Working On A Little Sumpin' Sumpin'

I thought summer afternoons off were filled with kicking back, relaxing, sucking up the sunshine (or rain if you live in Philly) and doin' next to nothing. Not so. This week my afternoons are filled with trips to Home Depot, stripping wallpaper, tearing off tile and painting. Kelleigh and I are redoing the upstairs hall bathroom. That's my reason for not posting until today and I'm sticking to it. However, I haven't been solely focused on paint samples and granite counter tops. As usual beer seeped into my thoughts and in the current demo state of the bathroom I'm glad it also made it into my glass.

Lately I've had a thing for everything Lagunitas. We all have our list of favorite breweries and Lagunitas is quickly moving up mine. Their newest limited release A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale caught my eye at Capone's. After talking with Matt and grabbing a couple bottles I headed home where my purchase didn't spend much time in the beer fridge. I fully intended to drink it as I eased back into the bathroom demo. Instead I ended up putting down the tools and concentrating fully on Sumpin' Sumpin'.

After giving it a few minutes to warm Little Sumpin' Sumpin Ale (love the name) has a big aromatic hop hit. Aromas of juicy grapefruit, tangerine and mango all jump out of the glass. Take the time to really smell this beer. As expected the pungent hops rule the flavor: grapefruit, lemon zest, orange and pine. There's also some good caramel malt sweetness to balance out the slight bitter smack. Don't worry once the glass is empty your tongue will still get a healthy dose of bitterness.

Everything about this beer screams IPA but the Laguitus site tosses out the word "wheaty-esque-ish-ness" Maybe an American Pale Wheat Ale? Another Gumballhead? The bottle's label doesn't give any hints and I didn't get much in the way of wheat. If it's a summer wheat ale you want this is going to throw you for a loop. Don't go looking for creamy, yeasty, banana or spice flavors here. Remember it's an American Wheat Ale so think more big, crisp and hoppy. Just forget the catagory name game and buy a case of this limited release while you still can, I am.