Left Hand Stranger

Ah, Left Hand, out of Colorado. I enjoy the beers I've had from them... a regular resident of our fridge in the summer is Good Juju. Good shit, there. This is their American Pale Ale, the Stranger. Ha, Stranger, from Left Hand... you get it, right? If not, sit on your hand for a few minutes until the numbness sets in, and yeah. Go blind, see what happens, blah blah. Just don't let your mom catching you do it.

This pours a light golden color, with a moderate white head that doesn't stick around too long but leaves moderate lacing on the glass. At 5% ABV, I'd be surprised if it lasted. The nose is mostly pine notes, very light toffee and bread. The flavor is, well, light... and like really watered down grapefruit juice. It has medium carbonation, and wow, this is light-bodied. Almost like a pilsner. Or American piss water, but better tasting. That's it, if Bud Light were to come out with a grapefruit flavor, this might be it... but it's still better than Bud Light. Maybe more like a piney Bud Light Platinum (which, to me, tastes like watered down Bud Light, which, in turn, tastes like water. Anyone surprised by the lawsuit against AB-Inbev about watering down their product?). I'm not sure... It is very clean and refreshing, so maybe this would be really good on a sweltering summer evening. But not as good as Good Juju.

Overall, it's ok. I was hoping for more. We'll get to the "more" either later tonight or tomorrow. I promise. We have another offering from Left Hand to consider, and a stellar American Pale Ale, as well.

3.75/5 caps

-Jennie

I've been wanting to try this brew for a while. Not only because of the name, but because Left Hand puts out some great brews (see Jennie's review above). Color is a light golden, almost like your typical American Adjunct Lager. The aroma is piney, hints of caramel, toffee and bread. I like the aroma. The taste is, unfortunately just how Jennie described it. Watered down grapefruit juice. You get the flavor and some bitterness, but, there's unfortunately no bite. Some slight earthy tones toward the back, but nil on the malt flavors. Normally I'd enjoy this more (insert "Nathan, you're a hop head. You consider me a friend, right? I just want to talk to you about your hop problem"), but this is too watery to be satisfying. I agree with Jennie that this would be good on a summer evening.

I, too, expected more. Especially with an epic name and the label to match. Where's the dude's hand? It's not terrible, by any means. Just too light for my personal liking. This would be a good gateway beer into the world of craft beer (for a piss lager drinker), but then again, a lot of the pale ale styles are. This is no Doggie Style, but it's also not a beer to be drinking when it's around 30 degrees and your city is recovering from 4-6" of snow. 4-6" is what she said, HA! Stranger, HA! I think I'm done for now.

3.8/5 caps

-Nathan-