New Dogtown Pale Ale - Lagunitas Brewing Company

bbHOP

California

3.58/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from bottle into my Lagunitas pint jar.

A: Golden (think apple juice), with a half finger of white head that settles into a ring around the glass fairly quickly and remains there.

S: Citrusy hop notes - grapefruit rind with a slight note of pine

T: Bright hop notes up front that don't seem to last for long. Grainy pale malts quickly take over. I'm also catching a bit of rye as the beer coats my mouth... was hoping to get more of the citrusy hop notes from the nose. Remains crisp throughout - finishes with some bitterness.

MF: Light mouth feel... Carbonation present throughout, a little intense for my taste. Bitterness in finish is not overwhelming, but certainly present.

O: I've had this beer a few times before and enjoyed it as a refreshing, flavorful, but still light, brew. Sitting down to review, I found myself longing for a more hop forward approach (wished it followed the nose a bit more), and a little more substance in the body... but then - isn't that asking a little too much of the style? This is not an IPA - although the nose teases you into thinking it may be. So - overall - a good Pale IMO.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2012 03:56:49 | More by bbHOP

jimmah120

Minnesota

3.58/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz foam bomb with no date into pint

Amber gold with a small sudsy head. Smell is pine, tree bark, sap, wheat, bready malt. Taste is pine needles, sweet fruit, apple, hay, wheat, cracker-like malt. Feel is a crisp medium, perfect amount of carbonation.

Huge fan of Lagunitas here, and this left me a little underwhelmed. That said, this is a well hopped pale, and supremely drinkable. Just not my favorite.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2012 03:33:10 | More by jimmah120

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

3.58/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

12 Fl Oz bottle 7 Feb 2013: on the ferry from San Francisco to Sausalito. Had to ask for a glass!

Golden to pale amber body with a good white head.

Fruity nose: mixed bag of said fruits, citrusy and mango with apple blossom. Slight malty aroma in the smell as well.

Hops fill the flavours in the mouth: mild malts arrive but leave again before a dry bitter finish.

Medium strenghted body and feel to the brew: a little on the fizzy side but pleasant enough and easy to drink. Passing Alcatraz as I drank the beer made it even better.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2013 21:17:43 | More by BlackHaddock

Number967

New York

3.59/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Medium gold color with an inch of off white head.
Smells of pine cones, cut grass and something I find hard to describe. Almost like a sweet alcohol scent. Maybe a little bit of malt coming through.
Taste is not as complex as some of the other Lagunitas beers I've had. Bold hop character all the way through. I don't detect much malt balance in this pale ale. With all the IPAs these guys produce I guess I was expecting an even balanced and more hops subdued and malty pale ale. Either way, gotta love Lagunitas. Gonna try their Pils next.

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2013 20:38:06 | More by Number967

apbarwood

Virginia

3.6/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A warm golden color with a dense head of white foam that lasted forever supported by a strong carbonation. Lots of citrus in the aroma highlighting a bouquet of clean, fresh hops with a hint of malt holding it together. The hops are almost overpowering at first but fade quickly and leave a biscuity, malt center that finishes softly with a dry, pine and grapefruit on the finish. The mouthfeel is rich and creamy and quite enjoyable all around. I'd say this beer is good but a little bit out of balance as far as the flavor goes. The interplay between malt and hop was less than seamless but in general it was worth drinking though Lagunitas has made better beers along the same lines as this one.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2009 19:18:00 | More by apbarwood

prosper

Alberta (Canada)

3.6/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

pours a clear light amber with a small coarse head

smells piney and resiny, with none of the usual light citrus and passionfruit hop aroma of other american ales. Some bitter grapefruit, but nothing bright and fruity. smells dank and earthy. I'd sure like to know what hops were used, it's a nice change of pace.

taste is sharply bitter and somewhat thin up from. Not a lot of malt in this one. The same sort of hop character - bitter orange/grapefruit and pine tar.

Mouthfeel is medium.

Drinkability is decent, but it does leave you with a lot of resiny bitterness

Serving type: bottle

05-31-2010 00:14:02 | More by prosper

TexIndy

Texas

3.6/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass. Laserd julian date of Feb 11 bottling. It was a clear golden color with lots of tiny floaters and slight carb streams. It had an average sized head that settled into a good collar and some wisps. Slight lacing.

Really liked the aroma on this one. Citric and noble malts mixed with pale malts. Had an English feel to it. The taste wasn't as good to me. Aggressively bitter with little of the malt coming thru. Working my way up the bitter hop ladder but this one was too extreme for my liking. Not enough other elements out there. Mouthfeel was medium and crisp.

