Left Hand Sawtooth Ale

September 22nd, 2008 beckel

I regularly hear and read good things about Left Hand Brewing out of Longmont, Colorado. Many of their beers have been recommended to me and from reading a bit about them they seem like a pretty cool company that supports the local community and understand the importance of one of my core beliefs, balance. Today I have Sawtooth Ale an Extra Special Bitter. Head is slightly off white with about an inch being produced in a nice simple cascading effect, fading at a reasonable rate. A nice orange color that lightens and darkens into a number of nice hues depending on lighting. Smell is nice and malty with a gentle roasted aroma as well as some nice balanced floral scents. The flavor of this beer is interesting, sweet and malty with some roasted hints as well as a kicking hop bitterness seconds later. Floral flavors are present and compliment the sweet malted barley well but are not dominant. Mouthfeel is relatively light making this an easy beer to drink as long as you don’t mind bitterness. With a 4.48% ABV this beer doesn’t taste alcoholic at all but you certainly know your drinking beer as it is so full flavored. Over all this is certainly a special and bitter beer as its style suggests, if you like hoppy bitterness but still want some nice malt flavors to compliment this is the drink for you. Would certainly be delicious with most any meal particularly one with strong flavors. If your not into bitter this beer probably won’t be your thing but you may just appreciate some of its nice malt flavors. Give it a shot and ride your bike.

Left Hand Sawtooth Ale