Lagunitas Freak Out

Formerly brewed at Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Petaluma, California USA

22oz bomber-A medium golden body with a small white ring for a head. Aroma of hops, citrus, and grapefruit. Taste of hops and more hops with a nice dry finish. Nice brew.

Bottle. Poured a small off-whte head that was mostly lasting, sparse lacing, cloudy, golden hue and visible carbonation. Nose was citrus, grapefruit and pine hops. Ditto for the flavor. Mouthfeel was tingly. Medium body. Quaffable and worthy of a try.

Light orange color, cloudy, aroma like a cross between an English bitter and fruit beer with a dash of licorice, pretty intense and complex fruit/malt flavor with hops present but not assertive. Don’t know if I’d classify this as an IPA, but it’s an intriguing brew I’d definitely try again. From a 22 ounce bomber provided by and shared with my friend Mr. K.

I initially bought a bottle of Freak Out early last fall. Come October, a good friend of mine lost his wife to a prolonged illness. A group of us assembled a "care package" for him, and (amongst other things) I included my bomber. Being a huge music fan, this seemed to be his favorite item of the lot. Throughout the winter, he kept on telling me how he had it up on a shelf with other memorabilia and how that, one day soon, he would actually sample it!  Then, on April 22, he himself passed away after surgical complications.  To my knowledge, he never opened the beer.

So, it is with some degree of trepidation (and a greater degree of melancholy) that I today open a new bottle of Freak Out. It pours thick and rich, the color of gilded wheat under a fluffy, yellow-chiffon head. I surmise it’s been sitting awhile since I encounter the citric-tinted, sweet malt aroma of a young barleywine instead of the hop-slam I expect of an IPA. The flavor pulls through with a nice dose of IBUs, mostly peppery but with some grapefruit-laden edges. A lemondrop sweet/tartness pops in at the end, but the linger is long and bitter. Its body is heavy and satisfying while its finish is dry and cool.

I can’t claim to be a big Zappa fan. I grew up after his era and tended to gravitate towards cutting-edge "alternative" music rather than to its roots. Yet "Big Jim" VanHorn may have been Frank’s biggest fan (figuratively and literally;). I pour the last of the bottle to my glass and raise it, smiling gently... remembering fragments of words spoken in memory of musical giant Israel Kamakawiwo’ole:  that, "his body was simply not large enough to contain the enormity of his heart."

We miss you, Jim.    And you would have liked this beer.

<font size=-4>Bomber from <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/illinois/homewo Liquors, Homewood, IL 60430</font>

Okay, admittedly I am a Frank Zappa zombie. Anything this guy has released is either genius or damn close. So when Lagunitas released this in honor of Zap’s 40th anniversary of his lp Freak Out, I was there. The fact this beer is probably my favorite Lagunitas product is sheer coincidence......right? Anyways, the aroma is very perfumy, citrusy with enough sweetness to round it all out. Flavor profile was very much the same way. I got lots of citrus (mostly lemon rinds), some tropical fruit and alcohol. If this had just been released as another Lagunitas IPA, it’d probably get a bit lower scores. But damnit if they didn’t put my guy Zappa on there as a tribute. So what’s next? Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch DIPA?

Appearance: Radiant, clear amber body with a medium-sized white head. Smell: Full, tropical aroma of flowery hops, orange peel, and lemon zest. This is joined with sweetish notes of candy sugar. Very solid aroma! Taste: Clear cut flavor of caramel sweetness infused with grapefruits and tangerines. An initial clean hop bite smoothes out into a more mild, dry finish. The sweet malty core really helps to balance out the acute bitterness. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, slightly oily mouthfeel. Drinkability: An IPA that’s both full of flavor, well-balanced, and reasonably unique. That’s a lovely concept.

22oz. Bomber $4.49 Binny’s Orland Crazy Frank Zappa label with a few quotes. I passed by this beer a couple times cause after looking at the bottle I couldn’t figure out what kind of beer it was. I finally bought it and now see it’s an IPA. I’m glad to hear that. Healthy pop of the cap releases a strong whiff of hops before the pour. Freak Out poured a really classy looking clear dark golden with all kinds of rising carbonation. A hefty 2 finger craggy white head sits on top and refuses to budge. Eventually fades to 1 finger and leaves spotty lacing at first but the more I drink it turns to drink history lines then sticky web lacing.. Smell is all hops. Not super strong but that’s all I’m picking up. No malt to be found. The hops range from floral to herbal to citrus. The former two take the stage but with a deep inhale the citrus shows itself. As it warms the grassy/herbal hops are the most pronounced. Smells damn tasty. The taste starts off immediatly with a moderate grassy bitterness. This is follows throughout the entire sip with a splash of bitter grapefruit at the end. There seems to be a little lightly toasted grain. That’s all I can pick up from a malt standpoint. As it warms alcohol fumes come forward more in the nose and throat than in the taste. The mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium. The carbonation is prickly mid-palate and in the swallow. A moderate bitterness lingers around until the next drink. The only problem is it’s just a little too light. The body of this beer makes it an easy drinker. I could see myself sitting around drink a couple of these bombers at a time. It’s a good refreshing IPA. This is a good solid IPA from Lagunitas. I’m going to pick up a couple more of these tomorrow. It’s too bad Freak Out is only going to be brewed. I’m glad I got to try it out. Well worth it.

Aroma was of citrus, malt, some yeast; ok smell. Color was a light copper; medium white head. Very good mouthfeel; caramel malt, not very sweet. Grapefruit and citrus hops. Some grassy/earthy feel to it. Found it crisp and refreshing.