CulturAle Press

Aging Beers: Left Hand Bittersweet Imperial Coffee Stout, Longmont, Colorado    At  Three Years From our “Vault”

Date:  February 19, 2018

The Story—  Left Hand has been brewing well since the first wave of craft in the 90s.  They’ll push an envelope, but rarely disappoint.   When we first tasted this in 2016 we found chocolate and coffee– then coffee and chocolate –then some cocoa for good measure.  Rich creamy and satisfying with some licorice as it drinks.

The Beer—  Three or four years out, the head is near dead.  There’s a big roast and coffee with lots of dark –almost acrid– malt and a hint of peanut butter — Reeces’s.  Rich, deep, sweet, and compelling.   Cocoa and chocolate and a rich cocoa coating of the tongue.    Creamy rich and sweet. I don’t find the licorice in it anymore.    Ellie liked the coffee unctuous sugars and booze, but pointed out how simple it was really — coffee, rich malt sugars, booze and very smooth.  Would that more beers were this “simple.”  A caveat: if you cellar this, pour it very carefully — the bottom of the bottle is sludgy beyond description and can take your last 6 ounces with it.

Value — Very good to excellent.   We bought this bottle for $8.49 in, we think, 2016.  Sorry we didn’t buy more of them.  With a good steak or even a deep red pasta dish, this is hard to beat,

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

 In February, we’re digging into our legendary “vault” where we’ve been storing hundreds of bottles of beer waiting for the right time to taste them (or sell them for charity).   The charity market has slowed, so we’re working through them in front of a fire and finding some disappointments, but more very surprising delights.   You can find the full list –eventually– here on this “index post.”

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”