Lagunitas IPA - Lagunitas Brewing Company

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.65/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Servicable IPA, with a muted citrus hop fragerance. Lots of head and lace. Orange. Smooth if understated hoppy flavour, medium mouthfeel, creaminess,drying finish, and citrus aftertaste. Not bad at all as a beer on a summer night, not a knockout IPA.

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2006 02:57:39 | More by northyorksammy

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

4.2/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

"Thanks for choosing to spend the next few minutes with this special homicidally hoppy ale. Savor the moment as the raging hop character engages the Imperial Qualities of the Malt Foundation in mortal combat on the battlefield of your palate!"

Slightly hazed golden orange. The last pour funks things up nicely; a dense cloud of suspended particulates is visible. The head is dark cream, edging into light tan, is larger than most and is impressively stickydense. It looks tremendous immediately after the pour and looks even better as it falls. Great gobs of chunky lace adhere to the glass, mostly in thick, crusty rings. Very, very nice.

The nose is a thing of beauty. Plenty of citrusy, piney hops that crowd out all other aromas. The flavor is as expected: aggressively hopped and proud of it. It doesn't venture all that close to DIPA territory, but it's certainly one of the bigger IPAs out there. My guess is that one or more of the 4-C's are in use. Bitter grapefruit and lemon pith and peel is right up front. If you're not a hophead, I'd suggest leaving the cap on the bottle.

The bitterness is substantial, but it stops just short of being harsh. Pale malt raises its hand weakly as it lies beaten on the ground, but manages to contribute just enough balance to keep the beer from being over-the-top hoppy. The body is easily medium-full, just like I like my IPAs to be.

Lagunitas IPA is yet another great West Coast IPA and will more than adequately give hopheads their hop fix. Man oh man, Maximus must be a treat! I don't know how much longer I can let it sit in my beer fridge. As the baby brother though, this one is a doozy.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2004 23:44:36 | More by BuckeyeNation

mikesgroove

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

It had been a long time since I had this beer, and I really never did get a chance to try this one on tap, so I got it in a sampler last night. Consumed on 04/03/2009.

the pour was nice with a medium amber color with a decent amount of haze to it. Nice little head of white across the top dropped a nice lacing all along the sides and the bottom while getting stickier as it went down. Nice light hop notes, grapefruit and pineapple, with a light biscuit like malt aroma as it warms. Clean, crisp and refreshing flavor with a mellow carbonation and nice light body. Overall a very solid IPA with a nice and easy delivery. Something I would like to keep on tap as a god to beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-04-2009 20:49:33 | More by mikesgroove

womencantsail

California

4/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: The pour is a burnt orange color with a finger's worth of slightly off-white head.

S: A decent hoppiness to the nose. Citrus and floral notes on top of a bready base with a bit of pine on the finish.

T: The flavor is not as intensely hoppy as you usually find in CA IPAs. A nice bitterness to it as well as citrus flavors of lemon and grapefruit. The bread/malt base comes through quite a bit as well.

M: Nothing out of the ordinary here, medium in both body and carbonation.

D: A nice easy drinking IPA that's not over the top hoppy, but not too sweet or malty either.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2010 21:59:00 | More by womencantsail

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.78/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Reviewed from notes.

Poured into a snifter. The color is a nice light copper with a long-lasting white head. A bit of lace rings as it goes down. The nose is fairly strong on citrus rind. No real malt backing. The taste is some light citrus hops, orange and grapefruit. No malt. Definitely West Coast. Feel is nice and bitter and this drinks quite well. Love the below-6% abv on this.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2010 01:16:28 | More by Thorpe429

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3.83/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: Pours a crystal clear, yellow-orange body with a full, foamy, white head.

Smell: Pale maltiness along with notes of spice, pine, and ruby red grapefruit.

