Lagunitas India Pale Ale

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

Full nose of citrus fruit and caramel malts. Lightly sweet body with caramel notes evolving into light grapefruit and light hops. Not overwhelming, but the finish thins out a bit.

Citric, slightly herbal leafy hop aromas, solid maltiness, tannic tea-like bitterness. Dryish, but big mouthfeel. Very nice!

Nice hop aroma and flavor. Well rounded flavors,not as bitter as expected. Very crisp and clean.

Pours a clear, bright gold with a rocky off-white head. Aroma of mild citrusy hops. Flavor is rich but rather mild, with a thick, doughy malt bill offset by grapefruit, pine and peppery hops. Neither side of the equation dominates; this is a superbly drinkable, well-balanced beer, even if it is weak by the American IPA standard.

nice head, great color, nice and well balanced ipa, goes down nice and easy, the best part of it is that it was free at the brewery

Sampled October, 2004
RatingPours an almost brilliantly clear copper color and is topped by a cream colored head. The aroma is sharply hoppy with a nose that is redolent of pine, the nose is quite nice. Ah, yes this beer has actually been fermented, what a relief, this beer is nothing like the last one I had. This beer is sharp and crisp up front. It leads to a beer that is piney, a bit citrusy, and has a solid bitter bite in the finish. This beer has a solid malt presence as well, it is lightly sweet with notes of caramel and biscuits. The malt definitely is faint behind the solid hoppiness though, but it is there and helps to keep the hops from being overwhelming. As this beer warms up a bit I get notes of apricot, and grapefruit. Overall, this is quite a nice IPA.

March, 2004 Rating
Wow this beer smells like it has not yet been fermented. A sweet wort smell, that is heavy on the crystal malt. A bit of spicy hop notes under the main smell, but not much. Pours a hazy copper color with a prodigious tan head that fades fairly quickly. Again there is a sweet malt flavor, that is reminiscent of sweet wort. The beer ends with a bit of bitterness. I must admit, this is quite a stretch to be labeled as an IPA, a pale ale perhaps but not an IPA. A light hop flavor and not enough bitterness, this is a bit of a disappointment. It is halfway interesting, just not close to what I was expecting. There is way too much residual sweetness and body in this beer, it just makes it too unbalanced. I will tell you one thing, the rest of this 6-pack will be used for making Brats. (6/4/6/3/13/3.2)

Bright orange body with a slight chill haze. Fine white head that clings to the glass in sheets of beautiful lacing. The aroma is grapefruit and pine with a slight bit of bready malt. The flavor is a nice balance of citrus hops and sweet malt. The body is medium with a dry texture. The finish is bitter with some slight astringency. Overall a very nice IPA.

Very good IPA because of its hop balance. Amber with off-whtie head. Large hop aroma of grapefruit, orange and flowers. Flavor is mostly bitter with a small sweet malt backbone — just enough to offset the bitterness. The bitterness carries through to the long finish. Medium body. Smmoth texture. Somewhat astringent.