The visit began with a tasting hosted by Don, who was also our tour guide. He started by saying he had no more Pils on tap but that he would "make up for it." He proceeded to pour us seven 4-ounce pours of various regular and seasonal beers.
We tasted their Dog Town Pale Ale (dry with lingering hop finish), IPA (hop body with tasty malt finish), Undercover Shutdown Ale (an imperial pale seasonal), Gnarleywine barleywine, Wilco Tango Foxtrot (a brown ale seasonal), Imperial Stout, and finally their Hop Stoopid. Several of these beers were 10% ABV or above; I think you get the point.
After the 40 minute tasting was over, Don, who had been drinking right alongside us, began our tour. He took us through the bottling and packaging line, into the main brewing room with the masher and mixing tanks, and outside where the fermenting tanks rise high above the brewery roof. It was an awesome tour for multiple reasons. The first I'll skip, but also because he was quite knowledgeable about the process, was honest and open about the difficulties they've had (a theme among the brewing community thus far), and let us stick our heads into the fermenting tanks, climb ladders, and drink reject fresh beer right off the bottling line.
We were really impressed with Lagunitas Brewing. They showed us the utmost hospitality and their beer is really good. We would recommend the experience to anyone.
That's Don.
Location:Petaluma, CA
Great post, guys. Your posts (and the subsequent longing I have to be there, but also good vibes I get from knowing you guys are there) have been the highlights of my last days. Give thanks for the freedom to live and move and breath and drink. Cheers mates.
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