Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head Life & Limb

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Chico, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Trappist glass

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Pours a mahogany brown with a shot lived head. The aroma is sweet, licorice, birch bark, and vanilla. The flavour is sweet, birch, licorice, booze, maltyness, a sort of dry woody note moves onto an oily sweet finish.

Bottle at Craig’s tasting, thanks Craig! Dark brown with sweet honey and molasses on the nose, smooth rich rummy and date nose.

bottle at home ....deep black ... thin tan head ... soft toffee malt nose ... soft juicy malts ...bitter chocolat malt ... deep roast ... dark malts ... little fizz .. little chocolate ..

In bottle. Pours a very dark brown colour with a fair light tan head. Aroma of caramel, dark chocolate, roasty malt and vanilla. Similar flavours with moderate carbonation, mild CO2 prickle and an oily mouth-feel. Alcohol is fairly present. Lovely.

Originally reviewed: 12/1/09. Glad to see a few cases of this made it to W-S. Chilled and poured into my pint glass. Pours a very dark tawny-tinted deep charcoal brown. A huge billowy tan head rests comfortably on top. This retains wonderfully, leaving behind plenty of sticky webbing and lace globs. Scents of molasses, alcohol, currants, and whiffs of cocoa waft out. The body on this is a bit thin. Lacks depth in carbonation and bite. Disappointing. This beer starts out quite hot. Nice alcohol burn at the onset. Deep chocolate bready finish. Bitterness is moderate with a minor hops presence. Alcohol and sweet molasses malts take the show here. Wow. This is interesting. This isn’t your ’everyday’ strong ale, but it is a good one nonetheless. Give it a shot.

Batch one from the national release (I believe), Bottle number 9 28622013; Sampled April 2012
A soft pour into my lost Abbey Teku glass produces a three-finger thick, pale brown tinged, dark tan / amber colored head. The beer is a concentrated, darkened amber color that shows a brilliantly clear, concentrated ruby hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells of nutty toasted malt, pomegranate syrup, thick caramelized malt, touches of cola or perhaps root / bark soda, hints of woodiness towards the finish and even some evident oxidation towards the end. There really is an interesting spicy character here that I would guess is contributed by the birch / maple syrups that were used in this beer; these are almost minty, sort of woody, a bit like Christmas spices and enhancing a fruitiness.

The beer is sweet tasting, with lots of caramelized malt flavors, a significant toasted character that doesn’t quite get to roasted. Fairly thick bodied, definitely a chewy beer, but retains a fair amount of drinkability for a beer of this strength; the perceived bitterness is fairly low which seems to make this drink a bit smoother as well. There is a bit of warmth, not quite heat, from the alcohol here that boosts the spiciness of the flavor. A touch of woody like, almost astringency is also found towards the finish. There is almost a touch of a cocoa note in the flavor, though it is quite fleeting and subtle and flirts with coffee like notes at times. There are lots of brown sugar roasted brown bread like flavors here that combine well with the soft maple and birch like notes; the maple and birch are not so noticeable that I would have been able to identify them blind, but definitely contribute to the flavor profile of this beer.

The beer has definitely gotten a bit on the overcarbonated beer (at least from what was intended), but it is not excessively so and this has likely dried out the beer a bit more than it otherwise would have been. I am a bit surprised that I have had this beer since 2009, it is certainly holding up well, even if a touch of oxidation is becoming noticeable.

Bottle for my birthday. Pours reddish brown with light tan head. Nose/taste of molasses, brown sugar, birch sap, maple syrup and lightly smoked malts. Medium body Finishes a bit boozy.

Very dark red-brown with some bubbles and medium large tan head. Aroma sweet brown sugar and molasses. Full body, minor alcohol presence. Creamy and syrupy qualities. Brown sugary and wood flavors, minimal hops in the background. Good but I think more interesting than actually enjoyable.

750ml bottle shared by jsprime. brown, tan head. complex malty nose. light on the palatte. a touch under hopped IMO. ok impy brown ale.

Grey import Via Platinum cellars NSW, strangley rich and deep flavour considering the drinessof the palate, definitly tast some of the sappy characters, very interesting, contemplative, definitly not a quaffer