Left Hand Chainsaw Ale (Double Sawtooth)

Brewed by Left Hand Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Longmont, Colorado USA

Starts with a large creamy head over a muddy dark orange/amber body. Aroma is strawberry jam on toast. Plenty of malt with a good hop support.

Bottle. Aroma has a lot of candy bar sweetness at first. Caramel and toffee. Some wet wood. Roasted peanuts. Very malt forward with just a hint of hops. Pours cloudy amber with a thin khaki head. Flavor was drier than the nose would lead me to believe. Lots of dry oily hops. Chocolate (both milk and bittersweet). A hint of mint. Palate is rich and creamy. Finishes with a burst of piney hops.

Corked bottle
Cloudy amber color; huge creamy head; nice lace. Hop aroma, but also malty and a bit cheesy. Very malty brew, and a lot of caramel; only then the bitterness comes in, strong, but not enough aromatic, resiny nor fruity.

Bottle poured a hazed amber/orange color with a small off white head. Aroma was heavy caramel malt with some slightly old citrus and pine hops. The flavor was bitter with an orange taste backed by strong malt and alcohol.

Bottle: Deep caramel to start, dark brown by the end of the bottle, muddy, mediocre frothy head, some foam, half decent lacing.   Nose of soft tootsie roll and biscuity malts.   Interesting combination.   Definite tootsie roll on the tongue, some slight notes of caramel and toffee, finishing with a biscuity malt profile.   The hop aspect is quite minor.   This one is on the malty side of things.   As it warms I pick up a little bit of tobacco leaves and raisins on the finish.   Body is full to moderate, mouthfeel seems fairly average.   Very interesting beer.   Not that big on the tootsie roll, but at least there are other aspects of the beer that can counteract it.   I think this would be a bit more interesting if it had some more citrusy notes, perhaps a bit more of a hop kick.   Still fairly interesting.

Name: Chainsaw Ale (Double Sawtooth)
Date: 05/10/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

muddy burnt orange, whispy head, touch of lace, good body, light sweet carmel malt aroma, big malt flavor, nice lasting bitterness, a nice big esb without the apparant 9% alcohol

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **+/4

When opening this bottle, I got a nose full of green apple. Not quite what I was expecting. It pours a slightly hazy reddish color, with about a finger of off-white foam sitting on top. The taste of this is a touch of smoke, and some hop bitterness. Has a bit of stickiness in the mouthfeel, but overall, this isn’t worth the price ($13 a 750mL bottle).

A delicious American strong and a great departure from what the style typically is. Pour was a beautiful murky brown with a one finger white head. Aroma of sticky floral hops with some roasted malt. The taste was nice and deep. Roasted malt with caramel and a smokey undertone. The hops come out in the finish and help with the dry finish which is kind of iced teaish. I am used to American strongs being ridiculously hoppy and hot. This hid the alcohol perfect and made you want more. Well done!