Life & Limb - Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada

I've been looking forward to this beer ever since it was announced that Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada would be collaborating. I really like the Dogfish Head beers I've had, but I haven't been real crazy about Sierra Nevada's brews. I was anxious to see how Dogfish Head's extreme beer styles would jive with Sierra Nevada's tendencies to just throw a bunch of hops into a bottle and call it beer. Ok, that's a bit harsh... but that's what my experience with Sierra Nevada has been. I finally got the chance to have a glass of Life & Limb on tap and was quite pleasantly surprised.

The Life & Limb definitely seems more like a Dogfish Head beer than a Sierra Nevada beer. The first thing I looked for in this beer was hops. If the Life & Limb smelled like a pine tree then the Sierra Nevada influence would've been obvious. But there were no hops present in the aroma. In fact, there wasn't much of an aroma at all... There is a faint hint of maple syrup to this beer but I wasn't able to pick up much else. This was a bit surprising, no hops and no malts stood out... some could be hidden under the maple but they'd have to be pretty mellow. The aroma was intriguing but I was hoping the flavor would be a bit more robust.

Sure enough, the flavor of the Life & Limb was much more interesting. The first flavor you'll pick up is a sharp alcohol flavor that comes with a double digit ABV. When your palate adjusts you'll be greeted by a rich maple syrup flavor. It's sweet and thick, complimented by warm malt and some stewed fruit. I can't quite put my finger on this mystery fruit but it tastes closest to cooked apricots. It's subtle but adds a nice sweet twang to this very syrupy beer.

Like I said above, this is seems like a very Dogfish Head type of beer. It's big in flavor and ABV, brewed with different ingredients to create a uniquely delicious beer. I can't really identify what Sierra Nevada's contribution to this beer was, but I'm OK with that. If it turns out that Sierra Nevada just footed the bill for the distribution of a maple flavored Dogfish Head beer, I'm OK with that too.