Left Hand Warrior IPA

Brewed by Left Hand Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Longmont, Colorado USA

Bottle split with curly. Definiely has some age on it, at least a year or two. Pours a clear amber with fair off-white head. Nose is very muted hops,which are completely hidden by the massive caramel and dogfood overtones, similar to that of a scotch ale. Flavor still has some orange citrus, piney hop, and a little metallic. Semi bitter finish. Would love to have this fresh.

On tap at the Flying Saucer in KC. Pours a ruby body with a dense and foamy, tan head that dissipates slowly and leaves lots of layered lacing. Really nice looking. Aroma is not the warrior I had hoped for. Moderately sweet caramels and darker toffees. Melony with weaker citrus and a bland pine covered up by the sweeter malts. Flavor isn’t too much more warrior-like. Starts with some darker caramels and toffee before moving into the resiny, weak piney citrus. The bitterness is balancing in that the malts don’t dominate, but the hops could probably double and still be well balanced. Finishes dry with a light pine, toffee, melon, citrus aftertaste that doesn’t go on very long. Medium bodied and smooth. Overall, a fairly decent tasting IPA, but pretty boring. The hops are there, but too much dark toffee and not enough aggression. If only the taste was as exciting as the appearance. Ugh, Left Hand is just blah.

22oz bottle from Total Wine (Tampa, FL). Pours a hazy caramel brown amber color with a thin white head. Aroma is sweet and floral with notes of citrus, grapefruit, caramel, some hints of spice and honey. Flavor is sweet and floral with stronger malty notes but still nice notes of citrus, grapefruit, light pine, caramel and light spice. Generally medium body with a floral hop finish.

Location: 22 oz botle from Westover Market in Arlington, VA, 5/30/09

Aroma: Citrus hops, light fruity nose
Appearance: Hazy darkish orange color
Flavor: A decent hoppiness with some sweetness to balance it out
Palate: Medium body, drinks pretty decently
Overall Impression: I thought this was a decent IPA, not the top of the style, but a nice enough beer.

Hazy orange with a thick foamy head. Lovely hop aroma, citrus with a little sweetness also. Pretty balanced hop and malt thing going on here. As it warms and lingers on the tongue there is a nice grainy bread flavor with a building hop dryness. Not the greatest IPA, but solid indeed.

bottle. Pours a slightly hazy burnished copper color, generous inch of thick foamy off white head. Tons of lacing and sticking to the glass. Aromas of thick, heavy earthy pine resins, sticky sweet caramel, and some light sweet citrus notes. Aroma tends towards the heavy and oily side- not altogether unpleasant, but not too hot either. Flavor unfortunately follows the nose, in that it’s heavy and muddled. Middling earthy citric and floral bitterness on the front. Hop profile takes on an acrid, astringent aspect, with some light orange, lemon, and pine needle flavors. Malt shows up in way too much force- sticky caramel sweetness overpowers much of the muddled hop character. Flavor could be a lot better- a shame, as warrior hops are loads of fun. Palate follows the flavor- sticky, oily, and altogether too heavy. not horrible, but certainly not style-appropriate. Overall- really, a beer you’d like to be better, but it just isn’t.

Tasting at a beerfest [Disclaimer: This was tasted along with many, many other beers during a tasting at Julios. Some of the details are a little hazy]. Not one of the better IPAs out there. Just OK.

Poured a beautiful bright orange/amber color with a frothy off white head. Aroma was big pine notes, a little floral and some malt balance. Flavor was a little underwhelming. The hop characters didn’t come through quite as much and the malt was just a little funky. Not terrible, but I’ve had better harvest ales.