The Beer Circle » Dogfish Head, Imperial IPA, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. » Dogfish Head-Sierra Nevada Life and Limb Rhizing Bines in the new IPA glass

Dogfish Head-Sierra Nevada Life and Limb Rhizing Bines in the new IPA glass

February 12th, 2013 | Add a Comment | Written by Jeff Kupko

I came home this week to a white box sitting on my front porch. I wasn’t expecting anything, so I was extremely intrigued. Noticing that the return label said Dogfish Head, my excitement grew rapidly, and I tore open the package to find the following:

One bottle of the Dogfish Head-Sierra Nevada Life and Limb collaboration Rhizing Bines
Two new IPA glasses created by Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head, each one bearing the mark of one of the breweries
A USB thumbdrive bottle opener
A packet of information

First of all, let’s talk about the glasses. I’ve seen banter on Twitter and Facebook talking about the glasses to determine if it’s simply a marketing ploy or if we truly need an IPA glass. While I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to have a designated IPA glass (I typically use a tulip for drinking IPAs), I think it has a nice novelty. Most people love to pick up a snifter or pint glass when they visit a brewery, so this falls in that category. As for the argument that we need a specific glass for the style of beer, I can’t say that it’s required.

For sure, the glass looks spectacular and provides etching in the glass to help with the carbonation of the beer. I love that Sierra Nevada’s etching is a hop, making me feel like I need to pour a hoppy beer into this glass. They are very thin walled and feel like they could break easily, but they also make a very nice tone when clinked together empty.

Pouring the beer into the glass really excites the beer and sparks head growth immediately. It almost sounds like a sound clip from a TV commercial of someone pouring beer. The Sierra Nevada logo is too far up on the glass and it is very difficult to see with the off-white colored head, so they may want to adjust that in future batches of glasses. I will say that I felt that this glass feel firmly within my grip based on the base design.

The beer is the most recent offering in the Life and Limb collaboration series from Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada. The previous version was an American Strong Ale brewed with birch and maple syrup, and definitely was a favorite of mine. As for Rhizing Bines, the press release states:

On the hot side, Rhizing Bines will go through Dogfish’s signature continual-hopping process with floral and citrusy Bravo hops. On the cold side, it will be dry-hopped with an experimental varietal so new it doesn’t yet have a name, just a number: Hop 644. A component of Sierra Nevada’s aroma-boosting Torpedo system will make a pit-stop in Delaware for dry-hopping duty before it heads to Sierra’s new North Carolina brewery.

To celebrate Sierra Nevada planting East Coast roots, Dogfish Head tracked down a Carolina heirloom wheat grown and milled at Anson Mills. The soft red winter wheat contributes subtle sweet and nutty notes to this hop-forward ale.

And now, on to the review of the beer!

Dogfish Head-Sierra Nevada Life and Limb Rhizing Bines

Appearance
The beer pours a golden color with a very lofty and frothy off-white colored head that leaves a think but nicely patterned lacing on the glass. It looks quite inviting, especially in the new IPA glass

Aroma
The aroma consists of pepper, fresh cut grass, wheat, light hints of caramel, and a pungent hop oil. Orange, apricot, and tangerine provide subtle accents as well.

Taste
The taste is bitter and hop-forward with lemon, pine, pepper, and grass flavor all coating the tongue with an oily residue. A solid malty backbone provides support for this beer, a little more so than I expected. It has a light wheat taste white somewhat bridges the gap between the bitter and the sweet by adding a light dryness. Tangerine, orange, passion fruit, apricot, and pineapple give the a noticeable fruity character. On the finish, oily residue is left behind on the tongue with a pronounced bitterness.

Mouthfeel/Drinkability
Surprisingly for a Double IPA, this was a very easy drinking beer. It left a wonderful oil film all over the side of the mouth, and kept its carbonation throughout the experience (because of the glass?).

Value
I can’t say exactly what this beer will retail for, but I would estimate that it should fall in the $12-$14 range. Given that price, I’d say this beer was definitely worth it. Furthermore, I plan on picking up more of these bottles in the future.

Overall
Overall, this beer wasn’t as bitter as I had expected, but it was definitely a hop-forward with with plenty of hop profile. It has a quite refreshing quality about it while driving home hop oils that linger.

Beer Stats
Style:Imperial/Double IPA
Serving: Bottle
Size: 750ml
ABV: 8.0%
BA Score: n/a (not enough at time of posting)
RB Score: n/a (not enough at time of posting)

I plugged the USB thumbdrive into my computer and it contained a video on the creation of this version of Life and Limb. The video mostly explains the creative process behind the beer and its ingredients, but the very end of the video had me laughing pretty hard so I think it’s worth the time to watch the video. I have embedded the video below:

Last updated by Jeff Kupko at February 13, 2013.

Written by Jeff Kupko

Jeff is a traffic engineer that loves his beer, and especially loves trying new beer. As a student at the University of Pittsburgh, Yuengling was a staple and the beginnings of liking something better than fizzy yellow water. This has evolved into an entire hobby, with Jeff keeping a blog of all of the beers he tries. Vacations most certainly involve at least one brewery or bottle shop visit to gather a region’s coveted fruits. Now, Jeff has ventured into homebrewing, and there is probably no saving him from being engulfed entirely by beer. While Imperial Stouts and IPAs rank highest in Jeff’s eyes, sours are sneaking up on those styles, and Jeff loves to try all different styles. Find Jeff Kupko on Google Plus

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Filed under: Dogfish Head, Imperial IPA, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. · Tags: Dogfish Head, Glassware, India Pale Ale, Life and Limb, Rhizing Bines, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company