Worst Beer Ever! --- Left Hand Brewing Company

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Donasay

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I got a mountain mixer 12 pack from the left hand brewing company. It had in it their sawtooth ale, the milkstout, the haystack wheat, and their porter. 3 out of 4 of the beers were amazingly awful. The sawtooth ale sucked! the Haystack wheat blew, and the milkstout was cloyingly sweet... to much lactose. None were anywhere near style, I guess they are going for that innovative beer thing, but failed. All in all F, epic fail, stay away from this beer.
 
Stangely enough, two of my favorite beers are Left Hand's! The Sawtooth ESB is great, and I have a clone in my recipe pull-down. The pale ale they make is great, too. Maybe you got an improperly stored mixer? I've never had a bad beer from them, but I'm not wild about their stout.
 
Milk Stout is my favourite commercial sweet stout. I can also vouch for the Sawtooth amber as being real solid. I think you just had a bad mixer - I'd talk to the store you bought it from or try to check freshness dates.

Also, contact Left Hand directly to tell them about the probably.
 
I have to agree with some others that Sawtooth is a great beer. Not sure what happened to the beers that you bought but I'm guessing that they were not stored properly (as Yooper mentioned).
 
my roomie just bought a six of Left Hand.. I'll ask him what he thinks of it, although his perception is probably skewed slightly as he's used to drinking Milwaukie's Best.
 
I've had a mixed case or two of theirs and I'm with the general consensus that Sawtooth is pretty tasty. Blackjack porter is pretty good though a bit heavy handed on the sweet/chocolaty side...the milkstout is very sweet but I can't say that I necessarily found it cloying & the jackman pale was a pretty basic for an APA. None qualified as 'epic fail' from my POV.
 
brewt00l said:
None qualified as 'epic fail' from my POV.

Yep. None of them gave me that "I won't drink this again" opinion like beers from Independance Brewery in Austin. (maybe I should qualify that as "I won't buy this again" as I probably would drink it if someone handed me a cold one. :cross: I just will spend my money on beer that is as good or better than mine.
 
In terms of my palate, it is pretty much spot on, I can smell taste and identify things in food, wine and beer, that most other people cant. In terms of the case being stored improperly, that is something that would really piss me off, considering I payed about $20 for a 12 pack. I didn't detect any skunkyness, which is the usual off flavor from improper storage. It could have been stored improperly, and it would be a shame, for me to bash the company based on the stores ineptitude. But at this point I will never buy that crap again, and I have made it a mission to tell everyone I know how much the beer sucks. Isn't it great that everyone is entitled to their opinion....
 
Donasay said:
In terms of my palate, it is pretty much spot on, I can smell taste and identify things in food, wine and beer, that most other people cant. In terms of the case being stored improperly, that is something that would really piss me off, considering I payed about $20 for a 12 pack. I didn't detect any skunkyness, which is the usual off flavor from improper storage. It could have been stored improperly, and it would be a shame, for me to bash the company based on the stores ineptitude. But at this point I will never buy that crap again, and I have made it a mission to tell everyone I know how much the beer sucks. Isn't it great that everyone is entitled to their opinion....

Yep, but some peoples' opinions are more wrong than others ;)
 
Honestly?

You've got to give me more of a review of the beers than

The sawtooth ale sucked! the Haystack wheat blew

before I'm going to avoid the beers based on your comments. The comments about the milk stout being cloying gives me SOME idea of what you don't like about the beers, but otherwise... you gotta give us some idea of what's not right.
 
Granted, your palate might be fantastic but you've failed to communicate why these are the worst beers ever brewed in the history of beerdom. Sucked, cloying and out of style don't really convey the level of detail I would want.
 
Cloying's legit; I *hate* beers that are too sweet, and it's a real risk for something like a milk stout. Honestly, though, you've encouraged me to seek these beers out, just because my curiosity is now piqued.
 
the_bird said:
Cloying's legit; I *hate* beers that are too sweet, and it's a real risk for something like a milk stout. Honestly, though, you've encouraged me to seek these beers out, just because my curiosity is now piqued.

Sure, cloying is a valid description of an undesirable flavor. I'm saying I would like some detail when you say "worst beer ever"...that's a mighty big statement.
 
