Lagunitas IPA

Lagunitas IPA. The one with the trademarked kerning. The Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, CA. Alc. by Vol. 6.2% ABV. "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!"

I found the previous picture found in this space to be
lacking, and have replaced it with this 2019 version.

And then there's this: "Life is Uncertain. Don't Sip!" What's that mean, that I have to always be afraid, and worry what may happen from one moment to the next, and gulp my beer down for fear of dying before I finish the bottle? Better not sip, or someone will spill it, or steal it, or the cat will knock it over? That doesn't sound very groovy, man. Not cool, bro. And, wait, did they really say "the next few minutes?" How long do think we spend drinking 12 ounces of India Pale Ale? Is this a race?

So, anyway, I realized that this beer was missing from this blog, and got me a bottle and looked back on my notes. I wrote about this for the first time in July, 2003, receiving a bottle in a trade with a Coloradoan (Colorado-ite? Coloradinian?). I'll leave the notes just as they are:

Appearance: Clear, bright coppery/amber color, with a large, frothy whiteness above. Good lace-leaving,  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.