Lagunitas Kill Ugly Radio

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

Clear amber color. Medium body. Lots of grapefruit aroma. Lingering bitterness. Solid IPA!

Lots of minute maid action on the nose. Color is a honey blond with a massive head (I used a English Pint). This is a sad homage actually , especially considering that this is my favorite Mothers album from the sixties. There’s no malt to this bitter hop water. The finish is long and almost medicinally bitter; which is scary. In other words don’t get lured in by the label.

Golden pour with a half-finger of white head. Probably the biggest grapefruit aroma I’ve ever experienced in any beer. Medium-bodied, nice carbonation. Taste reveals a lot of citrus. More of the grapefruit with some orange peel. Some caramel on the back end, but this one is almost all hops. Finish is bitter and lingering. No hint of the alcohol. I really enjoyed this IPA.

This brew is a clear golden color with tiny rising bubbles and a thick and fluffy off-white head that dissipates slowly. Patchy lacing on the glass. Lots of grapefruit in the aroma, along with some hops and caramel malt. Medium-bodied with a strong citrus character, mostly grapefruit. Touches of piney hops and malt as well. The finish is lemony hops with a touch of sweetness. An interesting beer that tastes like a cross between an IPA and an Imperial Pilsener. I would try this again.

Another year, and another Zappa inspired IPA (well this one is a double, but still in the family) from Lagunitas. I let the beer warm up to near room temperature before opening the 22 oz bomber, and I got a lot of head atop the pour. The head eventually settled down a manageable two finger size, and the underlying beer showed through as brilliantly pale, bubbly, and crystal clear. This was a lot closer in looks to a standard IPA than the amber doubles I have gotten accustomed to. The smell was loaded with piney and juicy grapefruit hops from the West Coast, very aggressive, yet very clean. Taste was also along the same line, with minimal and thin malt backbone holding a ton of hops. Many purists would consider this to be too weak for a DIPA, and I would agree with them. But since the label never makes any allusions to a style, I say this should be judged for what it is. And I liked the simple, hop laden taste, that reminded me of somewhat another borderline DIPA. But unlike Stone Ruination, the hops used in this beer were not too bitter and more spicy. There was some sugary malt breaking through near the end of each sip, and I had to The body felt thin and I had to return to the glass immediately to restart the hop delivery. Quite a bargain too at about $3 a bomber, not quite Absolutely Free, but close enough.

Golden color with a off-white head. Aroma of piney and floral hops. Flavor of floral hops. Finish is long and bitter with some grapefruit.

As much as I like both Frank Zappa and beer, I think it’s kind of a dumb idea to make a BEER that is a tribute to FZ. Because Frank Zappa didn’t drink beer. It would have made more sense to put Zappa’s face on a pack of cigarettes. So I don’t know how this is all that great of a "tribute" to him... but anyway, the beer itself is pretty goo. The color of this is light orange/golden color with almost no lasting bubbles on the surface. Aroma is nice and grapefruity with some earthy spicy herbal notes. The flavors are rich and malty with a heavy hop profile, as I suppose you have to expect from this brewery. Not all that exciting to me though. And I guess it annoys me a little that it’s just another IPA in a galaxy of IPAs but with FRANK ZAPPA on it to make it stand out on liquor store’s shelves. It is a pretty good IPA but still, if anything it should have been an Imperial Stout brewed with a ton of coffee, at least COFFEE has some sort of association with the FZ...

Bottle. Tulip glass. Clear golden color with littel head. Dominant grapefruit/citrus/lychee with pine aroma. Taste is similarly one sided with not enough malts to balance. But this is the beer’s uniques selling point. It’s really hoppy but not so overpowering. Medium body with slightly oily mouthfeel. Original like Zappa himself.