Lagunitas Tocaloma Amber Ale
Nov 22 '00
Good beer makes good friends. That has always been a motto of mine, and it is more true for me than ever since I started to write beer reviews for the Epinions website. I have met some really great beer enthusiasts here, including the remarkable Joe Marjancik, who was kind enough to send me the beer I’m reviewing tonight.
As we all know, microbrews are by nature local, and that is as it should be. Beer is best served fresh, and generally the further it gets from its home area, the greater the chance you’ll get stale beer when you buy it. Still, as a beer lover I want to try as many different beers as I can, but this often means many beers can be hard-to-find.
One of the best ways to get around this is to make some beer friends, and get started in a beer exchange program. Though not technically legal, it’s a great way to expand your beer horizons. The major shippers, UPS, FED EX and the Post Office all have policies against shipping alcohol. UPS tends to open and inspect packages, but my experience is that the post office does not.
You have to admire a brewery like Lagunitas (located in Petaluma, California) for their honesty. Not all brewers produce great beer from batch one, and Lagunitas admits as much on their label:
This hoppy sweet amber was the original ale brewed at the first Lagunitas brewery in West Marin. The original, actually, was a fair example of 'Odious Ale-ism'. Sometimes it was wonderful, sometimes it took the enamel off your teeth. Well, we are better brewers now, and it has become a tasty Cal State Fair award winner!
Lagunitas Tocaloma Amber Ale pours to a very dark ruby color with a slightly fruity nose and a light head formation. The palate is smooth and malty with a touch of fruity esters ( a little pear to my taste), then yields to a slightly chocolatey, minty hop finish. This is a beer that begs to be served with food: pizza, nachos, burgers, easy and accessible entrees.
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