The Armchair Quarterback’s Guide To The NFL: To Pass Or Stop The Pass?
The Armchair Quarterback’s Beer Review Of The Week
Left Hand Brewing’s Sawtooth Nitro
Left Hand Brewing is another one of my favorite American microbreweries. They have several excellent selections, but probably their most famous is their Milk Stout Nitro. Typically, nitro beers (a beer where nitrogen is used for the carbonation instead of the typical Co2) are usually available on tap, not in a bottle, but Left Hand found a way to bottle it and still maintain a quality product. Up until now, the only beers that I had ever had “nitro style” had been stouts (although I’m aware some porters are available as well). The Sawtooth Nitro was the first ever ale that I had with nitro and I was curious to see if it would work. The reason darker beers are usually preferable for nitro are because it leads to a fuller mouth feel since it doesn’t have the larger Co2 carbonation. That fuller mouthfeel suits the darker beers and it can often mute the hop bite of beers a little as well, making it more ideal for a malty beer as opposed to a “hoppy” beer like an IPA.
The results in the Sawtooth Ale are mixed for me. The beer had good flavor and overall the nitro worked with it in terms of taste and mouthfeel. The Sawtooth is a very malty ale with a mix of caramel, toffee, and biscuit flavors and while I liked the flavor and the “fuller” mouthfeel, I missed the carbonation. I don’t feel that way with nitro stouts, but I did here. I’m sure it’s a mental thing, but seeing this delicious looking amber-colored ale and then taking a drink and getting almost no carbonation you almost feel like you’re drinking a beer that’s gone flat. That’s obviously not the case, but I think regular carbonation suites this style of beer better. If you enjoy nitro beers or have always wanted to try one but don’t particularly like stouts, you should give this a try simply for the uniqueness of it. However, I don’t know that I will pick it over the traditionally carbonated Sawtooth Ale next time around.
My Rating (1-10): 7
That does it for the Armchair Quarterback this week. Any thoughts about the passing attack versus stopping the pass comparison? Any thoughts on the ever growing QB contracts? I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below.
Thanks for reading.
Follow me on Twitter: @LyleGraversen