Feature Beer Friday! - Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild

Okay, another one that isn't available in Louisiana... at least not yet.  I have nothing definite but I've been hearing rumors about Lagunitas coming our way for a while now.  I certainly hope there's some truth to them because they would be a great addition to our market with some delicious but affordable beers.  

This week we have the Little Sumpin' Wild from Lagunitas Brewing, out of Petaluma, California.  The Little Sumpin' Wild is a Belgian take on their Little Sumpin' Sumpin', a pale wheat ale that borders on an IPA.  It's a little stronger at 8.8% and is fermented with Westmalle Trappist yeast to give it a distinct Belgian flavor profile.
 
Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jeff Herman (Tiger Deaux-nuts), Dan Fisher, and Mandi Kaelberer.

Serving: 12 oz. bottle.

Appearance: Deep golden color, not a lot of head on this one. 

Aroma: Funky with a good noble hop aroma, and also some citrus.  The Belgian yeast funk is present right away.  

Taste: Tart, hoppy, no boozy flavors, the alcohol is well hidden beneath the yeasty funk.

Mouthfeel: Dan said that this one finished very tart, and I agree. It has that expected high level of carbonation from a Belgian-styled brew.

Overall: I would love to have this one on hand regularly, it's a great example of a Belgian IPA and at a great price.  This one comes strongly recommended from the panel if you see it in Texas or elsewhere.

Overall Rating: 81
My Rating: 74

Beer Reviews: White Birch Hop Session and Hooksett Ale

Time for a quick bonus beer review... or reviews in this case!  Whenever I'm out buying groceries or homebrew supplies I'm always on the lookout for new beers and last week Mandi and I were looking for a little food and drink at the local Bet-R store and two new ones from White Birch Brewing caught our eye.  I'm always a little leery of new breweries that I haven't heard about, but these were affordable at $5.99 and $6.99 so we picked up a White Birch Hop Session and a White Birch Hooksett Ale.  Very clean labels, and I really liked that they had the bottling dates so clearly marked.  Another thing I'm always leery about is finding an IPA that has a bottling date of somewhere around 9 months ago!  Not the case here though, fresh, new... worth a look. 

A little more about White Birch Brewing... they are a relatively new brewery (founded 2009) from Hooksett, New Hampshire.  You mean you've never been to Hooksett, NH?  Yeah, me either... in fact I've never been to New Hampshire, or Vermont, or Maine, or Rhode Island for that matter.  That little corner of the country is one of the few missing on my states list it turns out.  White Birch Brewing is currently using a 7-barrel system for their beers, which makes it even more surprising to see some in Baton Rouge... for reference Tin Roof uses a 30-barrel system... over 4 times as large, and they aren't even distributing to the whole of Louisiana. White Birch has three beers out right now, and it seems like they do three year-round beers plus a regular rotation of multiple seasonals. 

All that said, it's the beer that we really care about, so how do these beers really stack up?  Typical tastings go from light to dark, but we had an Anglo-American IPA and a Belgian Style IPA to work with so we started with the lighter abv beer, the Hop Session Anglo-American IPA.  Now what exactly is an "Anglo-American IPA?"   I'm not entirely sure, but based on the name "Hop Session" and the low 5.2% abv I can assume that this is intended to be a sessionable easy-drinking IPA... and that's exactly what they have created.  It's light bodied, but not TOO light, and it's hoppy but not TOO hoppy.  This is exactly the sort of beer I think more breweries should strive to make... simple, easy, hoppy.  It shows off the hop flavors without being obtrusive and balances it well with a lighter malt body.  Very nice work.

The second beer we tried was the Hooksett Ale, a Belgian Style IPA coming in stronger at 8.5% abv.  This one (just like the Hop Session) was bottled in March of 2013, so it's pretty damn fresh which is how you want your IPAs.  They describe it as "Inspired by our love of Belgian ales and hoppy West Coast ales. We bring Cascade and Columbus hops together with our house yeast for a smooth Belgian style hopfest."  Mmmm, I love some Columbus hops, and this beer really works well with them and the Belgian yeast.  Smooth, creamy even, with a good hop profile and just a little funkiness to it.  All in all another nice beer.

So there you go... two really nice additions to the beer shelves and at nice prices too. Maybe we'll see the third flagship and the seasonals in the future?  Based on these two I'd definitely give them a try. 

An IPA Day Celebration!

Alright, a few weeks ago we all celebrated International IPA Day.  Or at least I hope you did... you are reading a beer blog after all so I assume you like beer.  And if you like beer enough to read a beer blog, well then you probably at least have some appreciation for the IPA.  I know these hoppy beers aren't for everyone, but I sure like them.  So, I had originally planned to try a few IPAs and write about them for that special occasion, but a few friends got word and an IPA tasting developed and then it turned into a full-on shit-show of hoppiness.

