All Lagunitas Beers...

Seem to have a distinct "house" characteristic to them. I know many breweries do because of house yeast, etc. However, I have no idea what that "it" is that runs consistently through all of their beers. Off the top of my head I've had...

Pale Ale
IPA
Maximus
Hop Stoopid
WTF
Censored
Lil Sumpin Wild

... in the past month or so and they all have that distinct Lagunitas character. Is it widely known what that character is and I've just missed it? If not, any thoughts?

One notable fact about Lagunitas is that all of their beers are mashed very hot...like 160F. Pair that with their English yeast (I think they use the Fuller's strain), and that might explain the distinctive character you're noticing.

..are tasty.


At least all of them that I've tried.

I've noticed and wondered the same thing for years...I figured it was the yeast. Still haven't figured it out.

Little Sumpin Wild uses a belgian yeast but still has that same "something" that all the other ales do that use english yeast, must be something else.

Gotta say, from an unabashed malt lover who rarely even enjoys the slightest hop aroma and hates pronounced bitterness of any kind, Little Sumpin' Sumpin' is my second favorite IPA out of a grand total of two (Ithaca Flower Power is one of the best beers I've ever had of any style).

Agreed. I had the Wild last night and that was what actually prompted the post... knowing the yeast was clearly different that the typical ale yeast in the brewery.

- So... Not yeast.
- Clearly not a hop flavor.
- I doubt it is a malt that they insist on using in various amounts across such a wide range of styles in order to produce that character.
- Water? Can't be.
- Process?

??????

If it is actually one thing, I still put my money on the 160°F mash infusion. Nobody else even comes close to that.

Glancing over a few of their recipes, they all have very complicated hopping schedules, with very aggressive dry hopping. I think L.S.S. has seven or eight varietals.

MalFet said:

If it is actually one thing, I still put my money on the 160°F mash infusion. Nobody else even comes close to that.

Glancing over a few of their recipes, they all have very complicated hopping schedules, with very aggressive dry hopping. I think L.S.S. has seven or eight varietals.

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I'd agree with high mash temp, for me it just seems to be an underlying sweetness that most of their beers have. I was actually at the brewery last weekend. It was pretty fun. They had some sort of fundraiser going on and had some great bands playing. It was pretty warm so I just had a couple of their Czech Pilsners, which is an outstanding beer. It doesn't seem to have that house flavor though. They make some great beers.

Loved them all so far,very good brewery.Consistantly awesome beer. I really like their signature taste of all their beers, kind of how i feel with rouge,or stones beers.

Yeah, there hasn't been one beer they make that wouldn't be worth purchasing again. The Hop Stoopid and Lil Sumpin were fantastic.

Hate to break a theory, but Little Sumpin' Sumpin' isn't mashed at the usual 160 like other Lagunitas beers. It's much lower like 152 or 3. In the CYBI Little Sumpin' Sumpin' episode, the brew master talks about mash thickness being very important to him and to the consistency of their beer. While that doesn't speak to what that Lagunitas flavor is, it might suggest why it is always there. They also use a lot of hop extracts fwiw.

Little Sumpin' is hands down in my top five favorite beers.

Good call, im myself trying to detect some areas where i can make better beer and i think my mash consistancy is part of it as well, as i vary in quart per pound, im detecting a pattern myself i think. I just brewed a double batch so this may show me the difference as i had one more dilluted than the other, but i got more yeast in one than the other too,grrrrr And to think i could make the same batch at the same time.