Brewed By: Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California
Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in Naperville, Illinois; 2014
Style/ABV: American Imperial IPA, 8.5%
Wow how about that blast-from-the-past review. Look at me talking about A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale.I also did A Little Sumpin' Wild. So tonight's beer was a logical must-tick. About Lagunitas (Pronounced: "LAH-goo-KNEE-tuss"):
Lagunitas is a brewery I dabbled with when I hit up their controversially named "Kronik" (Lagunitas Censored) back in November 2010. The Lagunitas website has some cool info on the brewery and the beer, and can be found here. The brewery was founded in 1993 out in Lagunitas, California, and has since moved to Petaluma in California. It seems like Lagunitas is run by a bunch of deviant madmen geniuses, and the brewery appears to be a true grassroots movement, if you catch my drift.
The A Little Sumpin' Extra! Ale is a hoppy American Double/Strong Ale thing, probably in the same wheelhouse as a Double IPA. This one is available in July, is brewed with "lots of wheat," and punches in at 8.5% and 64 IBUs. The bottle reads: "These words are the voice of the beer you are about to drink, they are an attempt to be understood. The beer beneath is more than just words. It is a promise. You are the promised. Revel in your times."
This one pours into a transparent, golden-amber color, kicking up two fingers of sustaining, sticky, hop-fueled head. The head is golden-tinged, and leaves substantial lacing. The beer looks much the same in low light, and is sort of unassuming with its golden body.
The aroma is anything but unassuming, with massive waves of grapefruit, zesty citrus, white pepper, tropical fruits, sweet peppery pine, and big bready sugar backings. It smells exactly like how I stereotype Laguintas: sweet, aggressively hopped with American hops, citrus-forward, and bold. Some really nice citrus does pop on the aroma, with tangerine, orange, grapefruit, and yeah. It's nice.
My friend commented that he prefers this to the regular A Little Sumpin' Sumpin', because this is "sweeter and easier to drink." That would be those malts, baby. Surprisingly though, this isn't that much boozier than your standard ALSS. This is delicious though, with cakey malt sweetness, brown sugar, caramel/bread, and an onslaught of tangerine, grapefruit, oranges, marmalade, tropical fruit cake, pineapple cake, and even some hints of grain-coconut. There's a lot of hop oils present here, and this veers into the land of dank. You do get a little hemp in here, but it's not super earthy or resiny.
At 8.5% this is way more drinkable than it should be...or than it really is. You don't get much alcohol if any, so this is a sleeper. And the cakey malts are held in check by tons of hops and lots of carbonation. It's a recipe for getting drunk, and two or three of these will certainly do that. But if you have no place to go, this is a great beer to kick back with. It has amazing palate depth and somewhat limited complexity. It's also hard to say if this is a Double IPA or more of a Strong Ale...who cares, really. Up front: sweet malts, hops, tangerine, sweet orange, grapefruit, pine, sweet hemp; the mids roll into peppery spice, brown sugar, more hops, cakey malts, some grain, coconut-grain; the back end drops hop sugars, hop oils, sugar, cakey malts, and some sticky and dank kisses on the sides of your lips like grandma.
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| Lagunitas A Little Sumpin’ Extra! Ale |
This one pours into a transparent, golden-amber color, kicking up two fingers of sustaining, sticky, hop-fueled head. The head is golden-tinged, and leaves substantial lacing. The beer looks much the same in low light, and is sort of unassuming with its golden body.
The aroma is anything but unassuming, with massive waves of grapefruit, zesty citrus, white pepper, tropical fruits, sweet peppery pine, and big bready sugar backings. It smells exactly like how I stereotype Laguintas: sweet, aggressively hopped with American hops, citrus-forward, and bold. Some really nice citrus does pop on the aroma, with tangerine, orange, grapefruit, and yeah. It's nice.
My friend commented that he prefers this to the regular A Little Sumpin' Sumpin', because this is "sweeter and easier to drink." That would be those malts, baby. Surprisingly though, this isn't that much boozier than your standard ALSS. This is delicious though, with cakey malt sweetness, brown sugar, caramel/bread, and an onslaught of tangerine, grapefruit, oranges, marmalade, tropical fruit cake, pineapple cake, and even some hints of grain-coconut. There's a lot of hop oils present here, and this veers into the land of dank. You do get a little hemp in here, but it's not super earthy or resiny.
At 8.5% this is way more drinkable than it should be...or than it really is. You don't get much alcohol if any, so this is a sleeper. And the cakey malts are held in check by tons of hops and lots of carbonation. It's a recipe for getting drunk, and two or three of these will certainly do that. But if you have no place to go, this is a great beer to kick back with. It has amazing palate depth and somewhat limited complexity. It's also hard to say if this is a Double IPA or more of a Strong Ale...who cares, really. Up front: sweet malts, hops, tangerine, sweet orange, grapefruit, pine, sweet hemp; the mids roll into peppery spice, brown sugar, more hops, cakey malts, some grain, coconut-grain; the back end drops hop sugars, hop oils, sugar, cakey malts, and some sticky and dank kisses on the sides of your lips like grandma.
Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is a delicious beer, and it is well-crafted. It doesn't break the Laguintas mold, but it doesn't have to. All of the Little Sumpin' beers are worth checking out, and this one stands on its own as a bigger, boozier brother to the standard Little Sumpin'. Pair this with spicy American food, wings, or even Mexican food.
Random Thought: I gotta hand it to Lagunitas, they have by far the best price to booze ratio.
I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is a delicious beer, and it is well-crafted. It doesn't break the Laguintas mold, but it doesn't have to. All of the Little Sumpin' beers are worth checking out, and this one stands on its own as a bigger, boozier brother to the standard Little Sumpin'. Pair this with spicy American food, wings, or even Mexican food.
Random Thought: I gotta hand it to Lagunitas, they have by far the best price to booze ratio.
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