Left Hand - TNT

I have been waiting to try this one for a while!  While bocks are literally THE beer that started me drinking craft beer (nod to Granite City's "Brother Benedict's Bock"), weizens were not too far behind.  So to combine the two should result in a beer that will be near and dear to my heart for the foreseeable future.  Plus, to add an interesting new twist to a brew is something that I always appreciate.  This beer has a lot going for it (AND it is made by Left Hand) before I even open the bottle and I am very excited.  Let's pour!

Picture is my own.  Bottle art image used without permission for educational uses only.

Aroma 7/12

You can smell this as soon as you pry off the cap.  Once in the glass there is dark roasted malt which borders on a coffee-ish aroma, and the smell of chaw (though it is really the Lapsang Suochong tea).  This tea is apparently smoked and the smoke definitely lends a strong hand to the scent.  There are some other scents at play here (blacked bananas, bits of caramel, etc), but they are so hard to elaborate on because this beer smells so much like Campbell's Bean & Bacon soup.  The smokiness, the tea, and some sort of flavoring all come together to make an uncanny (no pun intended) resemblance to the universally known soup.  While it does make one a bit nostalgic for childhood meals, it is not a very exciting prospect in a weizen doppelbock.

Appearance 1/3

Pours like a melted root beer float into the glass.  The color is also cola-esque, but has milky looking edges when held to light.  Head is traditionally textured (not the thick, whipped creaminess one likes to see in a weizen), small, tan, and quickly disappears to barely a collar that leaves no lacing.

Picture is my own.

Flavor 11/20

This beer has elements of weizen and doppelbock, but pretty much none of those elements are exampled in the flavor.  First sips yield dark toasted malt and a hit of banana, yeasty goodness.  Hopes and dreams are then dashed as the backbone resorts back to the tea (not bad), the bean and bacon soup (bad), and an overwhelming amount of smoke.  Not just campfire smoke like a rauchbier, but a flavored artificial smoke that borders on mesquite, but lands closer to chaw (again, the tea).  When one slurps like wine, some of the dark fruits and the sweet brown tea flavors can become more apparent, but they are fighting a losing battle.  The finish does not change much from the backbone and the aftertaste is similar, although a bit more sour.  Where is the weizen?  The bock seems to be only present in name and roast.

Mouthfeel 4/5

Oddly enough, with all that is stylistically incorrect with other areas of this beer, the mouthfeel does score a bit  better.  It has a medium body, with tiny yet lasting carbonation, and a med-low level of creaminess.  The only concern lies with a slickness that is left in the mouth.

Oveall Impression 5/10

This beer is grossly mislabeled.  The flavor and aroma (some of the best parts) of the weizen are completely absent, but still show through in body.  Only the roast and color of the doppelbock are present, but also at the expense of the flavor.  The tea, nay, smoked tea, completely dominates this beer with both the flavors and aromas of the tea and the sweet smoke.  Other technical merits abound, as one would expect from this brewer, but the flavor while grand in idea, leaves much to be desired in the results.

Total 29/50

Sorry, Left Hand.  I like you guys.  I really do, but I leave a bit disappointed on this one.  You promised me two of my favorite and most familiar styles and then left me waiting for them to show themselves.  The idea of tea (or other various crazy ingredients) is an idea I will always respect.  Else how will craft beer discover new styles, flavors, or varieties of those existing?  However, there are certain things one expects when drinking a weizen, or a doppelbock, or any other beer.  Those expectations should, and sometimes do, border on the stylistic requirements of the brew.  This beer gave me bean and bacon soup when I wanted a big, dark, toasty, banana-laden, creamy, hazy, sweet treat.  Kudos to Left Hand for not being satisfied with the status quo and trying new ingredients in their beers/styles.  Keep them coming!  Please!  Just remember the styles off of which you are building (if utilizing existing styles at all), and to feature their best assets.

You want the summary?  Pass on this one and check out their other awesome brews.  However, if you're curious, want to taste something unusual, and have $8 to burn, go right ahead.

Cool label art as always.