Taste: Lightly sweet pale malts with a hint of spent grain. Spicy, piney, citrusy hop flavors. Medium bitterness. A final taste of caramel. Finishes with a light bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Just barely medium-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: A fine little American IPA, it delivers pretty much what you'd expect from it.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2008 14:51:24 | More by ChainGangGuy

brentk56

North Carolina

3.7/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Pours a clear golden-tinged amber color with a huge head that grows creviced over time but clumps lacing to the sides of the pint glass

Smell: Loads of citrus fruit atop a sugary malt base

Taste: Sweet, biscuity malt, up front, followed first by the citrus but ultimately by an aspirin-like bitterness; after the swallow, the bitter flavors converge but there is plenty of residual sweetness on the tip of the tongue

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Drinkability: A decent IPA, but there is something in the hop profile that hits my tastebuds the wrong way

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2010 02:15:07 | More by brentk56

UCLABrewN84

California

4.75/5  rDev +21.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

A - Pours a hazy honey color with a 1 inch white head that fades to nothing. Good ring lacing on this beer.

S - Smells of citrus zest, pine needles, and malt.

T - Bitter pine hops, acidic citrus zest, sweet malt finish. Very very tasty.

M - Perfect carbonation on this beer. Dry with a well done bitter/acidic coating in the mouth.

D - Superb. Easy drinking and super tasty makes for a great beer.

Serving type: bottle

07-05-2010 17:43:58 | More by UCLABrewN84

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

3.03/5  rDev -22.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Bottle: Poured a clear orangey color ale with a medium foamy head with average retention and lacing. Aroma of metallic hops with some caramel malt. Taste is a mix between sweet malt with some metallic hops and a bitter finish. Body is about average. Overall, this is an OK IPA but far from being great and lacking balance between malt and hops.

Serving type: bottle

09-21-2006 15:31:08 | More by Phyl21ca

BEERchitect

Kentucky

4/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I seemed to have a better impression of this beer from the bottle than on tap. From the tap, it displayed all of the golded-copper colors, read retention, citrus nose, and bready, hoppy, malty flavors that were found in the bottle, just in a more subdued manner. Still a wonderful IPA, just got lost in the shuffle for me when sampling from the keg.

Serving type: on-tap

06-14-2007 15:24:08 | More by BEERchitect

oberon

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poures a deep copper with a fluffy head that leaves a light amount of lace,heavy pine aroma with a grapefruit note.Pney,resiny flavors going big on the hops thats for sure not much malt base but some nice flavors.There are better west coast IPA's out there this one seems way out of balance but still decent but wont look for again anytime soon.

Serving type: bottle

11-08-2004 01:33:08 | More by oberon

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A hazy amber body with suspended soft-particulate is topped by a large off-white head of creamy foam. It drops at a leisurely pace to a solid 1/8" surface covering and leaves some exceptional lacing about the glass. The aroma displays, not surprisingly, hops. They're piney, floral, and grassy over a sweetish, caramel-tinged malt - fresh, exciting, and welcoming without hitting you over the head! The body is medium; and it's quite creamy in the mouth due to a very fine, natural carbonation. In the flavor the hop bitterness and piney/resinous flavors hold the upper hand; forcing the sweet malt beneath into submission. It's well-balanced to the point of losing some character. But it's also balanced enough that the bitterness doesn't cake the mouth. (It may mask the tastebuds... but it doesn't cake the mouth in dryness!). An enjoyable beer that can be paired with any number of full-flavored dishes; and an excellent night-cap on cool summer nights when the sun has gone down and the moist air lays heavily in the back yard.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2003 14:08:07 | More by NeroFiddled

TMoney2591

Illinois

3.63/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Served in a Dogfish Head shaped pint glass.

Thanks to dzyneguru for this extra!

How is it that I've never had this before? Hm. It pours a clear orange-amber topped by a finger or so of white foam. The nose comprises hoppy florals and citrus and some light toffee in the back. The taste holds notes of these elements, along with a good amount of bitterness and a stepped-up but o' citrus. The body is light, with a moderately active carbonation and a crsp, dry finish. Overall a nice IPA...nothing special and nothing bad. Good times.

