Try?
Lagunitas makes a lager? They do, and it’s called Lagunitas Pils. You might call it Lagernitas if you like; whatever you call it, it’s the lone island of lager amidst a sea of Lagunitas ales. It’s a fine little island, too, if you ask me, which you did when you started reading this. It’s a beer I’ve enjoyed in the past, but most recently at Taco Mac in Canton on a pleasant Thursday evening.
I actually enjoyed back to back pilsners on this night, first the Lagunitas and then a mug of Shiner Birthday Beer 107 Hoppy Pilsner. I found the Lagunitas Pils hoppier and the Shiner beer maltier, but they were both tasty indeed. I did find this a bit interesting, though, since the Lagunitas is considered a Czech Pils (usually softer and maltier) and the Shiner a German Pils (usually hoppier).
Lagunitas says of their pilsner on their website:
Our
only Lager, brewed with loads of imported Saaz hops and a bottom-fermenting
yeast strain that leaves it Light and Crisp and Easy to Slam, yet full of
real flavor and all the things you yearn for….Like Adam and Eve, Isaac and
Ishmael, Mao and Confucious, Good and Evil, Day and Night, Hitites and
Visigoths, John and Lorena, or Groucho and Moe, Ales and Lagers are as
different as can be. Still, we must love each for who they are, separately
but equally, with liberty and justice for all. Cheers!
Lagunitas Pils has an alcohol content of 6% by volume with 35 IBUs. I paid $5.50 for a 20-ounce mug at Taco Mac at Canton, and that with a free and really neat logo glass. The beer sells for $8.99 a six-pack in bottles here.
My mug of Lagunitas Pils arrived a brilliant golden color with a thick fluffy head of foam and notes of biscuity malt and grassy hops in the nose. Taking a sip, I get biscuit bready malt up front but it's thinner than I'd like, but just a bit thinner. As the beer progresses on the palate a very assertive hop character emerges with grassy aroma and a long, dry bitterness deposited on the tongue.
I would like a bit more malt, and the beer is not quite so crisp in the mouthfeel of a Pilsner Urquell, for example. Still, this is a delicious and tasty beer and I would certainly buy it again at the very reasonable price.
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
