Lagunitas IPA

     Review Date 8/28/2001

Every once in a great while, a beer comes along that is truly stellar in character. These beers don’t passively allow you to sip them as you would a glass of water; rather they jump up and seize hold of your taste buds, assault them with flavor and exciting sensations and hold on tightly as long as they can. When you’ve sipped a beer like this you know you’ve tasted a special brew, something that was carefully crafted to be out of the ordinary. Lagunitas IPA is such a beer.

It would be hard for me to better sum up this beer than Lagunitas does on the label:

Thanks for choosing to spend the next few minutes with this special homicidally hoppy ale. Savor the moment as the raging hop character engages the Imperial qualities of the malt foundation in mortal combat on the battlefield of your palate!

Pretty neat stuff there! Think about it, when was the last time you actually stopped to savor and truly enjoy your beer? It’s something we beer enthusiasts do on a regular basis, but not something easy to do with a Bud, Miller, or Coors. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against those beers, but I think for the most part they’re just something we drink by rote. You lift the glass to your lips and drink without actually thinking about it, and don’t stop to appreciate the experience.

That won’t happen with this beer, I promise. Lagunitas claims this beer is made with 43 different hops and 65 different malts”. Wow. Do I taste a bit of Kitchen sink in here too? A few years ago, I sampled the beer and took the following notes:

Bright orange color, thick creamy head, huge citric hoppy nose. The nose here is unique and unusual, and strongly reminiscent of orange juice, as is the palate. I have had many hoppy brews with strong notes of grapefruit, but this is the first beer I’ve ever tasted that had an OJ character. Balanced finish, not extremely bitter.

The beer has changed somewhat. I’m not getting that orange juice character in my current samplings, and I am getting more bitterness.

Lagunitas IPA pours to a deep orange color with a thick bubbly head and a vibrant, hoppy nose. The palate starts out big and malty, firm and toasty but soon yields to an aggressive hop character that coats the tongue with lingering bitterness. I’ve tasted hoppier beers than this one in the past and I’ve tasted maltier brews as well, but few combine both characteristics as well as this one does.

Wonderful with chicken tossed in a spicy Thai chili sauce, rice noodles and mixed oriental vegetables.


Update 2006 I just picked up my first six-pack of Lagunitas IPA here in Georgia, and I'm glad it made the trip. R=That same quote still graces the label, and my bottle pourrs to a rich orange amber color with a very impressive creamy head formation. The nose is full of piney hops, and the palate is a hop blast of aroma and finally bitterness in the finish. As before, this one has more toasty malt character than caramelly malt common in American IPAs. But it works beautifully with the resiny hop flavor and aroma and intense bitterness in the finish. A really fantastic beer indeed.