Ok. So we kinda panned the last Left Hand offering. This is their redemption, as this is a brew we know and love. Furthermore, this post is dedicated to our friend Rachel, who loves this beer. It's her go-to craft brew. And trust me, her fiance makes some fantastic beer. It's also our friend Jess's anathema, as she is a vegan. Sorry, Jess... sometimes, you gotta have a little lactose in your coffee. Come on, almonds and soy beans have feelings, too. And how can you live with soy cheese? It's not real cheese. I couldn't live without Brie. Or Vermont extra-sharp cheddar. Or Gruyere. And don't even get me started on the porter-cheddar they carry at Kroger. But I love that you've come to appreciate craft beer since we've met.
This pours black as night with very light coffee-colored head. The head is minimal to begin with and leaves like an out-of-your-league one night stand the next morning. There's a lot of coffee in the nose. A lot. Like I want to brew a fresh pot right now. There are also some rich malt tones, and, well, yumminess. Let's take a sip. Oh my, this is good. It's the perfect blend of coffee, chocolate, and fantastic stout. It tastes like coffee when I am out of cream or milk (ironic, since it's a milk stout). It has the ideal hop bite at the back end, and a great malt backbone. And it's silky and light-bodied... unlike, say, Guinness, which to me feels like it's a 690-calorie meal in a 90-calorie glass. It drinks more like a porter than a stout. This is something I could drink all night long. Why oh why oh why did we get just one????
Oh, because this was part of a mixed six-pack. And we have more beer to review. Yay beer!
4.4/5 caps
-Jennie
So, after completing a Jackson Pollock/Ralph Steadman inspired painting, I need more alcohol to keep up the inspiration. Multicolored hands, I start in on this review. And I'm not going to knock our vegan friend,and my soon to be half-sister (as I normally do face to face).
This pours a dark color. As dark as a starless night. As dark as Emo-kids claim to be. The head looks like coffee with some cream in it, it fades away though. The nose has coffee and dark chocolate that overtake the aroma of anything else. Drinking this, however, reminds me of Coca-Cola Black, if you remember that. It was Coke with coffee. Only this is much better. The only reason I compare the two, are the coffee with sweetness in a non-typical way of combining the two. You get the coffee tones with the sweetness of the malt. The lactose sugars (non-technical terms; the thing that makes it a milk stout) do not come out that heavy. There is some hop bitterness toward the back, but not like your typical hops, more like a coffee bean sort of bitterness. I catch some roasted notes in there as well, as any great stout should have. This is smoother drinking than most stouts, however. The 'silky and light-bodied' description that Jennie gave is spot on. It leaves a residue of that first cup of morning coffee in your mouth that makes you want to go to Tee Jay's and get a Barnyard Buster and a cup of coffee at 3am after a 5 hour drinking excursion.
All in all, this is a good brew, and this is the quality that should be thought of when you think Left Hand. So go give yourself a stranger, clean up, then go out and purchase some (unless you're vegan, as lactose sugars are milk sugars, ergo, milk, ergo animal, ergo... well, you get it).
4.5/5 caps
-Nathan
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