In the spirit of the election year I needed to try a beer that I thought would best spotlight today's "great leaders". I looked for a presidential beer such as founding fathers, or a patriotic beer like Samuel Adams. The problem I ran into is that 1: I have tried everything Sam Adams has to offer and I have also had Founding Fathers (which sends a portion of the purchase price to support the troops, very patriotic to drink their beer). 2: Every beer out there that I am aware of revolves around great presidents or figures in our history and lets be honest today's blokes are not great.
In the state of mind created by car commercial, political commercial, beer commercial, political commercial, erectile dysfunction commercial, political commercial....back to show. In addition to presidential and vice presidential debates on every single channel except HGTV and ESPN (suggestion, PBS hosts them all and that's it.) I decided that the beer that I choose to try this week needed the right name for the state of our political system and election practices. When I stumbled upon Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale I knew I had found the brew. I know calling today's politicians stupid or in this case Stoopid may not be politically correct, but this is America and that's just how I feel.
I'll be honest, I had seen this beer a few times before at the store, but never ventured to try it. The reason being is that it's only sold by individual bottles at my local store. But given the spirit of the season and the quest to try 52 new beers in 52 weeks, I thought now would be the perfect time to give it a go. When I opened the bottle the smell of hops was borderline overwhelming. The beer is lighter in color; light amber not so much blond. Very minimal head, but it looks and smells inviting. The flavor of hops is powerful, this beer lives up to its name. It reminds me of Stoudts Smooth Hoperator (great name for a beer), where the beer is just consumed by the hops, creating a very dry flavor with an almost bitter finish.
Questions: Does this beer crack the top ten? I am afraid not. Considering I am a pale ale, or IPA kind of beer drinker you would think I would be hop over heels for a beer like this but unfortunately not. The hops contained in this beer could flavor a six pack of pale ales, it's just too much. Was it worth the price? Yes it was, I paid $4.99 for a 22 oz bottle and I'm glad I only bought the one. If I would've paid $10.00 + for a six pack I would've felt that I had wasted my money.
My rating: 2 out of 5. It's a well concepted beer, but just not for me. If you are a hop nut then this would be right up your alley. If you had never tried a craft beer in your life, stay away from this one as your first because you will never return to a great thing, we would loose you to Miller Lite forever. If interested check out www.lagunitas.com for more information. I will say though I would be willing to try other beers from this brewery in the future and I may plan on doing that just to see if they have something much better to offer.
Until the next brew!
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