Lagunitas Brewing Company Bavarian-Styled Doppel Weizen

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

Tonight’s featured beer is Lagunitas Brewing Company Bavarian-Styled Doppel Weizen.  I get stoked when I hear there’s a new Lagunitas product on the market.  I started calling around and no one had it.  I stopped by Mission Liquors in Fremont and Evan said it was going to come in and sure enough they got it before anyone else.  So I made the drive over to Mission Liquors to pick up a few bottles (to get me started).

From the Lagunitas Brewing Company website:” A Brand-Spankin' New Beer Inspired by Rolec: The Builders of our New Brewing System. They Sent Us a Traditional Yeast Sent From Their Friends in Bavaria & We Way-Overfed It To Take It All Up A Bit!

And…from the beer label:” In far-away 2006, in a beer hall in Philly, at the end of a long road, we shared our first beer with a Friestat Bayern Brewer enharmonically named Wolfgang. At stake, over a Prima Pils, was whether or not Lagunitas would purchase from him a new 80bbl brewhouse. It was a lot of money. Playing Silenus to my Brewery’s chariot, together- with the benefit of the Pils- we forded the emotional-economic crevasse and commissioned the brewhouse. Unforeseeable at the time would be the need for even more brewing capacity today in extra-local 2011. So, for the sixth time in our short history, we lurch down that increasingly familiar road towards a new 250 barrel brewhouse. The actual installation, beginning in November, will bear a strong resemblance to a heart transplant, on an awake patient, performed on the backside of a galloping horse, or at very least in tow behind Dionysus’ trustworthy Silenus. Some is good, more is better. The good news is; it’s still us.”

And now a word from Lagunitas…

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a cloudy honey color with a thin white head and great lacing.

Aroma: Bananas and spice (cloves) dominate.  Smells like a hefewiezen.  Slight hop and malt scents are present.

Taste: Like the aroma – sweet banana, wheat, mild cloves with a sweet finish that’s really nice.  This beer makes me think of the fall…and I love the fall.

Overall: Very enjoyable and at 9% ABV a dangerous beer.  I’m very happy I tracked a few bottles down as this is the perfect beer to usher in the new season.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey