Left Hand Stranger Pale Ale

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

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tulip

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Well, I guess this is their replacement for Jackman’s American Pale. It doesn’t appear to be just a relabel/rename unfortunately. Nope, woah, tasting it now....huh-uh, this is not Jackman’s with a new name. Shoot, I will miss Jackman’s, this should be named Stranger Danger. Glad I only got one, now to go buy up all the Jackman’s I can find before it’s gone forever. Fishy aroma, light yellow in color, sock taste...Left Hand even admits it’s questionable right up front in their wording. Why, why would they swap this out for Jackman’s?

Appearance: Served a clear, light copper-orange body with a scant, wispy white head and some steady if sporadic effervescence. Sheet-like lacing on the way down. Smell: Modest nose scented of lightly toasted bread, caramel, spicy rye, citrus fruits, and wet, soggy grains. Taste: Lightly bready malts, lightly sweet and with some touches of grain, caramel, and zestful rye malt. Lightly earthy hops also delivering some fruity touches of oranges and lemons. Sufficiently bitter. A skosh more lemon on the drying finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-light body. Medium carbonation. Overall: Well-balanced and keenly drinkable, without ever giving too much or too little maltiness or aimlessly wandering into being an IPA with excessive bitterness. A good replacement of Jackman’s. Good-bye and good riddance, Jack.

Clear golden pour - fizzy, quickly dissipating head - nose of floral hops, rye, honey, toast - flavor is initially of crackery malts - this, coupled with faint diacetyl makes it taste a bit more British - diacetyl seems intentional and is not strong or off-putting - tail end gets a little more dry, as spicy rye comes to the fore, finishing with lightly peppery hops - light, crisp, subtle - a so-so lawnmower beer.

Pale yellow color, I don’t get any off flavors. It is crisp, floral beer and a little spicy hop finish. The soft mouthfeel kills the crisp floral aspects of this beer at the end, though.

Bottle. Pours clear light orange and gold with a small, frothy beige head. Aromas of pine, sugar, slight citrus, and some funky malt. Light pine and citrus hop flavor, with some sweet malt. Below average. [647]

Draft at Get Real NY Cask Ale Event with Linh, Streets, Andrew, and Brendan. Not a big fan of this guy.

Three cheers for diacetyl! Hip hip, hooray! Hip hip, hooray! Even four beers in I could tell this one was not so good.

Extremely clear yellow-orange pour with small white head that dissipates into nothingness. Aroma of yeast and spicy hops. Maybe a weird smokiness? Flavor is somewhat bitter, strong burnt popcorn. Lots of diacetyl. Not good. Lots of carbonation. I’m wondering if this is a bad bottle. Really gross, actually.

Near clear golden amber pour with fading khaki head. Nose is floral and slightly spicy. The flavor is more spicy hops with citrus finish. Rye on the tail end? Pretty good pale ale actually. Sharp spicy lingering bite.

UPDATED: JUN 23, 2012 This was purchased at Whole Foods in Richmond. I wanted to try some of the beers they were promoting. The floral aroma of hops was very evident. The clear golden color was the best I have seen. The head was small and disapated. The slight bitter taste lingered after each drink. Smooth finish for this medium body ale. This is not a remarkable APA. I purchased another on tap at Miller’s in Charlottesville. This was a better brew and I improved scores