The Down Low
Lagunitas Brewing Company

 

Golden color. Big, white head. Aroma is mostly of grapefruits and malt. Not very intense taste, though good enough for a session IPA. Juicy and thirst-quenching.

perhaps originally made for utah with the low alcohol draft rules, i know this has worn a few different hats, but its quality, simple in a good way, a lot like lagunitas censored, a slightly hoppy and bitter amber essentially, not too sweet with the low alcohol, which put it ahead of most of its peers it utah when it first came around, but sturdy enough overall to not seem weakened in any way, not a compromise, not enough beer like this back then, but now with the higher abv permitted on draft, this sort of thing kind of fell out of favor. i like beer like this, pine forward hop bitterness with a little orange zest note to it, doesnt even matter if its all that fresh, the hops seem kind of stuck in it regardless which is nice. its got a little bit of yeast character which sometimes i loathe in lagunitas beers, but appreciate in this one, it keeps it from being watery or one dimensional. the malt has a honey note, a toasted richness, but its drier than many in its class. good carbonation, fine balance if you like them on the hoppy side, and enough body that i dont feel cheated. this is better than i think it ever really got credit for, filled a niche like no other, at least in utah, and really was one of the more agreeable and dynamic session types when the style picked up. always a fan.

 

 

 

From December 2016. I'm always a little concerned when someone wants to make a malty ipa or pale ale. Are you into traditional English ipas? No? Then why?

Anyways, here comes a copper colored beer with 1/2" off white head. A little bit of chill haze, not the usual clarity you see from Lagunitas. The aroma was hoppy. More aromatic than expected, it dropped notes of peach, passion fruit and grapefruit up in the nose.

Taste was hoppy too. I thought it was just gonna be a crystal malt bread ship, but it manages to get some hop flavors through like it did in the nose. Yeah there is plenty of that toasted breadiness to it, but I was thinking it was gonna be the usual rolo/werthers descriptors all day. The bitterness is more than just a pine and grapefruit push, there is some stone fruit and tropical, but they prolly would hit harder with a lighter malt bill.

So there you have it, a review of a malty, session pale ale. Somehow the beer worked.

 

Great dark amber color, medium-small head.
Smell is hoppy and spicy with medium malt in the background.
Taste is a well rounded IPA with a bit of spice at the back of the mouth

At first I was scared of these big craft 4% abv ipas, they've actually all been excellent.

 

It looks really great, with excellent head retention for such low ABV. I've found that even low ABV beers that pour with a huge head initially don't keep it for long, but this is an exception. On the nose, I get a very overpowering grassy smell, and for the taste it's not too different. It's got a very strong up-front floral and grassy lemon flavor, with a somewhat bitter piney finish that lingers on the tongue. It's not a combination of flavors that I really enjoy. The body is thin, as is to be expected at 3.9%. It's not my favorite.

I'm just starting to think I'm not a huge fan of floral/grassy flavors in my pale ales. Too bad. This really doesn't seem like a bad beer, and I'm sure Lagunitas is a great brewery (haven't had anything else from them yet but I'm aware of their reputation). It's just not really my thing.

 

 

3.5% ABV version brewed for the Swedish market.

The colour is gold, the liquid clear. The two finger head is white and compact; it sinks slowly down leaving some fine lacing on the glass.

The smell is fruity and sweet with distinct American hoppy flavours of orange, grapefruit and pine needles.

The taste got passing clean sweetness, growing citric bitterness and some herbal-piney flavours. The sweetness and body fades quickly, leaving a thin bitter-hoppy aftertaste with notes of grapefruit, tangerines and orange peels plus a hint of plastic. The finish got somewhat harsh notes of citric marmalade and pine needles.

The carbonation is medium to strong; the mid-sized bubbles short-lived. The liquid is light and harsh.

The hoppy and bitter notes are OK, but the malts way to thin. I guess that is what you get when you release a 3.5% version of a beer originally at 3.9%.

Very easy drinkiner... Not very bitter at all but still has a nice floral hops flavor , mildly sweet..

Cheap as well, paid $3 for a bomber.

 

This was poured into a becher pint glass. The appearance was a hazy semi-burnt copper color. Sly transparency. Light carbonation is seen rising at a moderate pace. One finger white foamy head quickly dissipates. Moderately messy semi-foamy lacing. The smell started off with subtle sweet peach, dried melon flesh. Subtle brittle bitter citrus rind. White pepper. The flavor brings it all together decently. Semi-dry sweet to spicy aftertaste with a quick dry spicy finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light on the body with a nice sessionability about it. Carbonation rides fairly light. White pepper spice hits on the tongue nicely. Overall, it works, I can see it. Perhaps again.

 

 

Taste: smooth semi sweet malts mix with floral hops. clean finish. Same with the nose. Gold, slight haze, smaller head,some lace. Medium/lite body. Easy drinking non bitter ale. 42 IBUs