Holy crap!!! This is some GREAT beer!
I totally agree. Ive always been happy with lagunitas, but recently, they've really put out some nice beers.. I loved lucky 13, I loved WTF... so, naturally, when i saw little sumpin' wild, I grabbed a bottle (grabbed another one the next time I went too). I havent tried it yet, but im sure I wont be disappointed.
At this point, I feel confident in saying that lagunitas is my favorite california brewery, bar none. Hoppy like a NW brew, but not gratuitously, nicely balanced, and... I love the crazy rants they put on the labels, and even more how they dont always have anything to do with the beer.. or beer in general. The WTF was my favorite... "are we in the red, the black, the brown?"... classic.
So, naturally i was super psyched when this guy chimed in:
Greetings Forum... I write the recipes and design the labels at Lagunitas... The false advertising thing is interesting... In the very old world of wine making, WILD, means fermented with the wild (non-culture) yeasts found on the fruit when crushed. No bugs invited or allowed. I chose this name because in the academic brewing realms, WILD mostly refers to a specific gene that separates classic Culture yeasts from Wild yeasts. Brettanomyces has that wild (POF or Phenolic Off-Flavor producing) gene and so do most every recognizably Belgian yeast. I used the Westmalle Yeast. There's no doubt that beers fermented with bugs are wild (with a lower case 'w'), they really are, but they are not in the least the exclusive determinant of Wild-ness, at least not technically. I'm glad you're digging the beer either way!
Cheers
So naturally, i had to post something.
tmagee--- Im what you would call a bit of a horder--- I had a beautiful bottle collection, before I got married. My wife suggested taking pictures, an awesome suggestion, because I really just want the labels. Now I have many many pictures of labels,... and a lot less bottles (edit: actually.. technically I have a lot more bottles now since I didnt brew when I had the bottle collection... haha, jokes on her).
That said, your labels are some of my favorites... funny, artistic, interesting. They make me want to touch.. and usually purchase, and subsequently drink said libation. I love the parchment style paper, the earthy colors.. everything just works.
Please keep up the good work, I look forward to what you.. and the brewery come up with next.
cheers and welcome to HBT.