Brewsday Tuesday: Left Hand Edition

Last summer we launched our Brewsday Tuesday on Tattoosday feature, and we're back with more great tattoos and beer (and a super prize giveaway) from the good folks at Left Hand Brewing (@lefthandbrewing) in Colorado!

Left Hand was founded in 1993 in Longmont, about 30 miles outside of Denver, and they have been an award-winning brewery ever since, racking up medals and awards and, most importantly, producing great beer.

I recently had a chat with Ryan Call, Left Hand's Western Regional Manager, and we talked beer and tattoos. First let's look at some of his tattoos:

That's a pretty cool koi swimming up Ryan's arm...

There are some great elements in this half sleeve.

Ryan told me that he had been a fan of traditional Japanese tattoo art, but he had been working for a distributor in Kansas that didn't allow tattoos. When he landed the gig at Left Hand, there were no such restrictions, so he celebrated and "went big" with this beautiful tattoo.

He credited Ron Miller (@miller.tattoo) at Ichiban Tattoo in Lawrence, Kansas . Ron has since opened his own shop, called Miller Tattoo, also in Lawrence.

Ryan also has another tattoo, as spotted in this photo:

That is a pocket watch on his wrist with a banner that says ...

"Live for Today."

Ryan told me that this watch in the tattoo is a family heirloom, that was handed down to him when his grandfather passed away. The watch has been in his family since 1888 and, since it's locked away in a safe deposit box, this way he gets to see it every day.

He got this as a walk-in at Mercy Seat Tattoo (@mercyseattattoo) in Kansas City, Missouri.

Thanks to Ryan for sharing his tattoos, photographed by Kearby Milliner at Left Hand.

Now, let's talk about the beer. Left Hand has a slew of brands and, as familiar as I am with some, I got a nice sample for this post:

I had a lot of fun drinking this beer, I can honestly say. I've been a fan of Left Hand's Milk Stout (far right) and, although I tend to favor darker beers, I found the lighter ones, like the Travelin' Light kolsch and the Polestar pilsner, to be crisp and flavorful. The Extrovert IPA is a solid brand with a great hoppiness that stands among the best IPAs out there. The shining gem in this family portrait, for me, however, was their Fade to Black (pictured second from left). This seasonal "foreign stout" is a palate-buster for me, with licorice notes that really made drinking this beer a treat.

Ryan told me his favorite brand is the Black Jack porter, which is one of their perennial brews that rocks a great espresso and dark chocolate flavor.

Left Hand has a solid lineup and it was a pleasure and honor to partner with them in this celebration of tattoos and brews!

They are also very generous, in that they have offered up a super "Ready to Rock" prize package for Tattoosday readers:

This includes, a Nitro Sherpa Hoodie, a Pour Hard Knuckles t-shirt, a Red Pour Hard Nitro t-shirt, a Colorado Trucker Hat, a 64 oz Ecovessel, a Left Hand cooler bag and belt pack! WHAT?! All apparel is size M.

Readers who comment below or on social media will be entered automatically into a random drawing and the winner will get this box of awesomeness shipped to their doorstep. Commenting with your favorite brand from Left Hand will double your chances, as I will count your entry twice.

Thanks to all the great people at Left Hand Brewing Company for making this an awesome Brewsday Tuesday! Special thanks to Sarah Watson for coordinating this with me, and to Ryan Call, for sharing his tattoos with us, as well as all the others on the Left Hand team that helped make this post possible.

Cheers!

This entry is �2017 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Kelly Shares Some Meaningful Tattoos

Last June I met Kelly across from Federal Hall on Wall Street.

She was visiting from Ohio, and shared several of her tattoos.

First up is this koi:

Kelly explains:

"My older brother took me for my first tattoo when I was eighteen and got this whole party started.  He passed away three years ago and he had this tattooed on his calf, and I knew that I was gonna get one of his tattoos tattooed on me ... koi in Japanese is a homophone, so depending on what context it's used in, the meaning is understood, so it means the fish, obviously, but it also means love and affection, so that's how I chose the one that he had, that's how I picked it."

She also has these lovely flowers on her inner forearms:

Kelly elaborates:

"The writing here I had on both arms first and this [pictured on the right], in Sanskrit, means pratijna, it means a promise or a vow ... it's my promise to do my work in life. And this one [pictured on the left] on my right arm with the purple flowers, it's dharma, which is the principle that, if everyone does their life's work, the universe will come into working order.

And then the two different flowers I have, they're both just different types of flowers, but both named for Joan of Arc."

Lastly, Kelly shared this piece:

She explained that "this one is my feminist fist of revolution with kundalini the snake from Hindu mythology integrating herself in my feminist fist."

She credited all her work to artist Mike Hutton (@mikehutton) from Tattoo Faction (@tattoofaction) in North Olmstead, Ohio.

Thanks to Kelly for sharing her cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is �2017 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Kayla's Geisha on Broad Street

I met Kayla on Broad Street last week and she shared this lovely tattoo:

Here's a broader perspective:

She credited this to an artist named Diego at Village Pop NYC.

Kayla explained:

"I did it in one sitting because I don�t have the patience to wait ...  I knew I wanted some sort of naked woman up here because I liked the tone of that kind of imagery and then one day � I find a photo of a woman �and  it�s basically this� she�s kneeling down in the photo � it seemed like such a strong photo with her pulling out the sword �and that caught my eye � I went to him [Diego] and was like this is what I gotta have�"

The rising sun was not part of the original image, but added to cap off the top of the tattoo. Diego added the cherry blossoms, as well. The koi fish predates the woman.

Thanks to Kayla for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is �2016 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Japanese Koi Fish with Daruma

Koi Fish (To Be Continue...)