Beer Of The Week: Lagunitas Daytime IPA
By Jason Baldacci in Food on Sep 14, 2012 9:00PM
Lagunitas is one of those breweries that keeps finding new ways to make us fall in love with them all over again. From turning their classic IPA into such a staple that it's on tap at every corner bar in the city, to announcing their plans to open a satellite brewery right here in Chicago on the south side, to just releasing a new beer called "Daytime IPA." Today, we'd like to think of that last one as the icing on the cake.
The brewery is referring to 'Daytime' as a 'Fractional IPA' since the alcohol content is a very manageable 4.65 percent. As for us, we're referring to it as delicious. It's quintessential Lagunitas, in the sense that they've made another hoppy beer that tastes uniquely different from all of their other hoppy beers, especially for the discerning palate. The hop profile on 'Daytime' is intensely herbal and grassy up front, with a touch of pine and citrus on the finish. There's just enough of a malty backbone to balance everything out, keep the body light, and make sure the beer is wonderfully quaffable. We personally found ourselves taking larger sips than we usually would for a beer this hoppy, and coming from us, that's saying a lot. With the low alcohol content, it's a perfect beer for Sunday afternoons during football season.
We caught up with Lagunitas' own Karen Hamilton earlier this week, and she told us that Daytime may become a year round brew, but they're still trying to secure a steady supply of the hops they use for it, so it's a limited release for the time being. We have hope though, since it was just a couple years back that their increasingly popular 'Lil Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale' was just a summer seasonal. They've also recently finished a massive expansion out in Petaluma, which almost tripled their capacity, which is good news for each and every one of their beers.
She also clued us in on the latest that's happening with the new brewery and pub they're opening right here in town. We asked her if they were still planning to be open by November, and Hamilton told us by email that "Things are taking a bit longer, but it is all in the interest of lining up and understanding all the important issues like zoning, fire protection, traffic impacts, and the City Liquor Commissioner's Office." While this may sound less than encouraging, she did reassure us that they're at the point where they can smoothly start moving through the permitting and licensing process.
She also confirmed that the plan for the pub is to build it on a 20 foot high mezzanine, with glass windows on the sides that will look down over the brewery space, and allow you to enjoy a pint while you watch them build a brewery around you over the next year or so. We're not sure about you, but that sounds like something that's worth the wait to us.
Look for Daytime IPA on draft at the Hideout Block Party this weekend, and around the city in the weeks to come.