Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale

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

22oz bomber from Vadallia in Landsdale, Pa for $4.39!! Pours a nice fluffy head that hung around awhile + laced nicely. A crystal clear copper color (I was surprised this was not bottled conditioned, zero sediment). Nice nose of piney hops and some sweeetness telling me this would be hot. The abv was well hidden too my surprise and blended well with the high malt content.This is a good IPA with some kick. Some nice hop flavor with the "pineyness" and grapefruit bite but be careful, this is no session beer. The session would last for as long as it takes to drink 2 of these. For the price I paid, I would consider a session worth a try!!

From a 22 oz. bomber bottle, 2005 vintage??, a blurb along the right side of label, sampled at cellar temperature in a tulip glass. Poured a clear reddish tarnished copper with a large, rocky off-white head, fair amount of laced sticking. A pleasant hoppy nose, mango, melon, papaya, lightly pine oily, a little minty floral and dry herbs, sweet grainy malts. Good steady carbonation, crisp, dry, hop slick, chewy, creamy smooth medium-full bodied mouthfeel. On my first taste of this I thought, o.k., green pine needles, tropical fruits and bananas, on further tastes, minty herbs with a peel and rind bitterness, a slight numbing of the tongue, sweet caramel grains the meshes with the hops, giving them some sweetness, the alcohol is spicy and fruity, a bit like a tropical mixed drink, providing a low temperature warmth in the palate, and a dry spicy, herbal, fruity alcohol finish. For me personally, another winning ale from Lagunitas, a "sneak release" that despite it’s ABV is an easy sipper, I’m glad I picked up a few bottles of this, very enjoyable.

Excellent dark amber color with a small tight head and great lacing. The smell was very fruity, hoppy and malty at once. Great balance...excellent ASA...I loved this baby.

22 oz bottle. At first, too cold, let warm just a bit and the flavors came out. Consider this a strong ale, at 9.9% did not taste like a high octane beer. The finish was a nice spicey warming. I wish I had another.

Pours deep ruby with a thick, frothy tan head. Strong aroma of fresh cut grass, grapefruit, and alcohol. Big creamy malt right up front, with an herbal bitterness hitting mid-palate. Bitterness lingers through the finish, with notes of vanilla, lemon zest, and earthy/piny/spicy hops. Palate is full, creamy, a bit sticky, and spicy with lingering bitter grapefruit, just a hint of lemon zest, and some mild continuing sweetness. Very unique ale, almost feels like some sort of crossover. Part Barley Wine, part IPA, and part ESB. Either way, enjoyable, and very easy drinking.

’07 bottle. clear, red/purple with minimal head though pretty carbonated. almost looks like a well-mixed shirley temple. aroma out of bottle is pure hops, but out of glass has more of a candyish maltiness. like a cherry syrup almost. flavor is decimatingly bitter. a tiny bit medicinal, still syrupy. i don’t know man, there’s some off tastes here. kinda weird how turned off to hops i’ve become. just a tad overcarbonated. i didn’t want to give over a 3.5, but i’ll let the 3.6 stay since it has no alcohol taste. even if this version is a full .7% less than last year’s.

22oz bottle - Medium/dark copper color with medium sized creamy off white head. Aroma has fair amount of light caramel, faint citrusy hops w/ notes of lemon, touch of apricot. Flavor is malty, faint caramel, touch of vanilla, bit of lemon and herbal hops. Finish is mildly bitter. Overall a nice american strong ale.

Wow - they were not kidding about this being a drink inspired by their bitter feelings about the local federales. This thing is a molassas sweet, bitter, malty hoppity-hop-hop behemoth ale. The smooth caramel malt segues into a huge, sharp biitter hop finish with a heapin’ helpin’ of pungent grapefruit that does a dance on the face of your tongue. Re-rate: May 3rd, 2008 - Rating a 1-yr. old bomber I have let marinating in my fridge - citrus stands out a bit more, much smoother and even seems a little more full-bodied than I remember - I agree with my previous rating of 4.2, but am going to bump it up to 4.3 on the merit of how well it aged at 45F.