To get the party started, Dustin came over a bit early and since we both had a Great Divide 17th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA on hand, that was the kick-off beer.  Poured from a bomber into a pint glass, it has a clear copper color with a finger or so of white head.

It has a very typical IPA aroma, caramel malt base with a strong blended hop aroma. It's tough to tell which typical hop note comes out the most. And there wasn't much wood on the nose.

The wood aging really comes out on the taste. It has some vanilla oak flavor and a caramel base like the aroma. The wood notes blend well with the hops but also masks the bitterness some.

It's a good beer and a good one to get started, but I had a feeling there would be more to come.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B+

After that warm-up everyone else started trickling in and the real fun began.  Following the 17th Anniversary DIPA, the IPA list kept growing... Left Coast Hop Juice, Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel Corne De Diable, Squatters IPA, Mikkeller Stateside IPA, Dogfish Head 60 Minute, Red Brick Double IPA, Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 11, Bridgeport IPA, Dogfish Head Squall IPA, Bell's Two-Hearted Ale, Moylans Moylander DIPA, Moylans Hopsicle TIPA, Full Sail Hop Pursuit, Maui Big Swell, BrewDog Mashah Belgian Dark IPA, Boulevard Double-Wide, Cigar City Jai Alai, Breckenridge Lucky U, Sweetwater IPA, He'Brew Lenny's Rye IPA, Avery DuganA, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid, Bear Republic Racer 5, and an Eel River IPA to finish it off.

 

Yeah, quite the lineup!  About half of them were new to me... I think the highlights of the tasting were the Left Coast Hop Juice, Full Sail Hop Pursuit, Boulevard Double-Wide, and of course the Bell's Two-Hearted.  Everyone had their favorite though, and all of our taste buds were shot by the end of the night. Thanks to everyone who came by and brought beers, and I hope everyone out there enjoyed a fantastic IPA Day!

Happy International IPA Day Everyone!

Just wanted to say that real quick... it's International IPA Day for those who didn't know... this is a social media driven "holiday" to celebrate one of beers most widely spread and widely celebrated styles.  It apparently was created by another (and more successful I'm sure!) beer blogger called The Beer Wench and with the help of Twitter and some breweries, International IPA Day was born! 

Here's my lineup for tonight... I might get through them all with the help of a few friends...

Cheers, and enjoy International IPA Day!

Review: Stone Cali-Belgique

Last week during my visit to Parish Brewery I broke out a Stone Cali-Belgique IPA that I had picked up in Gainesville on a the previous trip.  I know, I've been all over the place lately, but hey, someone has to do it.  Good beer doesn't grow on trees.  Besides, Andrew treats us to tasty brews, only fair to bring some to share with him.

So... the Stone Cali-Belgique IPA.  What we have here, is a Californian take on a Belgian version of an American West-coast style.  Yeah, you heard me right.  IPAs are originally an English style of beer, but American breweries really took hold and ran with them.  Then the Belgian breweries started experimenting with the hoppy style of beers combined with their Belgian yeast strains.  Now this one, they are using traditional American techniques (and hops I'm pretty sure) but with a Belgian yeast strain.  Interesting to say the least, and interesting is the best way to describe this beer.  (Anyone should feel free to correct my history lesson if I'm off... I'm more of a beer drinker than beer historian!)

It's a deep golden color, with a small white head. Not much retention or lacing on this pour.  The aroma is unique... it's hoppy and bold with a Belgian spice to it. Banana, coriander... very nice, and what I expected.  The taste is very lemony... the hops used give off a very citric flavor to me, and it dominates the mouthfeel. You can still taste some of the sweet spices when you swish the beer around on the front of the tongue, but the slightly sour notes come through more strong.

I really like the way the flavors blend in the mouth, combining citrus, sweet malts, spices to form a rather different beer. It's not like any other beer I've tried recently, and I enjoyed it a lot.  If I see this one around in Louisiana, and it's possible because Stone does distribute here, I'll probably grab a few more and cellar them to see how this one ages.  I know it's not really traditional to age hoppy beers, but I'm curious.

 

My Rating: A-

BeerAdvocate: A-

On another, much more sad note, my favorite keychain bottle opener broke a few days ago.  :-(  I picked up this Guinness opener on a trip to Ireland in 2006 and it's been very good to me since then, lasting through almost 5 years worth of bottle tops.  So, if anyone is looking for a good birthday present for me, I could use a new keychain opener!  Meanwhile, this one will find its way to the kitchen, since it still works as an opener, just lost the keychain loop!

Cheers, and if you are off today due to the 'wintry weather' like I am, enjoy!