Lagunitas Brewing Company Fillmore Fusion 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 Fillmore Fusion Ale. A co-worker and fellow beer aficionado (Reggie) texted me a photograph of this beer and asked if I had heard of it or tried it.  I had not.  I asked if he’d pick me up a bottle (strictly for review purposes) and thankfully he did.

Commercial description: “Brewed to honor the 100th Anniversary of the building housing the historic Fillmore Theater in San Francisco. The resulting 5% ABV beer utilizes a new, experimental hop called ADHA 483.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a clear golden orange with a white head and good lacing.

Aroma: Grapefruit, pine, tropical fruits, citrus and a nice malt presence.

Taste: Lighter and fruitier than their IPA, the hop profile is amazing.  Grapefruit, orange, tropical fruit and pine hops balanced well with biscuit and caramel malts.  A slight rye spice note can be found in the background. This hop variety doesn't seem to add too much in the way of bitterness.

Overall: Clean, extremely drinkable and hard to classify, Lagunitas Brewing Company Fillmore Fusion Ale isn’t an IPA or a Pale Ale.  This beer is very unique (like the Fillmore) and at 5% ABV you can enjoy its uniqueness over and over again (if you can find it).  I need to ask Reggie to pick some more up for me as I can tell this will be yet another favorite beer from Lagunitas Brewing Company.  Yes, folks, they did it…again.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey