A New Beer Legend for Me

Legend Golden IPA

It was a long day. I was looking forward to whittling down the 55 brews in the little fridge by one more. This is a 22oz bottle and I’m not sure I I’m up for that much to drink as I’m trying to manage by delicate waistline (or is that wasteline).

I had hoped to share this one with Beer Brother Mark but he isn’t anywhere to be found.

I bought this while visiting Virginia a year ago. About 6 month of it sitting around the laundry room I saw the “Fresh Beer-Store Cool” on the label. Oops. I put it in the little fridge. I kept pushing it out of the way to get a smaller brew until I was ready for a 22oz-er.

I’m glad I opened this one for just me. In essence is it is a 16 oz beer. When I opened it I got hit with a strange sweet and sour aroma that kind of reminded me of Chinese food. Not a good sign.

I had been treating this bottle gingerly because so many of these “fresh brews” are unfiltered and I didn’t want this to pour out in blobs. Plus this isn’t so fresh anymore.

I put it down on the counter to get a frosted glass. When I turned around foam was creeping up and out of the bottle. I started a slow pour into the titled glass. It was like squirting high pressure water into soap-laden water. I haven’t seen that much foam since I tossed PhotoFlo-2000 in the Haley Center foundation my senior year at Auburn. I got about 1 inch of brew and 7 inches of foam.

From what I could tell the color was interesting dark yellow to gold, depending on how the light hit it. I waited a minute for the foam to calm down. I waited a second minute for it to calm down. The foam isn’t budging.

I think I’ll be brave and give it a taste. Strangely I don’t smell that odd sweet/sour smell. After successfully avoiding a snoot full foam I’ve tasted the beer. Amazingly good after one year.

Actually this is an excellent beer. I like its darker spicy flavors. Malty, creamy, slightly sweet with fruit that reminds me of some Christmas brews. Slight bitter hop finish but not such that it totally reverses the sweet malt.

I need more. As I pour I’m still getting more foam than beer. So I will pretend it is a tap and keep pouring until the beer displaces the foam.

Hence. I got a pint of beer out of a 22 oz. bottle. Unfortunately that long pour deposited the sediment from the bottom. This is the cloudiness beer I’ve ever tried. I even see little black specs swirling around.

I drinking it with cheap $5 pizza from Little Ceasar’s. A really nice pizza beer.

I visited their website and was surprised to see this was an experimental brew that caught on. “In the image of an English IPA, Legend Golden is a big, full-bodied brew with the perfect balance between malty sweetness and hop bitterness. Years ago, as an experimental brew, this underdog of a beer found its way into the hearts of Legend patrons and became a cult classic in Richmond. Legend Golden has been described as a “high class malt liquor” by a notable source. This strong ale sports a rich gold color, an aroma of sweet malt and clean hops, and an earthy, fruity flavor. 7% abv.”

These guys have been around since 1994. I wish they had been around back in the 80’s when I used to spend time in Richmond attending news photographers conventions. Their distribution is limited to Virginia and North Carolina so I don’t think I’ll be getting any more anytime soon. I would love to try some that really is fresh to compare.

These guys must know their brew if they can make an unfiltered brew last this long. Damn, I wish I had another.

From: Richmond, Virginia
Brewery: Legend Brewing
Size: 22 oz.