Lagunitas Brewing Company Lucky 13 Mondo Large Red Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Lagunitas Brewing Company Lucky 13 Mondo Large Red Ale. When this version (not the Alt) hit the shelves I was really happy to see it.  Then I thought, "wait a minute...I haven't reviewed it yet?" Well, tonight I am remedying this.

From the Lagunitas Brewing Company website: “We made the Lucky 13 in 2006 for our 13th Anniversary Celebrations, but we liked that Mondo Large Red Ale so much we kept bringing it back year after year. In 2010 we switched up the recipe by swapping the more heavily roasted malts with lighter ones — lightening it up and making it more fitting for the summer months…we also changed her hair color. Who do you like better….Betty or Veronica?”

Let’s get started!

Appearance:  Pours a dark orange, almost red with a nice white head and sticky lacing.

Aroma: Pine, citrus – strong grapefruit and a nice dose of sweet and roasted malts.  Smells, as usual, awesome!

Taste: Huge grapefruit flavor hits first followed by other citrus and pine hop notes, toffee, caramel and roasted malts.

Overall: Balance and incredibly delicious, Lagunitas Brewing Company Lucky 13 Mondo Large Red Ale is good smooth drinking.  At 8.65% ABV a 22 warmed me up and left me wanting another.  I’m so happy to see this beer around town and I’ve picked up a few to keep in the beer fridge.  Lagunitas dominates my beer fridge.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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