Sierra Nevada / Dogfish Head - Life & Limb

Today I get the privilege of drinking a collaborative brew created by two craft brewing powerhouses – Sierra Nevada Brewing of Chico, CA and Dogfish Head Brewery of Milton, DE.  Ken Grossman and Sam Calagione have built up legacies in the craft world over the years by sticking to their guns, brewing top-quality beer, and having the courage to take risks in a lumbering, big-business industry.  They are the rebels, part of the ravenous pack of hard-core home-brewers that made a stand against the system.  They decided that cheap, watered-down rice-water and the marketing fluff used to prop it up and enrapture the masses, wasn’t going to cut it anymore.  These guys embody what craft brewing is all about – creative and ambitious, with a passion for brewing, drinking, and sharing delicious beer with their communities.  I’ve always seen Sierra Nevada as the ‘gateway drug’ that draws many of the masses into the craft brewing scene.  Dogfish Head is the eccentric brewery that blows people’s minds with their unique creations.  This collaboration seems to be…a match made in heaven. 

Enough preaching, let’s talk about the beer!  This particular beer has been created to celebrate their “shared passion for bringing natural beauty into the brewery process.”  Life symbolizes the all-natural brewing and carbonation process.  Limb represents the two tree-syrups used at different parts of the brewing process.  Life & Limb is a beer that doesn’t technically fall into a specific beer style…it could be described as a Strong Dark Ale.  At 10% alcohol, strong is emphasized.  It’s brewed with a combination of each brewery’s yeast strains, along with pure maple syrup from the Calagione’s family farm in MA.  It is bottle conditioned, and carbonated with birch syrup from Alaska.  This beer was built for the cellar.

The label on the bottle depicts a tree filled with little surprises - very cool artistic fusion that is reminiscent of both breweries.  The beer is a raisin-black color with a billowing light tan head.  The aroma is robust, with maple syrup, molasses and toffee at the forefront.  Some roasty chocolate malts also come through, along with a slight hint of alcohol.  The first drink brings a wave of flavor - there's a lot going on here.  First thing that comes to mind is a big dose of that sweet maple syrup and molasses.  Gritty, sweet, roasty chocolate malts come next.  Alcohol warmth and a handful of figs follows, carrying sweetness all the way through to the finish.  The whole experience is viscous and earthy, and there is certainly plenty of hop bitterness in there, serves up more of a punch than I expected. 

Overall Rating:  This is an awesome beer.  I would love to see what a couple years in the cellar could do to it, but as it is today, very good.  The maple syrup really comes through in the flavor profile, and the 10.2% alcohol fits right in.  If you can find this beer, pick up a couple bottles!  A