Lagunitas Waldos' Special Ale

Sorry I can't seem to post my pic (seems awfully convoluted for this forum) but my wife walked away with a CASE this afternoon from one of my locals. (She left 3 6-packs--the place only got 3 cases total, one of which was split among employees.)

Just finished a bottle. "A step back"?!? Y'all nuts. This is another great kickass batch. And while yes the latest Hi-Res was nice, I still found it to have a bite at the end. This Waldo's is sooo smooooth!! Goes down like a dream. Whenever I see that word "dank," I think of the Waldo's, and RARELY anything else comes close to the whole description of the word. Okay, with my first bottle, MAYBE not quite as fragrant as last year? But that's me searching for a caveat. This is a very very special brew and why isn't it year-round??!?

Last comment as I start in on bottle #2: The Waldo's, for me, is a bittersweet reminder that nothing brewed in NJ you can buy in a retail location is as deep and well crafted and dense and perfectly flavorful as this. Fightin' words? Tell me what's better that I can buy at one of my locals (that I haven't tried already) and I'll buy it.

 

A solid brew but def sweeter than I remember. I liked it last year quite a bit more.

 

I found this year's Waldo's much sweeter and boozier than last year. It tastes like it's 2/3 of the way to DFH 120. I think 11.9% is just too high an abv for it to be balanced or have much hop presence so I am not surprised but glad I only bought a single.

 

I personally hated the Scotch Ale and made the mistake of buying two six packs figuring it would be tremendous. Like you said"hoppiest scotch ale" I've ever had .
I actually drain poured a couple of bottles and you know that's not easy

 

For me a drain pour means the beer was absolutely disgusting and un drinkable. That usually means the beer is infected or cloying. I can't imagine drain pouring a perfectly fine Lagunitas beer just because it was too hoppy. That's approaching snob territory haha.

 

Missed this last year, and having this year's a couple days late, but this is a major beer that I am enjoying a lot. It is sweet as others mention, but not the staggering sweet of 120, and not a cloying sweet like in some high ABV strong ales. Hops are nice, the finish is a great hop burn and alcohol spice bite, am digging this tribute beer quite a bit.

 

Okay then !!
I guess I'm a snob .. lol

I found one left in the fridge that I will a video for you if me drain pouring it

I didn't like that one example from Lagunitas and I love most all of their releases.

It just didn't taste like Scotch ale to me and I couldn't force down another bottle .

Beer snob is the last thing I am if you look at my posts .

I'll leave them on a street corner next time, so someone else can give it a shot

Worst Scotch Ale I've ever had . They'll never get me to try it again that's for sure .

They should make more High Westies for us East Coasters

 

Hop Stoopid on steroids. Having my first right now, and I like it.

 

NJ Plainfield Super Buy-Rite people: only singles left FYI. They got a good few cases Monday, now all gone.

 

I was not a fan of this beer.

Its like hop syrup. Thick and resinous. Boosey and sweet.

 

I split a bottle with my wife last evening and my palate is similar to yours; too sweet/syrupy for me. My wife enjoys drinking this beer.

Cheers!

P.S. I did enjoy drinking Waldo last year since it was not nearly so sweet/syrupy.

 

Mmmmm thick and resinous hop syrup . . .

 

I don't like it this year. But even last year's wasn't that great in a bottle (but amazing on tap).

Question: Is Waldo being brewed in IL? Mine is brewed in Petaluma, but I don't know how Lagunitas does their thing. Do they always brew in both places for ease of shipping? Just wondering if there's variation like there is for BY.

 

My bottle have a code of 082 7 2.

My understanding is that the "2" of that code means this beer was brewed in the Chicago brewery; "1" means the CA brewery.

 

Perfect! That answers one question.

For me, my Petaluma (last digit 1) brewed batch was really sweet, particularly vs last year. I remember it being crazy dank and resinous, but now it's just a malt bomb.

But I've seen some BAers say this year's is really dank. So I wonder if that's a regional variation? Batch variation? Or palate variation?

 

I have made this same comment (a number of times) about my Chicago brewed Waldos' Special Ale. It seems to me that it is a palate issue as to whether a given beer drinker thinks the beer is too sweet or not. I think this year's version is too sweet but my wife likes it. I enjoyed last year's version since that beer was not too sweet for my palate.

I personally picked up a bit of "dank" in my Chicago batch. I would not describe as being a big flavor component but I definitely did pick it up. I am personally not a big fan of "dank" (i.e., a marijuana type aroma/flavor) and I did not find "dank" to be objectionable in this beer for me so I suppose I would suggest my beer had mild "dank".

The aspect that I did not really enjoy was the fact it was too sweet/syrupy for my personal palate.

Cheers!

 

I have found that it can vary both ways based on the shape of my palate. If this is the first beer of the night, then it is very similar to last year. If it is a followup to another IPA then the sweetness is somewhat more noticeable.

 

sheesh this was a lot hotter this year. still a fine brew, but definitely more in the barleywine vein than the juicy DIPA/TIPA feel of past years. oh well - glad I only bought a bottle and the price point is still nice considering the ABV.

last year the hops dominated, and wonderfully so. this year, the malts take over.

if you like malt-forward big beers with the hops really only lending bitterness, as opposed to grapefruit or juicy flavors, then this year is for you. not for me, though.

 

I have to wonder if there is too much variation between batches! I get no heat, zero--I've already gone through a sixer and they've all been smooth and clean and ultra-drinkable. Maybe maybe a bit sweeter than last year but certainly not a sugar bomb to my taste buds. Yes this is indeed dank-hop heaven for the mouth but that's what I expect from a Waldo's. My only small disappointment is the nose isn't as aromatic as 2016. But I feel blessed to have scored a case and I am loving every bottle.

 

well I'm personally extremely sensitive to malt presence in hoppy beers. definitely more so than the majority of people. as such, this is definitely a beer I could see people loving if they appreciate a strong malt presence in their hoppy beer. I just prefer the less malt character, the better. if I want something dominated with malt, I'll drink a stout or brown ale. with something advertised as insanely hoppy, I want an in-your-face pine, grapefruit, marijuana, or similar associated flavors, which I got last year from this. I don't want caramel, chocolate, malt-whatever creeping in and making it a bit messy. malt in my typical hoppy beer is either non-existent or just a tinge of flavor on the aftertaste to reign things in.

and a minimal malt character is quite difficult to do with a beer like this, but they seemed to pull it off last year. this felt more in line with Lagunitas' Olde GnarlyWine, which is good but not for me.

I mean, for the abv - comparative to other beers with the abv - it's quite drinkable. just more malt-forward than I remember, which brings out a bit more heat compared to the grapefruit-y, sharp hop taste of yesteryear.