I actually like the Left Hand Milk Stout. It is a milk stout, though. It WILL be sweet. I do not drink one often, but it's nice to have around when I want that sort of thing. I agree that the Blackjack is too sweet, though. It is too much like the Milk Stout.

The Sawtooth is pretty good, and I certainly agree that the Jackman is "basic" (i.e., bland).

Skunkiness is a common flaw that results from poor handling, but it require exposure to light. If a case was cooked while shipping, it would have other flaws.

And, I absolutely agree that, if you want to give a bad about a beer and a brewery, you should articulate your bases better. That is important because of how powerful a bad review can be. Of course, I don't put much stock in a review that consists only of "sucks," anyhow.


TL
 
the_bird said:
Honestly?

You've got to give me more of a review of the beers than



before I'm going to avoid the beers based on your comments. The comments about the milk stout being cloying gives me SOME idea of what you don't like about the beers, but otherwise... you gotta give us some idea of what's not right.

+1! More detail, please.
 
Fine, when I get home from work today I am going to choke down another 4 of these things and write them up proper...
 
Anything I thought was that bad would have left a large enough impression on me that I would not have to go back and try them again to give more details.


TL
 
I drink Sawtooth at bars here all the time. The Milk Stout is one of my favorite beers they make, and their Oak Aged Imperial Stout is in my top 5 favorite beers. I can't speak for my opinion of the other two, I'm sure I have had them but I don't remember. I would think it might have something to do with shipping/storage.
 
Alright, I'm hoping you had a bad sixer...

Picked up some of the Sawtooth Ale at the packie tonight... this is nice. Very balanced. Real nice amber color, nice reddish hues. Pretty full-bodied for a pale ale. Nice malt, a little caramel. Hops are not overpowering, pretty subdues (maybe that's what you don't like); a little piney, resiney, which fits the name quite well. A moderate amount of hop flavor without too much aroma or overwhelming bitterness (aroma is quite malty). Bitterness finishes pretty clean.

I like this a lot... I mean, it's not changing the world, but it's so very well balanced, I could (and might!) drink this all night. Full bodies without TOO much fullness. Some bitterness, not too much. Malty but not too sweet. Finishes pretty dry. This is a winner for me, sorry...

EDIT: Is this an ESB? Kinda tastes like an Americanized interpretation of the style, but that would make sense with the balance and the maltiness and the level of hopping. Hops taste pretty domestic, though.
 
the_bird said:
EDIT: Is this an ESB? Kinda tastes like an Americanized interpretation of the style, but that would make sense with the balance and the maltiness and the level of hopping. Hops taste pretty domestic, though.

They call it an "American style ESB"
Both ratebeer & BA classify it as an ES/ESB

Magnum/US Goldings/Fuggles/Cascades are the listed hops.
 
brewt00l said:
They call it an "American style ESB"
Both ratebeer & BA classify it as an ES/ESB

Magnum/US Goldings/Fuggles/Cascades are the listed hops.

I really liked the hopping in this beer. I'm wagering that my wife will love this, too, it's pretty much spot-on with the kinds of beers she tends to enjoy. I've got three of those four hops in the freezer; maybe it's time I brew something like this again. Anyone know the difference between US Goldings and EK Goldings in terms of flavor contribution?
 
2008 Brewers Association World Beer Cup Winners

Category 62: Sweet Stout (15 Entries) Gold Left Hand Brewing Company Milk Stout
Left Hand Brewing Co.
Longmont, Colorado
 
@Bird: I don't exactly - I have US goldings on hand and they taste/smell very similar to EKGs in my opinions. But I also can't tell EKG and Fuggles apart. To me, they just taste "british".

I can vouch that the Sawtooth is a really pretty tasty ESB. I prefer it over the Sierra Nevada ESB, which I believe uses a similar combination of Magnum, Goldings and Cascade.

The Milk Stout and the Juju Ginger are the only two Left Hand brews that I go WAY out of my way to find -- but the rest of them are very nice offerings. The Black Jack Porter is a solid american porter, the Haystack Wheat is crisp and refreshing, and their Deep Cover Brown Ale is really rich and tasty.

