Monday Rant: Not Much Was Quenched

Man, oh man I love the flavor of a really bready IPA. The one that reigns supreme in that category is Lagunitas IPA and may it reign for all of eternity. To give a little premise of this tale, let me fill you in on my adventure (if you could even call it that) from Saturday.

I went with some friends and got sucked into seeing the movie Divergent. I wasn't too thrilled to actually be there as I had no idea what it was nor that there was a book. We went to view the movie and I decided I deserved a little snack splurge and bought a pack of Reese's Pieces. Usually my staple at the cinema.

I don't drink pop/soda anymore. So, I usually end up thirsty after snacking at the movies. We went to a bar across the street and I found the Lagunitas IPA on draft. I've never actually thought about it before, but I was really dry and thirsty when I came across the street for a drink. I didn't calculate hoppiness at all in terms of quenching said thirst. That's because it didn't get the job done that I intended. Maybe it's also my own fault for not taking that into account before I chose so poorly.

About a third of the way through the 20 oz. draft I realized that I was still thirsty. This led me to the conclusion that hoppy brews don't do much to fill such and endeavor. This event gave truth to the old saying that we learn something new every day. To me, the beer can be as cold or refreshing as possible. Still, if there is an above-average level of hoppy bitterness it can even make me thirstier.

I guess hops do have some form of an ability to dry things out a little further. This all brings up the notion of irony in American craft beer culture. I pose this - if a major point of drinking something is to quench a thirst to a certain extent why do we need to eccentuate a flavor that would make some of us thirstier? IPA's area major player in the beer scene here in the states. That's a fact, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Thus I haven't since I started this blog over two years ago. Just a little food for thought. I'm complaining about IPA's and hops once again. Big shocker, right?

Also, let's go Bucs.

Beer Review: Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 7.5 percent

Appearance: This brew has a deep golden color with some blonde highlights. There was a ton of rising carbonation towards the top of the glass. It was almost as if the bubbles were fighting each other for space within the concoction. That assisted the tall, thick and frothy head that was a bright white color and left very thick lacing inside the glass. Let me say again that the lacing was quite thick just to emphasize the thickness. The bubbles in both the head and the lacing were pretty big and defining.

Smell: I didn't pick up anything too exotic. Mainly just hints of a citrusy orange and a large helping of floral hop notes.

Taste: The front half of my tongue was saturated with some pleasant citrus, wheat and yeast. That combination gave me tastes of both sweet and pale. The floral hops hit me on the finish. They were quite intense and made swallowing the beer a bit of a struggle, but thankfully it didn't linger in the aftertaste. The booziness of the beer also kicked in at this point. It was a few shades above that warm feeling you get and is sometimes enjoyable. It had a slight burning sensation to it.

Overall Rating: 

This is a quality beer and it comes from a quality brewer. Apologies for not having it in the Lagunitas mason jar glass. I only came into possessing the glass some time after drinking this beer. Everything went quite well for me with this except for the harshness of the hops and the alcohol content. This seemed to be hoppier and more boozy than the Lagunitas IPA which I love. I love the label on the bottle of this, too. I'm a big history geek. So, I love that Lagunitas sometimes haspin-up style images on its labels. Ones just like those painted on fuselages of World War II bombers.

Beer Review: Lagunitas IPA

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 6.2 percent

Appearance: Lagunitas IPA has a body that can be classified as anywhere between a darker blonde and a gold. There was a plethora of fizzy carbonation present. The bubbles seemed to rush towards the crown of the glass with speed close to that of a DeLorean reaching 88 MPH. The head of the brew had a thickness of approximately three inches, but it was soft and had many large bubbles that could be popped easily. The head did end up leaving lacing that was really thick inside my glass.

Smell: The most prevalent scent in the aroma that I picked up was sweet and sourness of grapefruit. There was also some malt present that was on par in terms of sweetness with the grapefruit. A noticeable hop character also found its way into my nostrils.

Taste: The malt and grapefruit somewhat dominated the taste of this beer. Both gave me a great combination of sweetness. The grapefruit didn't give off too sour of a taste. There was an actual fruity essence. It was just right. The finish was the explanation point on this one. There was a slight hop kick that was followed by a crackery taste. Surprisingly, the hops did not dominate this brew.

Overall Rating: 

I absolutely loved this. Lagunitas IPA might be the best IPA I've had. It wasn't completely full of hops, In fact, the hops worked well with all of the other fabulous flavors of this beer. I never once said to myself that I'd eventually want to purchase a case of an IPA. That changed the second I started drinking this one.