Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale from Lagunitas Brewing Company

By Don

So, we did something this year that we haven't done for awhile ... we went on the road for Christmas!  We left on the Thursday before Christmas for Chicago to go to my wife's sister's house for the Holiday.  I brought a little beer with me, but was overwhelmed at what my sister-in-law Lisa had waiting for us when we arrived!

She had gone to the beer store and had about half a dozen (or so) different varieties of beer -- and a lot from the Midwest that I haven't seen before here in PA.

So, this will kick off a handful of reviews coming up from our 'Chicago Christmas (Beer) Adventure!'

I'll start off not in the Midwest, but on the Left Coast.

One of my favorites from the trip was Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale from Lagunitas Brewing of Petaluma, California.

Don't let the "Limited Release" on the 6 pack fool you ... Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale is now available year round and to that fact I say, "Thank you!"  This one's too good to just keep it as a limited release.

Lagunitas Brewing began brewing beer in 1993.  I read that their IPA is consistently the best selling IPA in the State of California.

Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale is one of their several varieties of "Little Sumpin'" releases.  It pours to a beautiful golden color with a nice frothy head that sticks around and leaves some good lacing on the glass.  Bring the glass up to your mouth and you'll get a nose-full of the fruity, hop-infused aroma.

If you are a Hop Head, you'll LOVE this one.  Their website describes this beer like this ... "Sneaky Smooth with a Touch of What We Call Wheatly-esque-ish-ness."  Couldn't describe it better myself.  One of the first things that I wrote down when doing the review was that it goes down smooth with a coating feeling.  Then, the hops take control and hit you with a nice bitter blast in the back of the throat.  It's like a battle of sweet and bitter is going on with every sip.

Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale clocks in at 7.5% ABV and 64 on the IBU meter.

It was a good compliment to my meal and didn't compete with the food.

When it comes to beer, if someone says to you, "Go West young man," make sure you check out Lagunitas Brewing when you get there and get yourself a "Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale!"

Cheers!