Overall, really enjoyed the aroma but missed on the flavor. A bitter showcase for sure and I enjoy some semblance of balance. Avail here in TX. Rotation - one is enough for now but would revisit in a year or two. [N;N;BL]

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2011 01:14:07 | More by TexIndy

grannaniwa

Massachusetts

3.6/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Golden/amber color. Medium head which dissipates pretty quickly. Nose is dominated by grapefruit, grapefruit, grapefruit!

Medium-light body. Citrusy flavors, some malty-sweetness on the back of the mouth. Finishes medium bitter, a little piney, with a slight toasted aftertaste.

Nice balance. Not my perfect profile of flavors, but I could happily drink this for an evening.

Overall: B+

Serving type: bottle

02-20-2012 02:26:14 | More by grannaniwa

tony223366

California

3.6/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: This beer is extremely fizzy, it looks just like soda. There's so much active carbonation it's crazy. This also gave me a huge white head that is steadily decreasing in size. Some nice lacing is apparent. Color is a slightly orange golden straw color. The clarity is magnificent, it's really like looking through glass. Head eventually turns into a very thin layer.

S: Tons of orangey citrus hops up front, followed by some nice earthy pine. Malts are really hard to come by but I get just a smidge of caramel. Man those hops are floral.

T: Taste is mostly dominated by the hops. Although they really don't bash you over the head. You get a nice citrus up front followed by a nice maltiness that eventually turns to bread that turns to a lightly bitter finish. That goes away quickly and the finish is surprisingly clean.

M: Medium bodied and slick. Good carbonation.

O: I was expecting a little bit more from the nose. But all in all it's still tasty. I wouldn't hesitate to try again.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2012 05:15:41 | More by tony223366

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.61/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Modest head, but it leaves a rich blanket of lasting lace. Dirty gold color and clear.

First impression on the smell is of raw grapefruit rind. Not harsh but still extremely strong hop.

Very spicy (hoppy) for the style. In fact it's more hoppy than most IPAs I've tried. I like it, but it's very surprising. No malt flavor makes it to the tongue. Highly carbonated. The body is just below the average.

This definitely falls under the extreme category. If you like sucking hop pellets, you'll like this beer.

Serving type: on-tap

03-02-2013 21:14:34 | More by smcolw

WesWes

New York

3.63/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a nice golden color with a thick frothy white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has more of an English style pale ale scent. It boasts of pale and bisquit malts along with a more noble hop based aroma. The taste is decent. It has a turbulant balance of malt and hops. It's got the pale and bisquity flavor, but with citrus hops in the finish. The two don't mix well together. There is a bready sweetness along with a rich mouthfeel. It's a full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a decent APA, but I was expecting better from these guys.

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2009 20:02:44 | More by WesWes

JerzDevl2000

New Jersey

3.63/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Some say that when you've had one (American) Pale Ale, that you've had them all. With this beer, I beg to differ. It's not a bad brew but the sum of all the parts seems to indicate that something just isn't quite right here. Now that I've let this warm up and I've worked my way down my glass, it's becoming more obvious that this could have been a bit better.

Great pour to this - a light copper hue, decent head, a great floral hop aroma, and the right amount of carbonation all combine for a nice first impression. The taste and mouthfeel are where this is lost. Yes, this is floral, with citrus, pine, and a lot of oil and resin to back the bitterness up, but the consistency is near that of a soapy detergent. None of the flavors are memorable and the hops are a bit harsher than I'd like. I understand that this is a relatively strong beer, but all of the notes that give depth to this quickly fizzle out and what's left is just the acrid sense of a beer that's too much bomb and not enough hop.

I couldn't taste or feel the alcohol in this but that's probably because I was concentrating on getting it down before the taste could settle in. To me, this wasn't so bad as much as it seemed to be a runner-up to the west coast counterparts that this emulated. Not a poor choice but there are a lot of better offerings in this category and without a doubt, make sure you have something to eat on hand to help get this down!

Serving type: bottle

11-28-2009 09:24:09 | More by JerzDevl2000

Samp01

New Jersey

3.63/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours golden / orange with a nice offwhite head. Aroma of floral hops, some citrus. Taste is bitter hops, some citrus notes. Palate is crisp, medium body with good cabonation. Finish bitter hops, followed by some light malts help to balance. Overall its a bit on the bitter side but still a nice brew.

