Collaboration Fermentation: Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head's "Life & Limb"

Craft brewing pioneers old and new collaborate on Life & Limb

Collaboration beers may just be the epitome of why the craft brewing industry is so awesome. Other competitive businesses revolve around games of one-upmanship—OUR product is 15% bigger, twice as refreshing, and 100% sexier—but today’s independent brewers are collectively deciding that what’s good for one is good for us all. The result? Many are now brewing in tandem. Others, undoubtedly, will join the fray.

This marks the first of a new series of SF Beer Examiner posts. Only, instead of this one featuring reviews, it’s breaking news. Two breweries that have evolved into monoliths (all things being relative considering craft beers comprise around 4 out every 100 thirsty beer drinker’s selections) announced they are teaming up to brew two duo-lithic brews.

Sierra Nevada was founded by homebrewing pioneer Ken Grossman in Chico, CA in 1980. Dogfish Head was founded by innovative homebrewer Sam Calagione in Rehoboth Beach, DE in 1995. This union of old-school and grade-school, relatively, are putting their hearts and minds together to create Life & Limb as well as Limb & Life.

Life & Limb is a strong beer (10% ABV) brewed with pure maple syrup from Calagione’s dad’s farm in Massachusetts as well as barley grown on Grossman’s estate adjacent to the brewery. Yeasts from both breweries bring this thing to life, which will make this bottle-conditioned beast cellar-worthy for years to come (partially thanks to the addition of birch syrup from Alaska). Look for this in 24-oz  (about an ounce less than 750-ml) and limited draft in November.

I’ll call Limb & Life the second offering because, much in the way Anchor’s Small Beer is brewed from the second runnings of Old Foghorn Barleywine, this low-gravity ale allows the residual sugars from its big brother to ferment anew. This sessionable 5% ABV beer will be limited draft-only and will show up first, beginning in October.

The pair have become friends while serving on the Brewers Association Board and at beer events. Calagione, famous for brewing “extreme beers” from 120 Minute IPA to Festina Pêche, told me that Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot Barleywine and Celebration Ale were his a-ha moments in beer-drinking, since they were extreme for their day. Via email, he said, “Dogfish has done collaborations with great breweries around the world, from Rome to Prague to Indiana, but this collaboration with Sierra Nevada represents an important milestone for our brewery.  It was Celebration that lead me down the road of opening my own brewery.  So our trip to Chico in a few weeks, to brew with Ken and the gang, in a very real way will be a pilgrimage to Mecca.  Plus I think both of these beers are going to taste awesome so I plan to personally hoard many cases.”

Rounding out the mutual admiration society, Grossman said, "Sam and I have spent many evenings laughing, arguing, and toasting glasses, talking about where we are in the business and where we're going… As a beer, Life & Limb has so much meaning for me personally, and for the brewery. As our first collaborative release, we couldn't have had a better partner. Our families are coming together in this beer, both literally and figuratively by using ingredients from our family "farms.”… As the bottled beer ages and changes over time, it will be great to see our families share this beer over anniversaries of their own."

Follow me on Twitter.