This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac Legacy IPA.
Every so often there is a beer that comes along that I covet, but can't bring myself to buy. Often the resistance is the price for the beer, but sometimes it is not the cost of the beer itself, but the "value added" package that it comes in. For the longest time, the Saranac Legacy IPA was just such a beer. But no longer...
Often times, a brewery will release a beer in limited quantities. The most prevalent form of limited release are the seasonal beers that can only be bought a few months a year. Common examples are Oktoberfests, Summer or Spring Ales.
Another limited quantity marketing maneuver is the seasonal mix box which will contains some of the brewery's year long product and two, three or even four seasonal beers. For years, I used to look forward to winter so that I could buy the Samuel Adams winter box and get two of the Old Fezziwig and Holiday Porter. Of course, I did have to find someone to take the Cranberry Lambic off my hands, but I could usually give them away before spring.
Last year, Saranac began to market its Legacy IPA in an even more exclusive fashion. Saranac began to insert one can of the beer in its Brewers Dozen - Trail mix box. This marketing scheme frustrated me to no end. Because Saranac produces quality Pale Ale and IPA, I really wanted to try the Legacy IPA, but I could not bring myself to buying a 12 pack of other beer, even good quality Saranac product, just to get the one can of Legacy IPA. Even when Saranac started to insert a single can of the Legacy IPA in twelve pack boxes of the Pale Ale (my favorite Saranac), I still could not pony up for the 12 pack just to get one Legacy IPA.
I don't know if the good folks at Saranac were inundated with comments from people like me (I did not even attempt to contact them), but news broke in late Fall that Saranac would soon be selling the Legacy IPA in special edition four packs. So when I went to Beverage Barn in Garden City Park to buy beer for the Daf Yomi siyum earlier this month and saw the Legacy IPA, I knew that this was the beer to buy for the special occasion.
The beer poured a rich orange and after I poured it and brought it near my face, I could smell the hops. The first few sips were all about the hops and did not disappoint. There was some citrus to the brew and pine notes as well. Although the beer is 6.5% abv, the alcohol flavor is not prominent and it is a well rounded IPA.
The guys in my Daf Yomi group enjoyed this very much, but I still managed to save a few cans for the house. Mrs KB has not tried it yet, but maybe I will follow up with her comments at some later date...
Saranac Legacy IPA is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit as is every other beer produced at the Matt Brewery plant in Utica, NY. Keep in mind, Saranac has begun to brew some of its High Peaks series off site and these bottles do not have kosher certification from the Va'ad of Detroit.
To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the Legacy IPA, please follow this link www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/96250.
As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.
If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).
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