Serving type: bottle

11-24-2010 14:55:01 | More by Samp01

smakawhat

Maryland

3.63/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

A pale amber body color is presented with next to nothing for rising carbonation. Head is off white and clumpy slightly with a bot of stickiness. Falls slowly with some lace.

Good basic malt backbone, mild dry citrus hop of grapefruit, pretty basic nothing crazy just solid and good. They compliment each other well without one over powering the other.

Taste is juicy and hop pine and citrus forward. Palate first fills with grapefruit then moves on the aftertaste to a drying pine sense in the finish. Mouthfeel is a bit watery also.

Overall a hop forward pale ale but not too dominating. I would prefer more malt backbone on this.

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2011 23:07:37 | More by smakawhat

WYVYRN527

Minnesota

3.65/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a standard pint glass.

A: This pale ale pours a brilliant, crystal-clear orange hue with a thick white head that slowly settles. Retention is good, and lacing is decent as well.

S: A bit weak on the nose. Slightly floral, with citrus and some grainy aromas.

T: Much better than the smell. Even for a pale, this beer screams West Coast when it comes to it's origin. Orange and grapefruit, along with floral undertones make up a hop profile unlike many other pales. Very well-balanced, with malt characters of honey and biscuit. Finish is dry and clean.

Notes: This light to medium-bodied brew is overall pretty good, but lacks a bit in some aspects. The thin mouthfeel and light aroma are a bit of a downer, but taste makes up for it. On a humid day, this is just the type of beer I would seek out.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2011 03:36:24 | More by WYVYRN527

antlerwrestler19

Nebraska

3.65/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured copper orange with one finger thick head that leaves behind sticky spotty lacing and chunks of foam atop the beer. Smells of sweet malt with piny, oily, resinous smell that is both bitter smelling and sweet smelling. Taste is definitely overwhelmed by bitter hops that remains on the palate - piny hops with a bit of a sweet twang to them. The mouthfeel is clean, crisp, and straight to the point leaving a sticky bitter feeling in the back of my mouth. This was a shock I wasn't expecting it to be so hoppy, this was very IPA-like IMO....a little intense to be an APA, but still good.

Enjoy!

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2011 02:17:25 | More by antlerwrestler19

jtierney89

New Jersey

3.65/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a clear golden color with a two finger bright white head which settles down to a frothy one finger lace. Lots of visible carbonation. Huge nose of piney and citric hops.

Huge flavor for a pale ale. If it had more of bite itd be more ipa like than pale ale. Incredible crisp with a medium body. Very well held together beer that thins out very slightly on the finish. Finishes extra dry. Citric juiciness up front and piney hops. Malt body is only there to hold the hops together and presents it self as grainy and corny undertone.

Not bad. Big Flavor.

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2012 03:28:13 | More by jtierney89

socon67

New York

3.65/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A - Golden color with visible carbonation. Nice rings of lacing line the glass.

S - Lemon scent with fresh grains and light malts. Slight sugary smell of fresh bakery goods.

T - Sweet citrus flavor is slightly similar to a lemon Girl Scout cookie. Finish has a mellowed bit of hops to go with wheat.

M - Smooth body, and one of the more robust pale ales in recent memory. Finish leaves a tart bite.

O - A good beer to introduce to a new craft beer drinker and show how a basic beer can be very enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2013 02:37:30 | More by socon67

ThisWangsChung

Maryland

3.66/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

12 oz bottle into a pint glass.

A: Pours a clear golden color. The head is a one finger white shade not too out of the ordinary for the style - lowish retention, nice creaminess, good bit of lacing on the glass.

S: It smells like a Lagunitas beer: grapefruity and herbal Simcoe hops abound. No, not nearly as much as Sucks, but still enough to wake the nostrils up. There's also a lemony component here, too. As it sits in the glass, it actually becomes reasonably malty, with biscuit and bread notes.

T: An initial salvo of grapefruit, lemongrass, pine, and sourdough bread counterbalancing suggest this one's actually full of Centennial. Maltiness surges upwards on the finish, with a faint lemon zest bitterness to it. This one is all about balance without any craziness - too often, I find a lot of Centennial-hopped beers to be somewhat harsh (Founders Centennial IPA being a good example), but this one is really pleasant.

M: Crisp and light, which is a feature I always love in pale ales. A mild syrupy linger accumulates after many sips; luckily it doesn't weigh down the palate excessively. Carbonation is about what I expect.

