I've tried Lagunitas' Hop Stoopid once. I bought a bottle of it a couple months ago. It wasn't bad but it was fairly weak. It was probably a fairly old bottle. Yesterday while out at my new favorite Beverages & More in Glendora (I am never shopping at the Rancho Cucamonga location again), I asked a helpful craft beer employee if that nicely stacked section of Hop Stoopid (which I rarely see at other places) on the shelves had been sitting there for quite a while or if it was a new shipment. He said all their Lagunitas stuff had just arrived so I felt really stoked to hopefully be getting a fresh bottle of Hop Stoopid. Well, it's time to find out.
On the first whiff... woh, a lot different. This is majorly floral... perfumy. Very perfumy. The taste also has this sweet floral hoppiness to it, some sweet orange flavor, with a somewhat soft bitter finish. I can definitely tell this bottle is a lot more fresh than the first one I had, but this specific hop taste has always been my least favorite. I'm not sure what it is, or what hops it's derived from. It's real herbal/floral/syrupy, maybe vegetal. I've noticed it in a couple other beers but the ones I drink today generally do not contain any of this flavor. I remember Ballast Point's Big Eye IPA having a hoppiness that is somewhat similar, though I haven't tasted that beer lately. Unfortunately this wont be a beer I'll probably seek out again, but that's just because of my personal tastes. I know others who love it, and if you love this specific hop flavor, I would definitely recommend it because it's packed with it.
Just to not appear totally down on Lagunitas, I tried their Imperial Red a couple weeks ago and it was fantastic.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Hop Stoopid Gets One More Chance
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3 comments:
i'm with you on this beer. i'm actually a fan of lagunitas; their farmhouse saison is delicious and their ipa is, though very light, tasty as heck.
i get the same reaction from this particular type of hop flavor as you do. it just seems too sweet.
though i consider myself a bit of a hop head i've noticed an inverse relationship between a beer having the word "hop" in it's name and it actually being good. strange.
Good to see someone else acknowledge this certain kind of hoppiness too... at least I'm not alone though.
Lots of beers with "hop" in their name miss the mark but I can name a handful that are good to very good - Deschutes Hop Trip, Deschutes Hop Henge, Hopsickle, Hop Rod Rye and sometimes Oggi's Hop Juice and Port Hop 15.
the only one on your list i've tried is hop -15 and you're right. it was more fun when i thought i had a theory going though. :-)
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