Worst Beer Ever! --- Left Hand Brewing Company

[Chriso]

@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.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

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.

 

[Nyxator]

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.

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.

 

[Torchiest]

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.

 

[Jeepnbrew]

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??

 

[AnOldUR]

Maybe you just like the standard out of the box taste of guiness and sierra nevada??

You mean "not outside the box."

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.

 

[the_bird]

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...

 

[bosco_NJ]

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.

 

[AnOldUR]

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.

 

[Buford]

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.

 

[midfielder5]

Yooper- i can't find the LH Sawtooth Ale clone recipe in your sig. drop-down.
edit: found that someone did the AG conversion of it.
thanks, wendy

Strangely 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.

 

[MeatyPortion]

I had an IPA by them last year that didn't taste anything at all like an IPA. Wasn't very good.

 

[z987k]

Lefthand is probably my favorite commercial brewery. Never had a bad beer by them. A couple of the specialties have been unmentionable but not bad.

The milk stout rocks. I would say it is THE sweet stout to compare all others to(that I've had).
The warrior IPA :rockin: grapefruit heaven.

 

[MeatyPortion]

That was the IPA I had. Didn't like it. Could've been a bad bottle I suppose.

 

[sundowner]

Sawtooth ale is one of the few commercial beers I buy...great beer in my opinion.

 

[Jeepnbrew]

Living in a Micro beer cosmos.. Left Hand is only 20 mins from my house.. Best by far around... I live 10 mins closer to New Belgium and take the drive to Left Hand any day... If you have the chance stop into the tasting room and Josh will treat you right.. :fro:

 

[pbr_me_asap]

Sawtooth ale is one of the few commercial beers I buy...great beer in my opinion.

I bought a six pack of Sawtooth a few weeks ago when I was in the Twin Cities (only reason I bought it was because Im left handed), and I really enjoyed it, I left a couple at my buddies place and he called me and said, "Im not a big fan of ales in general, but this was a really good beer". :rockin:

 

[Ketchepillar]

I have mixed feelings about LH. It has been a little while, but I've had several bottles/batches of each. I found the Polestar to be terribly bland and watery, not offensive just not good. The Blackjack was pretty solid, but there are MANY porters I would chose before it. Milk Stout-cloying. Sawtooth-pretty decent, would drink again, but still uninspiring for the most part. Imperial Stout-quite good, but still many RISs I'd take over it. Overall-an OK craft brewery, definitely far from a favorite though. From Colorado alone I'd prefer Avery, Oskar Blues, Great Divide, New Belgium. They definitely beat Breckenridge though.

 

[carl spakler]

IMO the OP was merely a troll.