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2010 20:36:29 | More by TMoney2591

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

4.33/5  rDev +11%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Clear, bright coppery/amber color, with a large, frothy whiteness above. Good lace-leavin, too.
Aroma is spot on for a good IPA, fresh and full of pine, fruit, citrus, sharp and lively, hoppy as all-get-out! I keep wanting to return to the smell of it, and each time it refreshes with this particular aromatic profile.
Taste: juuust right, with blasts of hops, under a solid malt foundation, flooding the tongue and dominating the senses in every way, without going overboard.
Just delicious, and exactly the way an IPA should act, if it's worth it's mustard, I say. Long, hoppy finish, sticks in the mouth and like it there. Mmmmm, I keep thinking, while this flavor never quits,...Mmmmmmm.
a big thanks goes to Gromit.

Serving type: bottle

07-13-2003 20:13:39 | More by feloniousmonk

WesWes

New York

3.58/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a dark gold/orange color with a thick frothy offwhite head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a nice malt scent that boasts of pale and carapils malts along with citrus hop aroma. It's a little sweet smelling. The taste is decent as well. It has an over the top bitter flavor that is laid over a solid malt base. It is very hoppy all the way through to the finish. I'm not a big fan of these west coast IPA's. They really jack up the citrus hop qualities. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a medium bodied beer with adequate/good carbonation. This is a pretty good IPA. I really prefer more malts and less citrus hops. They taste good in a hop mix, but when isolated and used in excess they can really ruin a beer. That's just my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2005 01:50:53 | More by WesWes

drabmuh

Maryland

3.7/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Beer is orange and mostly clear with a nice head of white bubble, medium and small. No lacing, carbonation moderate.

Aroma is malty with some piny hops in there, overall its weak.

Beer is medium in body and has a decent amount of bitterness at the back, does not finish too dry. The forward is malty but not overly sweet. The midpalate is a little barren but the overall drinkability of this beer is quite good.

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2010 16:20:34 | More by drabmuh

Mora2000

Texas

4/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The beer pours a golden orange color with a small white head. The aroma is pine and pineapple hops with a little bit of malt mixed in. Definitely the aroma of a hop-forward, Lagunitas beer. The flavor is heavy on the pineapple, grass and pine. There is also a nice malt backbone featuring toffee, caramel and bready malts. Low bitterness and actually fairly well balanced. Easy to drink. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. A nice IPA.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2011 03:47:48 | More by Mora2000

metter98

New York

3.88/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours clear yellow with a little bit of head, which died down quickly and turned into a thin layer of bubbles. The level of carbonation is moderate.
S: There's a gentle aroma of piney hops.
T: Like the smell, the flavor of piney hops dominates, which lends some bitterness to the taste and finish. There are also some hints of citrus in the taste. The hoppy flavor is moderately strong.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate.
D: This beer is very easy to drink. It would be very easy to consume more than one of these in a single sitting. There's a good amount of hoppy flavor, but it's not in any way overpowering enough to requiring sipping.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2010 00:23:52 | More by metter98

zeff80

Missouri

4.08/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A - Poured out a clear, copper color with a small, bubbly, white head of foam. It left behind a minimal amount of lace.

S - Citrusy aroma with grapefruit and orange notes. Some sweet caramel in the nose, too.

T - It tasted of bubblegum, grapefruit and orange. It had a smooth biscuity malt taste to balance out the bitter hops.

M - It was crisp and sharp. A light to medium-bodied IPA.

D - Can you say sessionable IPA? This is delicious one at that.

