Going to kick things off with an all-time favourite beer from my favourite brewer.
Lagunitas - One Hitter Series: Waldo's Special Ale 2017
Every year, Lagunitas drops a limited batch of "one-hitter" beers. Last year was my first Waldo's experience and it immediately became clear to me how special this beer was. We will have to see how this year's recipe stacks up, since each batch comes out differently. They are released every year around 4/20 to commemorate the start of the tradition, plus the Waldos actually played a large role in the recipe, as described on the case.
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In 1971, the Waldos met one afternoon at 4:20 in the front courtyard of their school near the statue of Louis Pasteur. They set out in a '66 Impala armed with a "treasure map" on a journey to find a secret garden near Point Reyes. They met there at the same time every day and continued their quest. They never found the secret garden....But they keep lookin'. The dankest and hoppiest beer ever brewed at Lagunitas was made with help of the Waldos for all treasure hunters.
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Clocking in at an extremely high ABV of 11.9% (0.4% up from last year's batch), this triple IPA has a nice golden colour with little to no head. It is so immensely aromatic that it fills the room with all kinds of different fruit flavours like grapefruit, orange, and melon blended with the dank smell of the hops, pine-iness and herbs (I think italian herbs of some sort, can't quite put my finger on it yet). It's very lightly carbonated and despite the high alcohol content, it is very smooth. I've had IPA's of 7% that tasted boozier than this. The flavour is full and hoppy. It is somewhat bitter but not overpowering, in fact it's well-rounded out with the sweetness complimenting the more darker flavours. I honestly would not be surprised if there was some kind of pot-related thing in here, most likely some ruderalis or CBD oil or something along those lines, idunno. This stuff makes me feel more like I'm crossfaded than if I had just been drunk.
These are insanely easy to suck down, so they're pretty fu
cking dangerous. This is a very rich beer and is one of the high points of Lagunitas' selection. As far as the glass to bottle comparison, this is a pretty unique beer. In most cases, I believe that the glass accentuates the flavours a lot better, but with Waldos and many other Lagunitas beers, straight from the bottle is the way to go. It ups the bitterness a little bit, but it brings out the the more savoury elements of this beer. I've had two of this since the start of this review and I'm really feeling it. If you don't like IPAs, you won't like these beers (the IBUs clock in at over 100, which is either great news or bad news depending on how much you like hops), but if you do, definitely get yourself a pack if you can find it in your area.
The perfect beer. 5/5