Lagunitas Maximus

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Petaluma, California USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

This one is quite alright. Hoppy in both aroma and taste, this brew has an off-white head that fades promptly but never disappears altogether. Light amber in color. Smooth on the palate and finishes faintly bitter as an IPA should. I would have thought something with this abv would have had more of an impact on me, but it is simply enjoyable, not intriguing.

Aromas are big toffee and brown sugar, hops of citrus and pine. Flavour is heavy up front malt of toffee, buscuit and carame. Hops are strong citrus and leave a long bitter finnish. Full mouthfeel and slightly sticky.

From a 12ox bottle....pours a light amber. Toasty malt with pronounced hops. Citrus. A nice, solid IPA. Not overwhelmingly hoppy.

From bottle at bierbistro. Dark copper with resin and citrus hops. I down graded the palate a bit because I found it a bit syrupy. However, all that malt definitely makes this an interesting beer.

From bottle. Pours gold with a touch of haze and some off-white head. Nice hoppy aroma with some citrus and herbal notes, along with some pine. Lots of flavor, fairly thick, decent amount of bitterness. Well balanced with a decent amount of malt character that comes out on the palate. Medium bodied. A very solid, flavorful IPA.

Clear copper coloured pour medium carbonation aromas caramel floral fruit honey flavours very sweet caramel honey bitter not strong but works in well grapefruit apricot nutty taste bright malty tastes a real plus at the finish with fruity hop tastes they leave a pleasing aftertaste

This is a curious beer that is not really big enough to be a dipa, but is a bit too big to be an ipa. I can see why it is classified as a dipa, though, because the malt profile is what really stands out. This gave the beer a pleasant reddish color when poured from a 12 oz bottle into a snifter. It is sufficiently hopped to raise an appetizing aroma even through a 1 1/2 finger head, yet the primary flavor is of caramel complexity. Smooth and light in the mouth, it’s much easier to drink 2 (or more!) of these relative to most dipas. The price ($11/6) also helps in that regard. Overall, this is a strong ipa or a weak dipa, as you prefer ... but is tasty and reasonably priced either way.

Doesn’t have the hops power I expected. The hops is balanced with malts with a nice caramel flavour on the taste. Hops are more on the grassy side than fruity. Nice thickness in the mouth.