O: Lost in Sucksamania is this rock-solid pale ale. Yes, it tastes like many other hoppy offerings from Lagunitas - but when they're all really good-to-fantastic, who cares? A great 'lunch' beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2013 21:22:36 | More by ThisWangsChung

Buebie

Minnesota

3.68/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz brown bottle into a turbulator. Transparent amberish dark golden color. Nice 2 finger foamy off white head. Receeding to sticky clumps of lace an a bubbly cap of retention.

Aroma of sweet caramel, sourdough bread, piney hops and a dusty dry like champagne aroma.

Starts out with a big carbonation kick and a bit of carmalised sweetness. Nice hop kick that is well balanced with the malt, but definatly bites.
Its carbonated all the way through with a big hoppy bitter lingering after the swallow. Finishes pretty dry and crisp.

Great sessionable hoppy beer.

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2009 04:48:23 | More by Buebie

bucklemyshoe

Georgia

3.68/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle at 42 degrees into a pint glass.

A: This pours a slightly cloudy orange color with a finger of white foamy head that holds at a half-finger and laces well.

S: It has moderate orange zest notes with some hoppiness, toasted cereal malts, and some backing caramel.

T: It is obvious that the hops have faded a bit but it is still very citrusy and mildly hoppy with strong caramel maltiness taking over.

M: It has a medium body with average to low carbonation and a somewhat clean finish.

D: It is not fresh but it retains its original flavors somewhat; it is okay.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2011 13:42:15 | More by bucklemyshoe

rarbring

Sweden

3.68/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

The beer is clear light amber, has an high off-white head that leaves good lacing and has some curtains.

Smelling fruity, peaches, grape-fruit, grass and some toffee.

Starting with sweet bread, toffee, then apricot and grape-fruit marmalade, then bitter grape-fruit peel.

Medium high carbonation, sticky and fizzy, medium low body and a coarse dry finish.

A very hop dominated american pale ale, i'd like to throw in an "indian" as well.

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2012 14:46:12 | More by rarbring

BeerDawgs

Georgia

3.68/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - A clear bronze with tons of head and sticky lace

S - Lots of hoppy goodness, citrus and piny hops

T - Quite a bitter pale, with a huge malt backbone. Not quite hoppy enough to be labeled an IPA, but close

M - Medium bodied, high carbonation

O - A good pale, but not great. Its really threading the line with an IPA, but not quite there. I'd rather go with the IPA

Serving type: bottle

11-07-2012 03:20:44 | More by BeerDawgs

Pahn

New York

3.7/5  rDev -8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle into an oversized wine glass.

Appearance: Free pour yields a 3/4 inch fluffy white head. Pours a translucent copper, and leaves occasional spots of lacing.

Smell: The first line of my notes read "Holy shit, big dank grapefruit," which about sums it up. Giant hop aroma for an American pale ale; beautiful. There's a little soapiness to the smell, but mainly it's huge fruity west coast hops. Definitely spent a fair amount of time just smelling this beer in between sips.

Taste: Pear and grapefruit up front, moving through a decent bitterness to a toasted, creamy finish. Tastes a little washed out, especially the end. Good bitterness, and the hops up front (which mainly taste like apricot and grapefruit) are satisfying enough (though nowhere near the magnitude suggested by the aroma). The toasted malt backbone, however, is unfortunately muddy. Even though the flavor is generally good, there's a definite feeling of "This is kind of watered down," that I don't want to have when drinking a pale ale.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied. A little watery. Moderate carbonation. Not bad, not great.

Drinkability: I like this beer, and it's kind of refreshing, but a bit too bland. Also, it commits the cardinal sin of smelling significantly better than it tastes ("Over-promise, under-deliver," is never the way to go).

The great nose took me aback, but ultimately the beer--while above average, and another well-priced beer from Lagunitas--was pretty forgettable. Probably a bit too bitter to convert the "uninitiated to hops" or "uninitiated to craft" drinker, but probably not flavorful enough for those who have had been around a bit.

Maybe I'm being a little hard on it (though the score I'm giving isn't bad), but for me the beer is a miss. Give me Dale's Pale Ale or Berkshire Ale instead.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2011 06:56:28 | More by Pahn

jman892

Massachusetts

3.7/5  rDev -8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Deep gold/light copper in color, clear, with a foamy white head that fades to a cap. Very nice lacing

S - Smells delicious, citrus hops, with a malty sweetness. Very inviting

T - Bitter piney hops, with some sweet citrus, but the bitter hops dominate and linger

M - Cool and somewhat creamy, well carbonated. I am drinking this on a 99 degree day, so it is very refreshing

O - Overall, for a pale ale, quite bitter and quite powerful at 6.2%

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2011 18:22:32 | More by jman892