Lagunitas Lucky #13

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Petaluma, California USA

Bottle. Pour is a beautiful reddish-brown with a tan head that sits at a little over one finger. As the head is dying, some of the foam is clinging desperately to the side of the glass. Aromas are very hoppy... pine and grapefruit are the main attractions. Flavor is unique... the hops that was foreshadowed in the nose is definitely there, but the malt presence is of toffee, peat and wood. I can’t say I’ve ever experienced this combination of flavors before, and it is quite good. The alcohol is perceptible, but it comes out more as a flavor than a warm feeling. A little bit of an astringent bite to it.

Pours with a reasonably tightly beaded, initially three-finger thick, amber tinged tan colored head that forms a lacing pattern as it slowly recedes. The beer is a lightly hazy, dark cherry red color. The aroma has quite a bit of crystal / caramel malt character that is noticeable as I pour this brew. This is mixed in quite well with the hops, and in fact the hop character becomes much more dominant as I move in for a more focused exploration of the nose. Aromatic notes of resinous grapefruit, candied orange peel, syrup soaked lychees and interestingly enough something like candied cherries. The last I think is the point where the caramel malt character and hop notes meet. The hops also contribute, on a much more subdued level, notes of pine, a green grass character and a touch of menthol. As my nose gets used to the beer, aromas of toasted grain, biscuit malt, deeply caramelized malt sugars and a touch of warming alcohol become noticeable.

A rich mix of malt and hops, this has always reminded me a bit of Arrogant Bastard. The beer finishes with a certain astringent bitterness, and a toasty, slightly roasted malt note; both of these help to dry out this beer. Up front this beer is sweet with notes of caramel, brown sugar, and a touch of raisins. These notes are not all that easy to pull out though as there is a ton of hop character oozing out every pore of this beer. Competing notes of grapefruit, lychee and tangelo meld into and become subsumed by an aggressive, pine & menthol like, herbal / turpene driven hop stank. This beer has a medium heft to it, that in combination with the tongue scouring hop character and touch of warming alcohol, definitely make this a brew that is somewhere between a quaffing and a savoring brew (perhaps leaning more towards the sipping side of the spectrum).

This is perhaps a bit rough around the edges, some of the hops are definitely on the rough side of the spectrum, but sometimes that is just what a hophead wants (who needs those pansy-assed low cohumulone hops anyway). The mix of fruity hop driven notes, aggressive herbal hops, ample bitterness and dark malt character make this an engaging brew. I really like the depth of malt character here, or perhaps what I mean is that I love that the malt & darker malt notes play a significant role here. The malt character sometimes comes off as being a bit simplistically heavy on the crystal malt notes, but it still adds a significant character to this brew that even stands separated from the overwhelming hop character. Mighty tasty, and certainly serves as a hop fix for this oft-times hop head.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson, AZ

Bottle courtesy of and shared with Hogtown Harry. Burnt malt, caramel, alcohol in aroma. Nice dark copper, very little white head. Taste: more burnt malt, hops, caramel, lots of alcohol in taste. Simple straightforward strong ale - good stuff Lagunitas! Maybe more malt than I’m used to in their strong ales...

Bottle: Poured a deep red color ale with a large purer white foamy head with some good retention and some good lacing. Aroma of intense bitter hops with some notes of citrus. Taste is also dominated by some citrus and grapefruit –like hops with an intense bitter ending. Malt with some caramel characteristic is quite subtle with some semi-sweet notes. Body is above average with some nice carbonation.

Dark orange amber color with no head and no lacing. Beautiful, strong fruity and hoppy aroma, Flavor is all hops with sweet sweet fruits, light caramel, and light malt, small alcohol flavor- bitter finish. Gets better with every sip. Nice overall

Bottle. Pours copper color with medium tan head. Aroma of citric hops, some pine and resin, and something slightly metallic. Great hop flavor, same as above minus the metal and good toasted marshmellow flavor as well. Full bodied, warming and a nice balanced finish. I enjoyed this.

Great big beer. Well balanced and very drinkable. I felt like it lacked some mouthfeel, but went right back to the store and bought out their supply. Well done

Deep amber color out of the bottle with a two finger creamy beige head. Candied orange peel hops in the nose with notes of fresh pine and resin. Wow is this a big hop bomb. Tons of pine, peach, grapefruit rind, orange Jolly Rancher candies, all riding on a light buttered toast foundation. This is really sharp on the tongue and the palate pinching hop resin finish just makes you want to drink more.