Lagunitas Lagunator

Formerly brewed at Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: Dunkler Bock
Petaluma, California USA

The name’s a little misleading. It’s called an "-ator" but it’s not strong enough to be a doppelbock. Even then it’s a bock brewed as an ale, although no complaints there because I think Rogue Dead Guy is excellent. Pours cloudy, burghundy color, decent head formation. Dark fruit, prune juice aroma. Sweet creamy fruit malts up front and white chocolate middle. Mild bitter hoppy finish, a little more so than for the style.

The label is confusing mentioning ale and bock. I’m assuming this is a bock style but its clearly not a pure bock. The nose was alittle hoppy for a bock but I also detected much malt. The taste was not what I would expect from a Bock but ignoring the style difference its a good interesting beer. Mostly a malt character (apparently nicely malted w/choc malt) but with enough hops to achieve more balance.

Brown with light brown head. Malt nose. Good malt profile. Smooth with no noticeable alcohol heat

I’m going to call this a bock ale because it seemed like a blend of both. Loved the tangy, complex finish. Smooth, but is less rich than the commercial description implies.

I’m not sure what the hell kind of beer this is, but it’s good alright. At first it tasted all ale to me, primarily because in my mind, massive hopping belongs to ales. But the complex maltiness is that of a bock, although even the huge maltiness is overborne by the hops. The maltiness is first and foremost leathery, with some molasses and toffee. You expect a nice sweet finish, but then, WHAM!, you’re busted upside the head with a healthy dose of hops. I don’t know how I feel about this combo exactly, but I certainly don’t mind it. This beer was way overcarbonated, hence the lowered palate score.

I was skeptical about this at first, a bock from a brewery that tends to make a lot of hoppy beers. But once again Lagunitas comes through with a great beer. Yes, it did have a bit of hops in there which one does not expect in a bock, but by no means did it ruin the experience. The aroma is of cocoa and hops, flavor is a bit of hops first, then this very pleasant maltiness. Lots of chocolate in here. I really liked this.

Why does the label say ’ale’ and ’bock’? Sounds like the Lawson Creek syndrome. Very solid beer though. Started out very hoppy for a bock...almost like a malty, sweet pale ale. As it warmed, the aroma and taste started to take on a more roasted/caramel characteristic....well done! Rerate: I had another bottle out of this year’s batch and it wasnt nearly as good as the first one I had. Same copper color and appearance, but the flavor seemed off...I got the roasted nuttiness and the hops, but it didnt come off with the same balance as before. It came across as bitter with a bad finish.

Is it a bock? Is it a winter warmer? Is it an IPA? I could get elements of all three: the chocolate of a bock, the effervescence of an IPA, and the alcohol of a winter warmer, but they didn’t seem to mix well for me. Amber appearance with average foam, clean finish if nothing else but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it again.