Lagunitas The Waldo's Special Ale

The Stats
Style: Imperial IPA/Triple IPA
ABV: 11.9%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.32/5
- RateBeer: 3.91/5
- Untappd: 4.18/5

"In 1971, the Waldos met one afternoon at 4:20 in the front courtyard of their school near the statue of Louis Pasteur. They set out in a '66 Impala armed with a "treasure map" on a journey to find a secret garden near Point Reyes. They met there at the same time every day and continued their quest. They never found the secret garden....But they keep lookin'. The dankest and hoppiest beer ever brewed at Lagunitas was made with help of the Waldos for all treasure hunters."

Pours a dark, almost copper orange with a mostly transparent body, but has some haze. I got maybe a finger of white head.

It smells syrupy and resinous. Tons of familiar West Coast garlic and onion. I swear I'm getting apple juice, but spiked with black pepper and spices.

On the taste, I immediately pick up some candied orange and other tropical fruits. Not a juice nuke by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm glad to see it here after being absent on the aroma. It has a sweet candy taste kind of like sucking on a juicy...pink...Starburst (you thought I was going somewhere else with that, didn't you?). It's not all sweets and double entendres as a flood of pure dankness comes in and pretty much sticks to every surface of my mouth and is borderline unrelenting. I know the whole concept behind this beer is a celebration of puffing the magic dragon, but in addition to how dank this is, there is some sort of addictive property to this. The beer is so intense with each sip, I keep coming back for more just to see how much I can really take all at once. It's so weird. There' a noticeable alcohol warmth and taste, but it's not bad at all and is welcome in this case. It's boozy for sure, but again, not a big deal.

Mouthfeel is thick and syrupy just like a lot of double-digit abv IPA's. Like I said before, you pretty much need to scrape the hops and dankness off the back of your teeth after each sip. A big, boozy body makes this one a sip-by-sip affair.

Waldo's Special Ale was a different experience for sure. As a TIPA, this represented the big-bodied, alcohol-warming, syrupy side of the coin, but it was still fun to drink. Yeah, that's exactly how I'd describe this. This was fun to drink. Would I suggest killing your six-pack on one night? Are you fucking crazy? One 12oz bottle is the ideal serving and fans of this massive Triple IPA style are going to be thoroughly pleased.

Rating
8.1/10

Lagunitas Born Yesterday Pale Ale

The Stats
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 6.5%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.41/5 (Top 250: #127)
- RateBeer: 3.93/5

It's hard to call a beer "underrated" when its actually held in pretty high regards in terms of its style. That's how I would describe Lagunitas Born Yesterday Pale Ale. It is something that I personally had never sought out or heard people talking about as much as other offerings from smaller microbreweries, but what we have here is a pale ale that holds its own and surpasses many others in its weight class.

Pours hazy for the most part and sits a brilliant orange in the glass with a finger of fluffy white head.

This has a bitter and minty aroma with grass and just enough pineapple and mango to keep you interested. An interesting orange sherbet smell shines as this warms up.

Woah now, the taste has actually dropped most of the bitterness and now the fruit juices are taking over. Both citrus and tropical fruits are represented with big pineapple and grapefruit. Orange juice and pulp follow next as does some white grape. After it passes the middle, the end transitions to some slight wet grass, but a dash of pine and a dank finish add new elements to a style that doesn't see too much complexity.

Mouthfeel is full-bodied with no alcohol presence. There's good amounts of carbonation to help pass everything through the mouth and it just drinks so easily.

In the world of pale ales, Born Yesterday is surprisingly complex for the style and is super drinkable. I think with everyone chasing down hard-to-get pale ales from smaller breweries, this gem gets lost in the shuffle, but it deserves to be mentioned in the conversation with some of the highest-rated of its kind. Truly Rhombus!

Rating
9.1/10

Lagunitas Sucks

The Stats
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 7.85%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.34/5
- RateBeer: 3.92/5

The story behind Laguinats Sucks is just as interesting as the beer itself. Basically, many years ago, Lagunitas didn't have the brewing capacity to brew one of their other beers called "Brown Shugga'". It was something they did not plan for and they had to cancel Brown Shugga' for that season. Instead, they whipped together an Imperial IPA and sort of tongue-and-cheeked the entire fiasco by calling the beer "Laguintas Sucks" after the complaints from many of their consumers over the (temporary) loss of Brown Shugga. It was meant to be a one time deal, but this replacement beer turned out to be such a hit that it was brought back as a yearly release, and now more recently, it has become a year-round offering.

Pours a transparent, glowing orange with good carbonation off the bottom of the glass. Produced two fingers of pure, white head.

The aroma is an intoxicating mix of mangos and tangerines with some flower hops and west coast biting bitterness.

It's interesting, the taste comes up a lot sweeter than what I was expecting, but we'll get to that later. There's some slight bitterness on the front of the tongue, but the fruit and juice quickly whisk that away. Most of those tropical fruits are here on the taste, It's like pineapple juice, but more bitter. Referring to the sweetness, I'd dare to say the orange flavor and sweet flavor sort of remind me of skittles or starburst.  The hops actually make an encore at the end and really make an impression on the back of my tongue.

At 7.85%, this is called an Imperial, but it really dances on the edge. Like most Imperials, this does have a noticeably dry mouthfeel, but I"m not dying of thirst anytime soon. As an Imperial, hop bitterness was here throughout, but the fruits and juices stole the show for me. It was juicy enough to be refreshing as all hell, but bitter enough to let you know that this was a serious IPA even though it was insanely drinkable and delicious.

Lagunitas Sucks? Absolutely not! It's full-bodied, bitter, fruity, refreshing, and drinkable. What else do you want? I always love it when IPA's are more than just a glass of hops and Lagunitas Sucks is probably one of my all-time favorites of the style.

Rating
9.4/10