bacon-on-potato loaded with dark stouts and shit; "wicked awesome". And they tasted pretty dang good; pardon my french.
This is their Sawtooth Ale, which is an American Style bitter Ale; which typically tend to be a touch higher than your traditional ales. This hits the charts at 5.3% and 27 IBUs. I mean yeah, you could probably slam 6 of these guys and knock out a high school baseball player AND get away with it. I mean you COULD. It's got a full flavored bitter taste (on purpose), with a dry, bittersweet aftertaste. It has a sweet, malty aroma, which is good considering they use Cascade, Munich, Crystal and Wheat malts. They use Black Malt also; which I've never heard of, so I'm not totally sold on that they exist. As far as hops go, they use Goldings (U.S), Willamette (Chicago; or should be), Cascade and Magnum; which makes it weird consider the amount of hops and the low IBU. They certainly make it dry though. It's like the hop sock is in your mouth. And by "hop sock" I mean "gym sock". But seriously, it tastes pretty good.
I like that their website doesn't have a food pairing for this beer so I'll help you out with this. This beer is good with cookies, more beer, Ramen noodles, glasses of scotch, checking the mail, brisket, watching television and day dreaming. This does not go well with hanging out with your personal banker. Got it?
Its an amber color and a little cloudy but like I said before, have a smooth, dry taste that is good for grandparents of 102 and toddlers of 2. I dunno how much it costs because my buddy brought it over.
In summation, this beer is okay. I like ESBs, but I've had better but this is by no means a slouch. I've definitely pick up another sampler of Left Hand's stuff. I could toss 6 or so of these back if I had to (which should run you around $7-$8) but variety is the spice of life and any bitter beer should be limited to numbers you can count on one hand.
Drinkability: 6.0/10
Taste: 6.0/10
Value: 5.0/10
Curb Appeal: 3.0/10
Curb Appeal: 3.0/10
