In Search of Life and Limb

The hot new thing for craft brewers right now are collaboration beers.  Everyone seems to be doing some sort of mix up and when some of the top brewers in the craft beer world get together, people take notice.   One limited quantity collaboration that just hit KC is from Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head called Life and Limb.  A lot of folks from Missouri may not of had any beers from Dogfish Head, or have even heard of them, since they are not distributed here.  If you are familiar with the craft brew scene, then you would know Dogfish Head is at the leading edge of extreme beer.

Sierra Nevada is handling the bottling and distribution for Life and Limb, however at this point bottles are not available in our state.  Kansas City was able to acquire two kegs.  One was sent to The Flying Saucer in the Power & Light District.  They tapped the keg last Thursday for their rare beer night.  I wasn't going to go, but Paul A. Ner tweets out the place is slow so it shouldn't be a problem.  What the hell, let's do it.  I hit the road, find a place to park, and saddle up to the bar.  Guess what?  Ten minutes too late.  They were sympathetic to my loss and squeezed out a taster glass full of foam so that I would at least get a taste.  As the foam settled, it was maybe an ounce total of beer.  It tasted pretty good, but it wasn't really enough to get a good review.  The night wasn't a total loss.  I hung out with Jeremy R. from Boulevard and talked beer geek.  Good times.

I had thought my chances to try Life and Limb were gone, until Brandon from Sip to Drink sent me the heads up that Blanc Burgers and Bottles was going to tap another keg at 6.  I'm there dude.

Blanc Burgers and Bottles has been on my short list of places I really, really wanted to go to.  I 've heard nothing but good about the place, but just hadn't been able to get out to go.  I got there at 5, I was not going to miss out by minutes again.  Since I had time to kill I ordered a Gulden Draak Belgian Dark ale and an order sweet potato fries.  The salty sweetness of the fries went very well with the dark fruit sweetness of the beer.  I then ordered the Bison Burger with a North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsener.  That's a damn good burger, and a pilsener was a perfect pairing.

As I was sitting at the bar, more beer geeks fans started to come in for the release.  It just so happened that Mark from the Hopry sat down next to me.  I just found his beer vlog and have been enjoying his reviews.  Go check it out, good stuff.  We had a great conversation about craft beer, and once the Life and Limb was served it was fun to do a side-by-side review.  As for my review, here goes.

Served in a tulip glass. Thick dark tan head trapped in the smell. Once the head settled, a mild aroma of charred oak, figs, and raw sugar came out. Smell came out more as it warmed, but I had a hard time getting a good reading. Taste really comes through with the charred oak. There is a almond extract kind of nuttiness. I get some dark pitted fruit.

Mouthfeel is full bodied and has a mild syrupy thickness. Very filling. There is an alcohol warmth, but not so strong as to burn. This is not an earth shattering collaboration, but one trying if it's available.  If you happen to get a chance to try Life and Limb, don't let it go by.