Bitterroot Brewing Company in Hamilton Montana

Bitterroot Brewing’s Sawtooth Ale is a fruity beer for people who don’t like fruity beers. As we sat in the yard, tasting and commenting, it quickly became apparent that the predominant descriptor for this beer is Granny Smith Apple, and not in a bad way. I do enjoy a good hard cider from time to time, but the things I look for in a cider differ considerably from what I look for in a beer. With the Sawtooth Ale, the crisp, fruity tanginess of a cider melded delightfully with the subtle hops of a light ale.

The most immediately remarkable thing about this ale was its full, white head that gave the beer a very attractive look out of the bottle. I have seen other reviews that found little to no head on this beer, but that wasn’t the case with our bottle (and yes, we were pouring properly). The nose clearly featured those Granny Smith Apples, a slightly sweet aspect which I was a bit concerned about (I don’t usually enjoy sweet beers).

Upon tasting, our first reaction was to the carbonation. This is a very carbonated beer that initially tingled delightfully on the tongue. But after the first hit of carbonic acid, the mouth feel settled into a mild creamy texture, with the aforemention Granny Smith Apples arriving at the party. To my great delight I didn’t find it to be sweet at all. In fact, it was very dry.

I must reiterate, however, that this is not a cider, nor were any apples harmed in the creation of this brew. Rather, the apple flavor and zest came from an excellent combination of subtle malt, rye, and tangy hops. And, though we found apple to be the predominant flavor, it still tasted like a finely crafted golden ale, replete with a mild yeastiness and very slightly bitter aftertaste.

All around, the Bitterroot Brewing Sawtooth Ale is one that I will look for again. In many ways it seems almost a contradictory beer. Fruity, but dry; tangy, but creamy; ciderey, but definitely beer. This would be an excellent ale to drink cold on a hot day, or coupled with a nice pear salad.