When I say this beer smells fantastic, I don’t want you to take that statement lightly. Pop the top and it’s like walking through a meadow of wildflowers after a fresh spring rain. Or jamming an air freshener up your nose. One or the other. In the parlance of the beer industry, the nose is “floral,” to say the least. Which makes sense considering Indeed Brewing used healthy doses of lavender in the brewing process, along with sunflower honey and dates (thus, the name “LSD”).
While the lavender dominates the nose, it works as just a single layer of this beer’s complex taste profile. In addition to the floral notes, you get a dose of honey-like sweetness along with some dark fruit, which I guess comes from the dates. Honestly, I’ve never tasted a date (I think it has something to do with that scene in Indiana Jones when the monkey eats the poisonous date), but I imagine it’s a bit like an overgrown raisin, and that’s what I’m tasting here.
That may sound like there’s a whole lot of sweetness going on in this bottle, but I assure you, LSD is not a malty sugar bomb. True, the hop profile is restrained, but there’s just enough pernicious weed in the beer to provide a touch of citrus and balance out the sweet fruit and honey.
There’s actually something electric about the body of this beer. It has a tingly kind of spice, like licking a 9-volt battery, but in a good way. Overall, the lavender and honey are different, but not too different. They’re perfect adjuncts that round out an impressive beer from a relatively small brewery. The Minneapolis based Indeed is on fire in their local market, recently bumping up production from 5,500 barrels to 18,000 barrels and opening a second location dedicated to wild beers. If LSD is any indication, we should all keep an eye on this up and coming shop.
Brewery: Indeed Brewing Company
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Style: Spiced Honey Ale
ABV: 7.2%
Availability: Limited, 750 ml. bottles