Try?
Have you ever had a Lagunitas Dogtown Pale Ale? Boy, did that beer suck. I’m really mad at Lagunitas for selling it to me. In fact I want my money back. All of it. I may take them to court even. By their own admission, it was a bad beer. Really bad. Why here’s what they say about it on their website:
Back then the beer tasted like broccoli and kerosene and the carbonation at (SIC) right through and drained your stomach into your gut...
You see what I’m talking about? This why they introduced Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale Ale. The new and improved Dogtown Pale Ale. Because now, you see, they are telling us they finally got it right. And they never did before. And, and….hey wait a minute. The old Lagunitas Dogtown Pale Ale wasn’t so bad. Just go back and read my review. It was a very nice beer in fact. I really liked it. Even loved it.
So what’s the deal? Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale Ale is just a reformulated version of their old classic pale ale. I’m not exactly sure when they changed the name from Dogtown to New Dogtown (it was still Dogtown Pale Ale when I had it at taco Mac in 2011). It also was a lot more citrusy hoppy then too, whereas the newer version accents those darned newfangled namby-pamby fruit loop hops.
According to Lagunitas, again from their website:
This is not the original ale as brewed in far away 1993 in the back of the Old House of Richards Building in the West Marin hamlet of Forest Knolls right next to little Lagunitas...It is way better.
We took our original brew -- Dogtown Pale Ale -- and hybridized it with the Kill Ugly Radio, a 22oz seasonal we released commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Frank Zappa's second album. The flavor was too good to let float into the abyss, so we revamped our original recipe and never looked back.
Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale Ale has an alcohol content of 6.2% by volume with 62 IBUs. I paid just $5.25 for my 20-ounce mug, only a quarter more than the $5 price tag in 2011.
My mug of Lagunitas New Dogtown Pale Ale arrived a bright orange amber color with a large head formed of loosely packed vubbles and a distinct dose of passion fruit in the nose. Taking a sip, I get solid caramel malt up front and some nice candyish malt notes too. Then more of the passion fruit the nose promised, citrus, and pineapple. A long dry lingering herbal grassy aroma and bitterness show up in the finish.
Ok, this beer is really good, well balanced between hop and malt and appropriately hoppy to an American Pale Ale. It’s a bargain at the price, too. Yeah, I’d buy this one again and again and again.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
