Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot (WTF) Ale

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Petaluma, California USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Shaker

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Flavor mirrored the aroma pretty closely. Malty sweetness with some dark caramel notes. A bit bready along with some flavors of chocolate. Citrusy and floral hop flavors with a mild bitterness in the finish.

Pours a smooth dark golden brown. Aromas of hops and fruit. Strong in palate with a hoppy caramel taste. Similar to many dark pale ales.

Dark amber/brown color; Medium slightly creamy body; Aroma of toasted malt, caramel, & hops; Flavor of roasted malt, spicy hops, caramel, citrus, nuts, and some chocolate. Finish is dry & bitter, fairly well balanced overall.

The craft brew explosion of the past decade has conditioned us beerophiles to expect something exciting and new with each new special release from a prominent name-brewer. This beer falls victim to high expectations. It’s merely micro-good. I don’t know whether it’s worth getting into much detail, but the gist of it is that this tries to be some kind of variant of the industry flagship (Arrogant Bastard) and it’s too middling to take seriously in its aspirations. It lacks the Ubermenschy crispness and brilliance of its standard-bearer. This is just a hazy brown thing with a small foam retention, no citrusy bite, no pungency of ingredients. This amounts in effect to a fairly representative B-/C+ performance by craft brewing standards.

Kind of a weird light brown color. Big, juicy, malty aroma, moderately toasted with some citric hops notes going on. Sweet but nicely deep and roasty malt flavor, slightly herbal hops character. Carbonation is a bit brash - this would drink better with the levels toned down a bit. Juicy, moderately bitter finish.

22 oz. bottle, $3.50 @ Binny’s. Deep brown beer under a huge spongy head when poured into a shaker. Smell is malty, but not overpowering, with a good hop nose as well. Has a nice malty taste, a little darker roast, with some nut and toffee. Hearty malt taste. Hops not as prominent on the tongue. Nice light cocoa notes toward the finish.

On tap at Li’l Woodrows in Rice Village. Pours brown with absolutely no aroma that I could detect. I assumed this was a dark ale. Surprise! The flavor is light, chocolate, a little roast, and otherwise thin and hoppy like a pale ale. Definite fruity hops in here. One sip and indeed, I said WTF is this thing!? Not my favorite, but an interesting and offbeat offering that I would have again if seeking a slightly darker IPA or almost a Cascadian dark ale.

In the bottle at Bill B’s 2010 summer beer tasting party. Pours a dark reddish brown with a thin white head that dies fast. Slightly grassy aroma. Mild brown flavor. A bit boring. Mild nutty finish with a medium malt body. Good not great. At the finish, this is quite drying.

UPDATED: APR 11, 2011 Sampled on draft at Headkeepers in Greensburg PA this beer poured a brown color with orange highlights and a large khaki head that lingered and produced good lacing. The aroma was faint with brown sugar and fruity hops present. The flavor was bitter fruity hops with hints of toasted malts, bubblegum and citrus. The finish was long, malty and fruity. Medium body.

Like most Lagunitas beers this is good and easily drinkable and certainly not offensive yet again it stops short of being really great. Good balance.Sort of boring though. One and done. There’s just many other great choices to choose from these days.