"This is a light ale and it has a bunch of ginger added to it. Why?"
"Because we did so well with our milk stout that we deserve the latitude."
"Fair enough."
The beer pours a very clear gold. The head is a wisp that dissipates very quickly. The aroma is dauntingly gingery. I'm not a fan of adding these random ingredients to try and make a beer, but I will give this one the benefit of the doubt.
The taste is as I feared. A single sip tells me they were not going for a particularly good ale - they were looking for a conveyance for their ginger. I've always been fairly apathetic to the ginger content of most of my meals. Really, the only reason I know what ginger tastes like is that I have had gingerbread cookies. They were dry and fairly nasty, and I should have predicted this beer would also not be good.
This beer proudly states its contents: rocky mountain water, malted barley, hops, yeast, and organic ginger. The noun "ginger" in and of itself simply means that they have added something that has no business being in beer. However, the modifier "organic" indicates something more subtle.
There are those of you who would argue that organic food is more healthy, more natural, more tasty, etc. But I don't think that is why it has been added here (and I'm not going to debate you). The reason it has been added here is to capture the hipster crowd. There's no real reason why they would specify organic ginger when the others are mutated, irradiated, and chemical-saturated ingredients that don't seem to matter. It's the appearance of cool that they are looking for.
The reason I'm of this opinion is that the beer tastes bad as a beer. Maybe as a drink it is okay if you're really into ginger, but it's not for someone who like beer. Much like the raspberry ale I recently had, this beer is not intended for someone who likes the taste of beer. It is intended for someone who wants to order a beer and have it taste like something that is emphatically not beer-tasting.
What is really frustrating is that Left Hand can brew a good beer. I know they can. But this isn't it.
1.25/5
Left Hand Brewing Good Juju
Saturday, April 27, 2013