Now Drinking: Sierra Nevada / Dogfish Head Life and Limb

OK, so I'm obviously not actually drinking it right now, but less than 12 hours ago I rolled up to the end at the Dogfish Head beer and food dinner at Leeds' excellent The Cross Keys Pub (part of the North Bar group). I'm always late to these events as I work until 9pm, and anyway, I'd sent my other two co-workers to the dinner. That's just the kind of guy I am.

The nice thing about arriving late was being able to try this absurdly rare beer with a relatively fresh palate. I warmed up with a tiny glass of Palo Santo Marron, a a delicious strong (12%abv) brown ale that is aged in huge wooden vats (made from the eponymous palo santo wood). Palo Santo Marron is a stunningly good beer, with endless chocolate, liquorice and spice depths, and a suggestion of tannins that bodes well for ageing potential. Delicious, drinkable and structured, it's a perfect nightcap beer.

But of course, I wasn't about to go to bed, I was about to drink the much talked-about collaboration between Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada, their Life and Limb project. In the short introductory video, it's explained that Life and Limb is a beer that is intended to focus more on the malt character, while the parallel Limb and Life project is more hop-focused.

Life and Limb pours a dark coffee-brown, with a slightly tan head. It's a bit tight on the nose - there's some dark malt character, some slightly green hop hop notes, and a suggestion of some slightly savoury quality that's hard to pin down. Fellow writer Adrian Tierney-Jones (who miraculously appeared just as the Life and Limb was opened) suggested Marmite, which is not too far off, although for me Marmite is something that is more associated with older beers - maybe roasted chicory might be nearer the mark.

On the palate, again (and frustratingly), it's all a bit tight, with perhaps even a suggestion of green-ness. Don't get me wrong, it's all stuffed with flavour, with an earthy, spicy note dominating, which I'd guess to be an interaction between the hops and the birch syrup. In fact, there is quite a bit in common with the Palo Santo Marron, a woody, slightly grippy note, albeit moderated with a much lighter body and more hop spice and bitterness. But the flavours and textures aren't quite melded together properly yet.

I think that, like many great works of art or craft, the true genius of this beer will only be revealed over time. This is definitely one for the cellar, and I'd happily make some space in mine for as many bottles as I can get. And therein lies the problem - this beer is virtually unobtainable, and will almost certainly be consumed before its time by the over-eager and enthusiastic. As a measured professional, I'd urge you to send your bottles to me for safekeeping and, ultimately, evaluation through consumption. But not for a few years yet.

A New Year of Beer - Marble Special

So, here we are on the cusp of a new decade, and I find myself at home, making the first post on a new blog. If ever there was a time to visit the cellar and pull out a special bottle, this is it.

And this is literally a Special bottle - in fact, as you can see from the photo, it's a 75cl, cork and cage sealed, wax dipped bottle of Marble Special. There aren't very many of these about, and although I know that this will improve with a year's cellaring, I've decided to bite the bullet and crack it.

Marble have a reputation for doing great things with hops, and accordingly, it's the hops that get you first. But they only lead the way by a fraction, on the nose and the palate, as they are backed up by a huge figgy, rummy malt note. This is a big barley wine with a chewy hop character. In a year, that hop character will have subsided, leaving the malt to dominate. But for tonight, I'm glad that I've committed infanticide on this great bottle of beer.

Marble make great beers, and their devotion to making good bottled beers is such that they can seemingly never meet demand. They are stringent about a long period of warm and then cold conditioning for their bottles. They could produce more, and once their new brewery is bedded in, they almost certainly will. But for now, this bottle of special Special.

I'm pleased I managed to bring myself to open this bottle tonight - it was the right beer for the occasion, with a plate of roast beef sandwiches and an early night on the cards (of necessity, sadly). I've got a lot more special beer down there that I hope to open and share with you. But don't get your hopes up - I'll be drinking it, and sharing my opinions with you.

So if you managed to broach a bottle you've been saving, I'd love to hear about it. And better still, what bottles did you pass over, waiting for a more special occasion? Don't you worry that the Westvleteren you're hoarding will be over the hill by the time you have the courage to open it?