Serving type: bottle

08-24-2009 23:37:18 | More by zeff80

Gueuzedude

Arizona

3.95/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

October, 2004 Rating
Pours an almost brilliantly clear copper color and is topped by a cream colored head. The aroma is sharply hoppy with a nose that is redolent of pine, the nose is quite nice. Ah, yes this beer has actually been fermented, what a relief, this beer is nothing like the last one I had. This beer is sharp and crisp up front. It leads to a beer that is piney, a bit citrusy, and has a solid bitter bite in the finish. This beer has a solid malt presence as well, it is lightly sweet with notes of caramel and biscuits. The malt definitely is faint behind the solid hoppiness though, but it is there and helps to keep the hops from being overwhelming. As this beer warms up a bit I get notes of apricot, and grapefruit. Overall, this is quite a nice IPA.

March, 2004 Rating
Wow this beer smells like it has not yet been fermented. A sweet wort smell, that is heavy on the crystal malt. A bit of spicy hop notes under the main smell, but not much. Pours a hazy copper color with a prodigious tan head that fades fairly quickly. Again there is a sweet malt flavor, that is reminiscent of sweet wort. The beer ends with a bit of bitterness. I must admit, this is quite a stretch to be labeled as an IPA, a pale ale perhaps but not an IPA. A light hop flavor and not enough bitterness, this is a bit of a disappointment. It is halfway interesting, just not close to what I was expecting. There is way too much residual sweetness and body in this beer, it just makes it too unbalanced. I will tell you one thing, the rest of this 6-pack will be used for making Brats. (4/3.5/3/3.5/3/3.35)

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2004 16:23:06 | More by Gueuzedude

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

3.65/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap at Pitcher’s Pub in Cumberland, RI, served in a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a light amber color, with a thin white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is of hops, tea and caramelized malt.

T: The hops aren’t very strong in the taste initially, but they show up later in the after-taste. The malt character is rate pronounced for the style and there’s a little bit of citrus sweetness to go with it.

M: Crisp and smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, clean finish.

D: Tasty, easy-to-drink and not filling. It’s worth sticking with but personally, I prefer something a little more flavorful if I have another choice within the style.

Serving type: on-tap

11-27-2006 22:51:52 | More by TheManiacalOne

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This brew poured out as a nice looking golden color with a thick white head on top. the lacing on the glass was pretty nice here. The smell of the beer was hoppy which is a good thing for the style. The taste of the beer was pretty solid, good bitter hops flowing nicely through this brew. The mouthfeel was pretty good, well carbonated and drinkable. Overall I think this is a pretty solid brew. I would drink it again.

Serving type: bottle

01-04-2012 04:36:47 | More by Knapp85

russpowell

Oklahoma

4.43/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured amber/copper with a 2 finger deep white head that held up very well. The lacing was out of this world! Almost couldn't see any clear spots on my glass from the inside

Smell: Hefty fruitiness and some malt. Couldn't smell any hops, weird

Taste: Fruitiness and piney/resiny oils mingle up front. Dryness and light hops crispness in the finish

MF: Rich and well balanced, very good carbonation

Ranks right up there with any of the IPAs I've had lately. I really like they way the frutiness asserted itself up front. The only way you're not liking this; you don't like hops...

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2006 02:29:35 | More by russpowell

Halcyondays

California

3.35/5  rDev -14.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

12 oz. bottle,

A: Pours a light amber colour with good clarity, with a firm white head, good lacing.

S: Light citrus hops and bready malt.

T: Bread malt is light, similar to a Helles actually, the hop bite is swift, full of citrus, some tangerine, grapefruit (pink, to be exact), some tropical fruits as well.

M: Nice and crisp, good bite, solid carbonation balance.

D: Would be a good easy-drinking IPA in the summertime, good price as well, low in alcohol, but for me, there are better choices out there.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2008 18:15:29 | More by Halcyondays

Gavage

New Jersey

3.93/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Amber / copper in color with a huge 3" head that lasts through the drink. Thick lacing develops. The aroma is floral and of orange citrus. The flavor a nice balance of sweet malt and bitterness, and stong citrus rounds it out.

Mouthfeel is crisp at the start, with a dry crisp finish. The tastebuds get the hops and citrus tones long after the finish. Nicely drinkable, a very pleasant IPA experience.

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2005 14:27:12 | More by Gavage