Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale

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

Tap at Pap. Reminds me of Arrogant Bastard but smoother and with fewer West Coast BW type hops. Prominent apple and mild alcohol, and that’s a bit it. Boom.

A fine tasting with drbayern, his court jester celticbrew, the mischievious Uncles Steve and Tom, our new Beer Pimp Brian (who makes Gulliver’s Travels seem like a walk around the block), and Dancin’ Paul. Poured a copper color, with a nice head which retained well. Malty flavor was accentuated by really nice hops that led to a nice hoppy finish.

Red body with a creamy but thinner white head. Hops stand out in the aroma of this beer. Pine tree, citrus, and cookie malts are present. A fruit flavor makes a statement in the flavor. Kind of a hop forward beer with a fruity sweetness. Very easy drinking for the ABV level. Nothing out of this world, but solid nonetheless.

Gotta love the deep ruby color. Thick mouthfeel finishes fairly smooth, with the alcohol coming in at the end. A bit of sweetness, but mostly bitter.

Common dark amber/copper body with a thick almond colored head and thick lacing. A pleasing aroma of wet, citrusy hops opens up. Good floral bouquet quality with the right amount of hoppiness. Hearty and filling, very creamy with a faint warmth. Drinks like a 6% beer, very approachable. Thick caramel, toffee and bread malt flavors wrapped around a fresh, bittering hop bite. Citrus and tacky pine to counter the dense sweet malt. Another great strong and hoppy ale from this brewery.

[Bottle] Pours reddish-amber with a blotchy off-white head. Aroma is grassy and piney hops with perhaps a touch of citrus as well. Certainly doesn’t explode out of the glass, though, and could stand to be substantially bigger. The taste has an odd, sweet taste that I can’t identify to go along with the alcohol, average bitterness, and malt towards the end. That sweetness is not enjoyable. Pretty good mouthfeel, quite smooth, and an average finish that is malt-heavy. Overall, this beer just really didn’t work for me. Something about it reminded me of hopped up Censored at times, which I did not like, and that sweet taste was pretty bad.

12oz bottle. Pours a crystal clear, copper-amber-red body with a finger-width, frothy, off-white head that dissipates evenly and remains moderately laced. Aroma is a nice balance of big hops and sweet malts. Fresh and juicy grapefruits, fat caramels, and heavy woody pine. No hint of booze whatsoever. Very straightforward, but enticing aroma. Flavor is very similar. Lots of sweet, but heavy pine bitterness. A lot of sugary, soft and chewy caramel maltiness attempts to balance this out, but the body is pretty quick and really throws it off IMO. It makes it seem as if its missing something. Palate is medium bodied and surprisingly not very dry. I keep wanting this to dry up because of the big bitter flavors, but it never seems to. Overall, despite the big flavors, something is missing and the body is throwing me a real gyroball. Its a little too sugary as well and just never seems to come together. As a side note, there is absolutely no evidence of this being 9.28%.

This brew pours a clear copper color with a medium thin bone white head that diminishes to nearly nothing eventually. Thick partial rings of lacing on the glass. The aroma is citrusy and spicy hops. Medium body with flavors of peppery hops, citrus and malt. Notes of pine as well. The finish is hoppy with a lingering zesty citrus aftertaste. Pretty good overall.