Greetings beer nuts, aficionados, prospectors, advocates, and purveyors. Summer is in full swing and it’s somehow nearly July in the Pacific Northwest! This weeks offering comes from an often maligned and certainly polarizing brewery — Lagunitas. Some will be die-hard Lagunitas fans for life, while others will scoff at each new release, which in a nutshell is the glory of craft beer, you simply cannot win them all. What once was a  humble, if not a little crunchy brew pub in Petaluma, CA, has now swollen to a near nationwide player in the beer market. Lagunitas now operates breweries in California and Illinois, Chicago to be precise, sound like any other breweries?

The most recent release from Lagunitas is part of their “OneHitter Series” of beers, which are quite limited, but also, one-off batches of beer you’re not likely to see again, so enjoy while you can! This offering is a bold Pale Ale, brewed with Blood Orange Juice, it’s also got a name which is nearly impossible to pronounce, even the brewery reps just refer to it as “the citrus one.” Enough background, let’s dive into the review.

Brewery: Lagunitas Brewing Company — Petaluma, CA
Beer: Citrusinensis Pale Ale — 2015 OneHitter Series
ABV: 8.0%
Cost: $2.09 / 12oz

Served from 12oz bottle dated “162 5 1 7788 2112” decoded as June 11th 2015 @ 9:12PM

Appearance (3.75/5) —This pours an extremely clear, and bright orange color. Initially puffy and white colored head fades and leaves behind some spotty bits of lacing. When held up to the light there is almost a glow to it, just looks like it is saying “drink me.”

Aroma (4.0/5) —Smells of freshly squeezed oranges and lemons, juicy overall, little bit of a piney bitterness here as well. Lightly hoppy and a good bit of juicy freshness overall. Definite note of fresh squeezed orange juice, lightly bitter and juicy, little bit of residual sweetness.

Taste (4.0/5) —Tastes quite bitter and juicy, not overly sweet, there is some great orange juice character here, very refreshing, lightly bitter hop notes to pare down the fresh juiciness. Like a bubbly glass of orange juice, with a little bit of tartness to it, quite tasty.

Mouthfeel (4.0/5) —Medium bodied, there is a great long lingering finish here. Flavors continue to develop as this beer warms in the glass.

Overall (4.0/5) —What a treat, less than two weeks old, it is more and more difficult to find beer on the shelves that is this fresh, it’s a great showcase of a nice distribution network, to get beer out this fresh, from almost a thousand miles away. This is more juicy than it is hoppy or bitter, its very fresh, juicy, bright, refreshing and thirst quenching, not overly heavy and goes down easy.

Head out and enjoy this beer while you still can, this would be great on the beach, or paired with a fresh green salad with grilled chicken. Cheers!