Lagunitas Brewing Co. -- New Dogtown Pale Ale

Lagunitas Brewing Co. was founded in 1993 in Lagunitas, California (an unincorporated area of Marin County just north of San Francisco).  Now their headquarters are in Petaluma which is in Sonoma County just north of the Bay Area.  In 20 years they have become the sixth best selling craft brewery in the U.S.  In the last decade they have had exponential growth.

New Dogtown Pale Ale states on the bottle: "This is not the original Pale Ale as brewed in far away 1993 in the back of the Old House of Richards Building in the West Main hamlet of Forest Knolls right next to little Lagunitas...It is way better.  Back then the beer tasted like broccoli and kerosene and the carbonation ate right through and drained your stomach into your gut..." 

Aren't we all glad there are choices for beer that do not taste like broccoli and kerosene.  This pale ale is hazy golden color, pours with a bit of a head when you're inpatient like me, minimal but slightly hoppy aroma.  It is lightly carbonated and is immediately bitter on the nose with a continuous bitter linger with a little bit of maltiness that comes up in the linger.  The complexity of the flavor is in the hoppy bitterness -- that's where you can pick up pine-y, grassy, floral hop flavors.  It is medium body and clocks in at 6.2% ABV. 

Overall, it is more like an IPA than Sierra Nevada Pale Ale because it is more hoppy and more bitter.  In fact, it is more bitter than most pale ales.  Not that being more bitter is a bad thing; it's just an observation.  I paired it with some pizza and that was awesome!  If you don't mind some hops or consider yourself more of a "hop-head" then this is an excellent pale ale.  Cheers!

Mendocino Brewing Co. -- Bock Beer

Mendocino Brewing Company is based out of Ukiah, California which is about two hours north of San Francisco up the 101.  The name Mendocino is the name of the county, and the name of the county traces its origins to Spanish exploration.  That area of California known for redwood trees, wine, marijuana, and craft beer.  Like many craft breweries the founders started out home brewing.  They opened a brewpub in 1983 with their flagship beer Red Tail Ale (which is still around and very tasty).  They were the first brewpub in California and the second in the U.S. to put the pieces together that craft beer and food would sell well together.  They have grown to be the 30th largest craft brewer in the U.S., 6th biggest in California, and have their beers distributed in 43 states.

Bock Beer is seasonal so unfortunately it's not stocked all the time.  It pours dark amber with very little head.  It has a slightly sweet malty smell, and the taste is a smooth malty-biscuit-butter-slightly sweet flavor.  Like most bocks it is really mild so any food you pair it with needs to be mild as well otherwise the spices will overwhelm it.  The aftertaste is short, malty, and yeast-y.  It is hard to pick up on the hops in this beer, but they do add some bitterness.  It's 6.0% ABV, medium bodied, and overall a bock that is pretty true to form.  It is a good beer if you're looking for something sweet and smooth.  Cheers!

Anchor Brewing Co. -- Liberty Ale

Anchor Brewing Co. is one of the older craft breweries in the country.  Their flagship is Anchor Steam, but they also make a pretty mean Porter, which I previously reviewed.

From the bottle: "San Francisco's famous Liberty Ale was first brewed on the 18th of April, 1975, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Paul Revere's historic ride.  It is virtually handmade by the brewers of Anchor Steam Beer in one of the smallest and most traditional breweries in the world.  Liberty Ale is made with the finest barley malt; fresh, whole hops; top-fermenting yeast; pure water; and the simple natural methods that reflect our exceptional respect for the ancient art of brewing.  It is 'dry hopped,' a classic ale tradition, and slowly completes its fermentation in sealed vats in our cellars.  This unique process creates Liberty Ale's distinctive bouquet and uncommonly delicate, entirely natural carbonation."

It has 5.9% ABV and is brewed with cascade hops and two row pale malts.  As you can see it pours with a large foamy head and a hazy dark straw color like a hefeweizen.  It tastes like a pale ale, but lighter body, more subtle malts, and smoother and lighter carbonation.  The malts leave a short malty aftertaste.  Beer advocate calls it an American IPA, but I don't think that's very fitting.  It's more like a creamy pale ale, which makes it easily drinkable.  The timing of first brewing it in April was appropriate because this is a great spring-time beer.  Cheers!