Lagunitas A Little Sumpin’ Wild Ale

Brewed By: Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-Pack from Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2011

Style/ABV: Belgian IPA? Belgian Strong Ale?, 9.4%

 

Not long ago I reviewed Lagunitas A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale. A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale is an IPA brewed with wheat, and I found it to be full of bright fruit flavors, fresh, funky, and refreshing. Tonight I am reviewing the "Wild" version of the Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale. 

A Little Sumpin’ Wild Ale is brewed with Malted Wheat and Belgian Yeast. These ingredients are on top of all the big hops present in the beer. So what we have here is a beer with huge hops, wheat, and huge Belgian yeasts. This is a wildly complex beer with huge fruity notes and lots of spiciness. This beer clocks in at a mean 9.4% ABV, and packs 72.51 IBUs. That's bitter. For all intents and purposes, I want to say this is a "Belgian IPA" or a "Belgian Specialty Ale."

Let's dive in and see what we have.

*    *    *    *    *    *

 

The pour is wonderful, and the beer has a gorgeous 4-finger, super creamy, super thick, sustaining, off-white head. The head is slightly eggshell, straw or orange in color. The body of the beer is a straw-orange-light color. The beer is fairly clear and looks to be semi-filtered at least, and there is moderate to high carbonation. The head is super thick and creamy, leaves giant lacing, and is sustaining! I cannot believe a 9.4% ABV beer has a head hanging around for this long.

Lagunitas A Little Sumpin’ Wild Ale

The nose is super bright, fresh, funky, fun. Giant citrus notes and candied citrus dominate the nose: candied oranges, grapefruit, tangerines. There are pulls towards melon, honey dew, and peaches. There are huge spiced notes, including lots of pepper. There is a hint of wheat and grass, and some hints of Belgian funk. There's even a WTF-hint of bread or toast. Why drink this beer when you can smell it?

The first sip is just an overwhelmingly complex blast of smoothness, carbonation, bitterness, hops, wheat, some Belgian funk, candied fruits, spiciness, bright overripe fruits, and light malt softness. There is hop bitterness: grapefruit, tangerine, oranges. There are big peppery spices. Perfume and floral notes dominate, along with candied oranges. I get melon and honey dew on the back. There is some soft malt in here in the form of light bread or caramel. I'm picking up hints of wheat. Bubblegum, Belgian yeast funk, spent bubble gum (the bitter flavor you get when you chew a piece of gum for a long time). Pulls towards tropical fruits: mango, star fruit. Super bitter, bright, yeasty-funky, hints of wheat and malt.

This is a full-bodied, overly complex beer. There is so much going on here. Surprisingly, all the voices work together in this beer in a Belgian IPA kind of way. This is predominately hoppy, spicy, and bright with overripe fruits and funk. The front end is smooth, carbonated, juicy, bright, and bitter: big hop notes, melons. This rolls into spices, more bitterness, wheat, malts. The finish is melon, hints of booze, bitter drying. This is a big beer at 9.4%, but it drinks clean and you hardly notice the booze. The only thing that will slow you down when you drink this is complexity and the bitterness.

Rating: Above-Average

Score: 89%

 

In my opinion, this is a Belgian IPA. And in my opinion, this is better than the regular A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale. The addition of Belgian yeast adds a level of spiciness that compliments the hops and the fruit notes, and really brightens the beer.  

This is better than the New Belgium Belgo by leaps and bounds. This is much more balanced, brighter, and doesn't beat you over the head with spices. My only issue is that with all the components playing tug-of-war with your palate, it becomes slightly muddy. For me, this would not work as an everyday beer. This beer hits a very specific "spot." But when I'm in the mood for a mesh of IPA and Belgian Spice, I know where I will look.