Lagunitas: (lah-goo-knee-tuss) a town in Marin County in NorCal. Which makes me think of "Hotel California"-- warm smell of Lagunitas, rising up through the air... Also a brewing company that sprung up in the mid-nineties and is one of the fastest growing microbreweries in the US. Purveyors of an IPA this humble blogger sampled (in pitcher-sized samples) at Acme last night.
I was not digging on the IPA. This is no slam on Lagunitas, which I kind of love even more after reading about its rebellious past. I just don't think I like IPAs, and I'm on a quest to further my beer connoisseurship and find out why.
First the history lesson: IPA stands for India Pale Ale. IPAs are actually British, but were popularized by East India Company traders in the late 18th century. Beer History buffs, go here. It was brought to the US by Ballantine (a brewery I only know because I have a BA in Art History). Now the US has tweaked with IPAs to make American IPAs (Anchor's Liberty, Victory's HopDevil, Stone IPA, and the aforementioned Lagunitas). In the mid-90s, San Diego was also the birthplace of the Double IPA (aka Imperial IPA). Go nuts with a Rogue Ale version, 10% ABV.
Now the connoisseur part: IPAs are light amber in color, have a slightly high ABV (over 5%), and have a very hoppy taste. The hops were originally overused to preserve the beer during transit from England to India. The American IPAs tend to be more citric and bitter. If you want to play beer snob, go to BeerAdvocate for ratings, because they have the credentials to say things like: "Moderate to medium bodied with a balancing malt backbone."
And finally, the moment of self-reflection: so yeah, it must be the hops that I'm not lovin'. I guess I'm just more of a malt girl. Back to Brooklyn Brown Ale, Dundee Honey Brown, and Red Stripe for me.
See also Beer-o-vision, a blog from Buffalo, knows way more about beer generally and the WNY beer scene in particular than I ever will.
colitas
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