It could be distance, Donasay, you're not exactly next door to the brewery. I didn't know they were distributing to the coast at all, so it's possible that you got a terribly mistreated case. Even then, that seems odd.

Hey, worst case scenario, I recommend you send the bottles to me for "proper" disposal. ;)
 
I had Black Jack Porter the other night. It was good, but nothing to get too excited about. I thought it was a nice, mild porter that probably caters to the bland American beer palate. The color was fairly light for a porter, but there was some roasty flavor, and it wasn't terribly lacking in body.
 
The very night after reading this thread, I was at my local pub. Lo and behold: Left Hand Milk Stout on tap. Of course I had to try it. :D

Not bad at all. I can see where someone who dislikes sweet beers would be turned off, but I didn't mind it at all. It had a pretty mellow roasted character, with little to no perceptable hop bitterness. The lactose sweetness was very apparent, and seemed to stand apart from the rest of the flavors of the beer. I doubt I would go out of my way to get one of these, but I have no complaints.
 
I'm overall really not impressed with Left Hand. I've tried their stuff multiple times and most of it just doesn't work for me at all. The Blackjack Porter is the best thing they make, but almost all the others are no good. The Sawtooth is uninspiring, and a lot of the time it takes on a butterscotch flavor. The Milk Stout is just off target, with an odd combination of hop, roast, and sweetness that doesn't match. The Jackman's Pale Ale is a bad example of the style, and the Polestar Pilsner is as bad as any BMC. The Haystack Wheat is actually pretty good, I think because they use proper German hefe-weizen yeast. But the worst, by far the worst thing they make, is that awful Warrior IPA. It's all grapefruit, with no complexity or variation in flavor. Just grapefruit, then more grapefruit, and a grapefruity finish followed by bitter grapefruit. Gag.

The Independence stuff isn't too great either, but none of it is offensively bad, at least. All the Bootlegger Brown's I've had have been way overcarbonated in the bottles, but they taste okay. The Pale and Amber are decent, but unexciting. Their wheat was also no good, going for that American wheat flavor that does nothing for me.

Of course, this could all just be a matter of taste. ;)
 
You are nuts if you don't appreciate left hand. If you ever have the chance come out to Longmont and sit down in the tasting room they will treat you right.. Living in a microcosm of breweries this is one of the best around!! All the beers you mentioned you disliked are pretty tasty! Maybe you just like the standard out of the box taste of guiness and sierra nevada??
 
Maybe you just like the standard out of the box taste of guiness and sierra nevada??
You mean "not outside the box." :D

Had the Left Hand Rye Bock the other night. Not a Roggen, but a decent American Rye. A little of that rye spicy aroma and flavor, but not over the top. More malty and sweet, but not a bad balance. A fair amount of hop bitterness, but not so much aroma or flavor. Clean and refreshing. Could drink a lot of this.
 
I keep going back to the Sawtooth Ale when I'm at the store. That's a really, really nice, drink-everyday kind of beer. I should pick some more up on the way home...
 
But the worst, by far the worst thing they make, is that awful Warrior IPA. It's all grapefruit, with no complexity or variation in flavor. Just grapefruit, then more grapefruit, and a grapefruity finish followed by bitter grapefruit. Gag.

I beg to differ. I'm a huge fan of this beer. But then again I enjoy that grapefruit aroma & flavor in my IPA's.
 
But the worst, by far the worst thing they make, is that awful Warrior IPA. It's all grapefruit, with no complexity or variation in flavor. Just grapefruit, then more grapefruit, and a grapefruity finish followed by bitter grapefruit. Gag.
I beg to differ. I'm a huge fan of this beer. But then again I enjoy that grapefruit aroma & flavor in my IPA's.
Wanted to post in agreement with bosco, but took a look at Torchiest’s recipes. His
Imperious IPA is 94.5 IBU with a boat load of Summit, Amarillo, Centennial and Cascade. I can taste the grapefruit from here. Me thinks someone is trolling. :D
 
Even good beers can have off bottles. I've had a bottle of something (I forget what) that was clearly infected. Tasted like carbonated Sweet Tarts.
 
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