Tag: Lagunitas

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Business Tutorial – Lagunitas

Tony  Magee from Lagunitas Brewing is pretty darn outspoken.  Be it in book form (So You Want to Start a Brewery?) or in Twitter form.

Now he has a place inbetween those vastly different letter counts with a LagunitasT Tumblr site.

With the heady title of Fermenting Ideas of Order, you get a peek into the thoughts of the Petaluma, Chicago and future Azusa locations of Lagunitas.

Will you agree with everything?  I don’t.  I found the whole IPA design trademark a bit off-putting but all I have to do is read the first sentence of the first blog post to see that I will probably agree with him more than not.

“The Future will not be like the past.”

Keep that zen koan in mind as craft beer grows.  And book mark that Tumblr site too.

 

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Azusa-nitas

So Tweet Master Tony dropped this on the social media…..
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If I had been told that Lagunitas was coming to L.A., I would not have been shocked at all. Chicago is up and going and that means that sights could be turned to another location for the fast growing Petaluma based brewer.

But Azusa was a shock. If they were going valley, I would have liked them to come to Glendale instead of the umpteenth bleeping condo project.

Questions abound. What will this mean to the L.A. Beer scene? Do they join the L.A. County Brewer’s Guild? What kind of taproom are they envisioning? How will they co-exist with the Congregation’s, Alosta’s and Sanctum’s that have already set up shop?

Answers to come in 2017, I guess.

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Just off the Turnip Truck…

…or perhaps a better way to headline this post is Born Yesterday.  A new beer coming from Lagunitas that will be hitting shelves soon and will only travel 24 hours from the source.

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I was treated to this news while at the Beer Bloggers Conference.  It will be around 6.2% and will have the now beloved Citra along with Mosaic and Willamette hops but the kicker is that the store will get it 24 hours after it is packaged.  This will be a beer that you MUST check the dates on.  Freshness will be key and I do not want to see reviews of stale Born Yesterday.  Lagunitas already makes one of my all time favorite beer in Sucks and a new favorite in Mandaraison (which damn well better come back) so you can expect goodness here.

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Bay Area Craft Beer for Thanksgiving

Instead of sitting down with a bunch of folks around a turkey and a jiggly plate of canned cranberry, I set sail with beer pilot Rich north to Santa Rosa and beery points around it.

I will be writing about it with a critical eye over on Food GPS later this month (so my thoughts can gather like swallows heading to Capistrano).  But first, some of the beers that I encountered on menus…..

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BarrelWorks in Buellton

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Stumptown in Guernville

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Bear Republic in Healdsburg

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Mikkeller Bar in San Francisco

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Russian River in Santa Rosa

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Sip & Scavenge

In one week the combined forces of Firestone Walker / Deschutes / Lagunitas brings a new type of event to Los Angeles….

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The triumvirate of organizers say, “This is the first of what we hope will be a series of scavenger hunts all over Los Angeles.”

Here is the 411 for you:

Beginning at the first bar, clues will be given directing teams to various bars or locations in downtown Santa Monica (all w/in walking distance)
–          Once your team has made it to the correct location you will have to correctly identify the beer being poured, at which time you’ll each be given one to enjoy
–          Drink up, get your next clue, so on and so forth….
–          At each location teams will also have the  opportunity to collect raffle tickets by doing additional ‘challenges’, the raffle will be held at the hosting bar, The Commons, after the hunt

Jumping off point is at The Commons on Broadway, half a block East of Ocean in downtown Santa Monica
–          Cost is $100 for a team of 4 or $35 for individuals (space is limited to 10 teams total so sign up now please)
–          Sign up can be done in person or over phone at The Commons (address/phone number)
–          Prizes will be awarded to 1st 2nd and 3rd place teams
–          And because everyone’s a winner in our eyes, every participant will be given a commemorative t-shirt and other swag

It is good to see craft beer integrated into events like scavenger hunts that are normally the domain of the bad beers.

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Narwhal & Brown Shugga’ reviews

In addition to my monthly video reviews, I plan to do some plain old photo and text reviews as well and this month, I compare a returning Lagunitas favorite with a new stout from Chico, California.

Brown Shugga’
The light amber color of this beer belies it’s strength. The booze is present as is a boatload of brown sugar. (Go figure). This gets a little cloying at times and it is a bit slick on the tongue but it pulls together and balances out as it warms up and as the palate get’s accustomed to the sweetness. I still prefer Lagunitas Sucks though.

Narhwal Imperial Stout
Pours jet black with an espresso head. Big roasty notes. Coffee and burnt toast dominate with a bit of hops at the far back. A touch of milk chocolate / cocoa powder. Really lingers on the palate for awhile. Great label artwork too. A campfire beer.

If I had to choose, I would go with the Narwhal. Primarily because Brown Shugga’ is just wicked sweet and the alcohol is really prevalent.

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Christmas Beer of the Day – Lagunitas Sucks

The Brewery – Lagunitas

The Beer – Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale

The Details
“This sad holiday season we didn’t have the brewing capacity to make our favorite seasonal brew, the widely feard BrownShugga’ Ale. So this substitute beer is a ‘Cereal Medley’ of Barley, Rye, Wheat, and Oats…. Full of complexishness from the 4 grains, and weighing in at 7.6% abv, Then joyously dry-hopped for that big aroma and resinous hop flavor.”

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Wild Sumpin’

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from the Lagunitas brewers, “Another Big Sister of the Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale…. Loads of Malted Wheat for a Curious Malt Foundation and a Light Color, But Our Belgian Yeast Leaves a Huge Flavor and Complexishness.”

So go get a bottle of the original so you can do a taste test when the WILD version is released.