Well Played
Left Hand Brewing Company
- From:
- Left Hand Brewing Company
- Colorado, United States
- Style:
- American IPA
- ABV:
- 6.8%
- Score:
- 86
- Avg:
- 3.8 | pDev: 8.42%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 22
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Oct 28, 2025
- Added:
- Feb 16, 2017
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 12
SCORE
86
Very Good
86
Very Good
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Rated by ttoadee from Texas
3.74/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.74/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
RB transfer
Oct 28, 2025
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania
3.81/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.81/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
I am so happy to have some time to really delve deeply into The CANQuest (tm) backlog here at Chez Woody! I made a spent CAN drop-off with Jeff Lebo on Tuesday so I have plenty of room to start saving them up again.
From the CAN: "Seasonal"; "Red IPA"; "Employee Owned. Righteously Independent (tm)"; "Brewed on the banks of the mighty St. Vrain Est. 1993"; "Experimental hops and specialty malts compose a beer that is sweet up front with robust hop character and a dry finish".
I CANnot tell you whether it is the oppressive heat & humidity, simple boredom or a CANbination of both, but I have been following up today's Crack!ing open of the CAN's vents with an inverted Glug for each. It has been adding a sense of excitement to the day, that is absolutely for sure! In this insCANce, it netted me two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, tawny head with very good retention that left nice lacing in its wake. Color was a tea-like Deep-Amber/Light-Copper to Copper (SRM = > 13, < 17) with NE-quality clarity. Pretty. Nose smelled of caramel and biscuit malt and pine hops. AIPA? This was more like a revamped Amber Ale! Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was very piney with a caramel and biscuit backbone, but I stand behind its being an American Amber Ale. When micro/craft brewing first began in the late-1980s, an Amber Ale was de rigeur. As tastes moved in a hoppier direction, the style fell away for about a decade until returning in a hoppier iteration of its old self. Sean O'Sullivan of 21st Amendment recently came out with Blah Blah Blah IPA in response to seemingly EVERY beer now being an AIPA & this one seems like a good example of that phenomenon. Was it good? Yes. Was it AIPA good? Well … Would it have received higher ratings, per style, if it had been an American Amber Ale? Betcha! Finish was dry, earthy, piney & quite tasty, but I have had better AIPAs. It would have been right up there as an Amber, though. Too clever by half, you boys!
Jun 29, 2018From the CAN: "Seasonal"; "Red IPA"; "Employee Owned. Righteously Independent (tm)"; "Brewed on the banks of the mighty St. Vrain Est. 1993"; "Experimental hops and specialty malts compose a beer that is sweet up front with robust hop character and a dry finish".
I CANnot tell you whether it is the oppressive heat & humidity, simple boredom or a CANbination of both, but I have been following up today's Crack!ing open of the CAN's vents with an inverted Glug for each. It has been adding a sense of excitement to the day, that is absolutely for sure! In this insCANce, it netted me two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, tawny head with very good retention that left nice lacing in its wake. Color was a tea-like Deep-Amber/Light-Copper to Copper (SRM = > 13, < 17) with NE-quality clarity. Pretty. Nose smelled of caramel and biscuit malt and pine hops. AIPA? This was more like a revamped Amber Ale! Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was very piney with a caramel and biscuit backbone, but I stand behind its being an American Amber Ale. When micro/craft brewing first began in the late-1980s, an Amber Ale was de rigeur. As tastes moved in a hoppier direction, the style fell away for about a decade until returning in a hoppier iteration of its old self. Sean O'Sullivan of 21st Amendment recently came out with Blah Blah Blah IPA in response to seemingly EVERY beer now being an AIPA & this one seems like a good example of that phenomenon. Was it good? Yes. Was it AIPA good? Well … Would it have received higher ratings, per style, if it had been an American Amber Ale? Betcha! Finish was dry, earthy, piney & quite tasty, but I have had better AIPAs. It would have been right up there as an Amber, though. Too clever by half, you boys!
Reviewed by outdoor7or24 from Georgia
4.09/5 rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
4.09/5 rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
12 oz can thanks to Kyle in CO, poured into pint glass.
