Lagunitas New Style Old Ale
I picked this pint up at New Seasons on the top shelf, where the spendy beers and the larger singles live. Not that it was that spendy. Being Friday in Portland, I’ll likely be hitting the pub sometime after I write this review. So, in New Seasons (it’s our locally-owned groovy high-end supermarket. Good place, good meat, pretty good beer selection) I’m checking out the fancy beers, and I see that Lagunitas has a new flavor. That’s pretty exciting news because I’ve loved everything else they put out (IPA is probably the top of my list right now…and not the fancy one in the 22oz bottle). A quick calculation…$3 for 22oz, compared to $3.50 for 16oz at the pub. Sure, at the pub I’m paying for the music and second-hand smoke, but I pay for music at home too. So I broke down and dropped the three bucks. You’ll find that I recommend that you do too.
This ale from Lagunitas pours smooth. A caramel-colored beer, light enough I can nearly read through it. The head is very rich for an ale this light. The aroma is faint enough to be nearly absent, only offering the slightest hint to complement the light maltiness of the ale. The flavor of this one is superb. Not bitter like the other Lagunitas beers that I’ve had, but full on the tongue, almost pillow-like. The carbonation is mostly an afterthought, but escorts the beer tastefully down the tongue.
While sweet, it isn’t syrupy or overbearing, which I find to be a good quality. A fine beer, fresh and light, but not crisp. I recommend this one happily. Enjoy, it’s time go play.
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updated this one with a coupla links
So – it’s not really possible for me to post in your blog, so I’m extending this post by adding a comment.
The Raccoon Lodge http://raclodge.com, in beaverton has an interesting beer-portunity right now.
Today they opened two casks of their IPA. One was Oak & One was stainless. They’ve aged one month. Next month, they’ll open second barrels, so you can compare the difference between one month & two. in May & June the experiment will be duplicated!
Remember – their IPA is almost 6% alchohol too…
ooh, that sounds pretty sweet! I’d be up for grabbing a pint sometime, and checking that out. I’ve never had anything at the Raccoon Lodge, but it seems they are partners with a place or two around?
On the not being able to post…I’d had that capability before, but it didn’t seem like the direction this blog was going (based on posts), so to ease administration I scaled back.
If you ever come out west to the Raccoon Lodge, let me know. Maybe we can do an Oregon Bloggers Meet or something! I’m always up for a good IPA.