Lagunitas India Pale Ale

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Petaluma, California USA

(12oz bottle) Pours near headless and a highly-carbonated, orange body. Nose of a rather musky-cascade and goldings hops. The initial milky, tart flavour gets walloped by a tart hoppy-world. Very good. Thanks to Lubiere for picking me up this during his recent trip to San Fran.

Bottle (Orsted Olbar, Copenhagen)
Nutty US hop aroma, quite pleasant. Similar US mouthfeel, but ends a bit flat. There’s a plain bitterness, and some plastic in the taste. Smells nicer than it tastes. At least the hops don’t build obnoxiously. Docking a couple of points overall for the utterly wanky commercial description. Someone kill whoever wrote that. (6-3-6-3-8=2.6)
Rerate: 355ml bottle (Cracked Kettle, Amsterdam) (6-3-5-3-8=2.5)
Pleasant piney hop aroma, nothing particularly special, and certainly nothing like an IPA. Perfumed and fruity soapy taste. Finish is astringent, grassy, and metallic. Commercial description still wank - "unique version" just means "unable to make anything like the original version". Why be so proud of their own inabilities?

Had this at the Orsted cafe/bar, Kobenhaven 13-09-08 Poured amber with a white bubbly head. This had a good hoppy aroma tinged with some malt and light alcohol. Hoppiness getting better and quite mushy, good beer but not quite up to the level of the Pale Ale that we’d also tried.

[Bottled from Fish and beer, Copenhagen.] Deep amber with a creamy, tan head. Soft, grassy, smooth, hoppy aroma and flavour with light toffee. Slightly vinous with a dry, medium bitterness.

Bottle. Dark charneol colour. Mandarin, hoppy nose. Big body. Thorough hop dryness. Very well balanced. Fresh hops cover the palate.

Bottle poured a clear copper with a small diminishing amber head. Aromas of carmel, pine, light earthiness and a hint of grapefruit. Palate was medium dodied and slightly dry. Flavors of pine, carmel, earthiness and a hint of citrus with a lingering bitter finish.

12-oz. bottle from Naven. Pours a slightly cloudy copper with a medium off-white foamy head that diminishes some to leave just enough for some good sticky lacing. Aroma is sweet floral and fruity hops, pine notes however non-offensive, and a slight caramel toasted malt nose. Medium bitterness, acidity and sweetness, all in all very well balanced hops and malts, some hint of yeast hanging out, nothing hits you too harsh, finish is quite clean, especially for an IPA. Light bodied and smooth, clean palate.

Bottle shared with and courtesy of HogTownHarry. Pours a clear, very bubbly, orange-amber with an average size lasting foamy off-white head. Decent lacing too, this is a good-looking IPA. Nice mild citrus hop aroma, a little bready and also some roasted malt. Flavour of sweet malt, a little bready, with some citrus and pine hops and a long dry bitter finish. Medium bodied. Doesn’t knock my socks off but it’s an enjoyable version of the style.