A: pours a fine bubbly 2 finger white foam head, plenty of stringy lacing, clear reddish copper color body
S: sweet caramel malt, tropical fruit, mango, papaya
M: medium body that is creamy and has a drying effect on the tongue, maybe the hop oils pulling moisture
T: sweet caramel malt, tropical fruity hops like mango, pineapple, hints of citrus and pine resin,
O: hops are well balanced and brew is smoother than I anticipated, I'm a fan of this well played brew!
May 25, 2018A: pours a fine bubbly 2 finger white foam head, plenty of stringy lacing, clear reddish copper color body
S: sweet caramel malt, tropical fruit, mango, papaya
M: medium body that is creamy and has a drying effect on the tongue, maybe the hop oils pulling moisture
T: sweet caramel malt, tropical fruity hops like mango, pineapple, hints of citrus and pine resin,
O: hops are well balanced and brew is smoother than I anticipated, I'm a fan of this well played brew!
Reviewed by woodchipper from Connecticut
3.97/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.97/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a 12oz can stamped "Best by 05/08/18" to a tulip.
Body is deep amber, not hazy buy not see-through. Head is frothy, high and "chunky". Head fades in about 3-minutes to nice lacing with small bubbles on the surface and a remaining "island" of froth. Maybe I could retire on that island.
Aroma is a balanced hop/malt mix, each distinguishable, but yet simultaneous.
Taste follows, but the two are separated and in reverse order from many beers. Nice sweet coating up front, fades almost instantly to hop bite with a real dry finish.
Overall nice.
Mar 04, 2018Body is deep amber, not hazy buy not see-through. Head is frothy, high and "chunky". Head fades in about 3-minutes to nice lacing with small bubbles on the surface and a remaining "island" of froth. Maybe I could retire on that island.
Aroma is a balanced hop/malt mix, each distinguishable, but yet simultaneous.
Taste follows, but the two are separated and in reverse order from many beers. Nice sweet coating up front, fades almost instantly to hop bite with a real dry finish.
Overall nice.
Reviewed by Suds from Missouri
3.7/5 rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.7/5 rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
This brew is a reddish amber, clear liquid. Slim and white head with a lot of off-white foam. The aroma has a lot of fruit....deep, ripe, dark fruit. Juice, malt, sweetness. Lots of scents. The taste is surprisingly balanced, but the body is full, almost thick.. Serious bitterness comes out in the hind-taste. Lingering hop finish.
Mar 03, 2018
Reviewed by schoolboy from Ohio
3.94/5 rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.94/5 rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This AIPA is far from ordinary - it has unique hop and malt tastes you won't find elsewhere.
The brew pours darker than AIPAs - redder - with nice foam and lacing. The aroma is unusually funky - almost nutty. The taste is very out of the ordinary. It's as it somebody poured some other funky brew into a glass of AIPA. Odd malt tastes mix with unexpected tones from hops. The whole thing leaves you with more of a red ale experience with bittering.
Highly recommended as an alternative to the usual AIPA - it's not what you would expect.
Feb 09, 2018The brew pours darker than AIPAs - redder - with nice foam and lacing. The aroma is unusually funky - almost nutty. The taste is very out of the ordinary. It's as it somebody poured some other funky brew into a glass of AIPA. Odd malt tastes mix with unexpected tones from hops. The whole thing leaves you with more of a red ale experience with bittering.
Highly recommended as an alternative to the usual AIPA - it's not what you would expect.
Reviewed by Bitterbill from Wyoming
3.57/5 rDev -6.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.57/5 rDev -6.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Best by May 8th 2018.
Pours a clear deep amber, billowy head of foam that lasts for quite the while.
Smells of citrus hops, notably tangerine and oranges. Malt comes across as burnt caramel and cracker.
Taste is mix of burnt caramel, cracker, tangerine, orange zest.
Medium body with medium carbonation.
Good red IPA.
Feb 02, 2018Pours a clear deep amber, billowy head of foam that lasts for quite the while.
Smells of citrus hops, notably tangerine and oranges. Malt comes across as burnt caramel and cracker.
Taste is mix of burnt caramel, cracker, tangerine, orange zest.
Medium body with medium carbonation.
Good red IPA.
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