Dogfish Head - Sah'Tea

I do not thing I need to explain to anyone that Dogfish Head Brewery (hereafter referred to as DFH) makes some crazy, experimental, mindbending beer.  Almost any time that I open one of their bottles I expect a flavor and experience way past anything I could have conceived.  I am usually correct and never disappointed.  That said, today's review is for their Sah-Tea an "ale brewed with black chai tea and juniper berries."  See what I mean about "way past anything I could have conceived?"  Let's pour!

Picture is my own.  Bottle art image used without permission for educational uses only.

Aroma 12/12
This is unlike anything you will ever smell in a beer.  There are any number of ways to describe it and here they are:
1.  Sweet, minty tea
2.  Raw sugar & chaw
3.  Spicy sweet tea, but more rounded and mellow
4.  Cinnamon-y black licorice

All of the ingredients listed in the above combinations are present (well, not the chaw) as are a healthy amount of cloves.  No hops are detectable.  Had I not already known that rye was used, I would have guessed a pale malt since the rye flavors are so complimentary to the cornucopia of other ingredients.  A very nice theme.

Appearance 2/3
Proof that appearances can be deceiving, this beer has more aroma than ANY similarly colored beer that this reviewer has sampled.  It pours a bright yellow and emits an more-than-ample head of white, tiny, loose bubbles.  There is rye in this?  I think most would be fooled by the final color.  Low head retention and no lacing.  (Note: As I got to the bottom of this bomber bottle, the clarity changed dramitcally.  An abundance of sediment not only made this beer all but opaque, but changed the color to appear as if it were a lightly whipped hefe!)

Picture is my own.

Flavor 18/20
Where to start on this big, complex beer?  First taste is crisp, yet sweet and citrusy (I assume coriander) and waits a moment or two before fading into some rather aggressive spicing.  Oddly, most of the spices remind one of pumpin pie, though the beer tastes nothing of pumpkin.  Most of the spice profile is likely the chai, though it seems built on a much larger list of spices: cinnamon, coriander, clove, ginger, and juniper berries (hence the chaw aroma from earlier).  The finish is reminiscent of a spiced-up witbier!  The spices from earlier are all present, but a distinct banana ester now joins the mix and ties everything together along with a faint glimmer of bitter.  The aftertaste is honed down to the sweet tea and juniper flavors.  The juniper is supposed to taste like pine (a lá gin), but when combined with the chai ends up tasting almost like a faint spearmint tingle on the tongue.  It is a very neat sensation.  If any warmth is to be detected it is during the aftertaste, but it blends so subtly with the juniper and chai tingles that one has to pay close attention to what they are experiencing in order to fully pick up on it.

Mouthfeel 4/5
The 9.0% ABV is almost nowhere to be found on the palate of this beer. The medium-full body is accompanied by a med-light level of creaminess that goes nicely with the banana esters and keeps the spices from becoming too abrasive.  Its sweetness does leave a bit of stickyness on the sides of the tongue.

Overall Impression 8/10
A big bodied, robust flavored, complex beer.  Complex in the way of spice profile, but ultimately not in balance.  While the flavor is certainly unique and nothing short of an experience, it seems to lean on the sweet and spicy flavors rather heavily.  A bit more balance would be needed to give this beer top ratings it comes so close to already.

Total 44/50 (Excellent)
At the tip top of the "Excellent" category, this beer is a treat for anyone that enjoys a spiced beer (Winter seasonal fans, look no further).  Its sweet flavor, mellow tones, light color, and comforting spices are all a disguise that allows this brew's alcohol to go down almost too easily.  Only the body and creamy nature betray its true inner workings.  The complex spice flavors come and go with each subsequent sip, allowing each one to be showcased in its entirety.  In hindsight, the rye is there, but has such a similar taste (almost sour, almost sweet) to the chai that the blend is perfect.  Just like Italian seasonings add to and build off of each one (oregano, thyme, basil, etc) this beer is a perfect bouquet of similar yet distinct flavors and aromas whose sum is greater than its parts.

If you love craft beer, it is an experience you need to try.  Even at $12.99 for a 1pt 9oz bottle.