Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale

Lagunitas Brewing Co.   Petaluma, CA

Notes:

American Strong Ale

12oz Bottle

9.6% ABV

66.6 IBU

Appearance:  Pours an amber color with a touch of orange…fairly transparent, I see a few bubbles happening in the middle…a good amount of head formed with my mispour, but after things settle down, there seems to be a consistent, light khaki, pinky finger width layer that remains…looks good…(4/5)

Smell:  Piney, citrus hops up front…it’s got a nice fresh and zestiness about it…more pine bite than citrus with earthy tones all about…I also get some peppery rye malt…there’s a bready, biscuity quality here as well…this is a well balanced brew with ample bite and piney bitterness…real nice!  (4/5)

Taste:  Very creamy…I get a nice mix of piney hops bite and rye/earthy malts…very earthy taste with a lively amount of piney hops bitterness…rich, creamy and very well balanced…there is hops bitterness galore, but the (presumably) rye peppery bite takes out a bit of the sting and guides it towards being flavorful…I do taste a bit of alcohol heat, which shouldn’t be surprising as it’s 9.6% ABV, though it doesn’t detract from the overall taste for me…fairly straight forward from beginning to end, this has a fantastic flavor…(4.25/5)

Mouthfeel:  Light to medium body with light to medium carbonation…it fluffs up a bit bringing piney bitterness bite and a bit of that peppery ryeness…creamy and wet on the palate, it ends with earthy/piney bitterness and a ton of bite in the after taste…it lacks a little zing…(3.75/5)

Overall:  This is a fantastic brew…unique and powerful, while bringing tons of hops flavor, bite and bitterness…I’ve been trying to drink more seasonally, picking up brews that look good when they hit the Chicago market, so as soon as I saw this, I scooped it up…Lagunitas wields a magic wand in my opinion when it comes to hoppy brews and this one doesn’t disappoint…it’s got a bit of a price tag, but it’s well worth the extra few dollars for a sixer…the bottle says, “Limited Release”, so I recommend picking some up if you see it for your next friendly get together or for chilling by the fire…Cheers! (4.25/5)

Score:

(4.16/5)