TNP. Tactical Nuclear Pigeon #1: Lagunitas Imperial Stout

By now most everyone who even drinks craft beer occasionally has heard of Brew Dog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin, and Sink the Bismark.  These beers are ice bocks, a process of distillation, not fermentation which is technically illegal in the U.S.  I won't bore you with semantics, just google it; there is plenty to read.  The gist is: water freezes at  32 degrees Farenheit, and ethanol (the stuff that gets you drunk) freezes at -173 degrees.  By freezing the water in a beer, you can remove it and have a higher alcohol product left over.  Pretty sweet eh?  This process is not illegal anywhere else, and even though it is illegal to produce an ice bock in the U.S., it is perfectly legal to import one for sale.  I know, go figure.

This production method is pretty labor intensive for breweries who usually need to transport the beer to big freezers at places like ice cream factories (like Brew Dog does) multiple times between removing the frozen water.  This fact, consumer demand, and shipping can drive prices through the roof.  It will cost you about $90 to get a bottle of the penguin delivered to your door here in the States.  Not to mention, it's not always available and you might have to wait.  I am impatient, and I don't normally want to spend $90 on one beer, so I got really bummed for a while until I remembered something:

I HAVE A FREEZER AND ACCESS TO TONS OF GREAT BEERS!

So I decided that once a week, I will take one of my favorite strong beers, freeze it, strain it, drink it, and then let you know what I think.  I will call it Tactical Nuclear Pigeon, because I will never have enough money to see a penguin in its natural habitat, but seeing pigeons is pretty much free.

Enough P.S. on to the beer.  First up:

Lagunitas Imperial Stout.  I chose this beer because it is delicious on its own, and it's only $4.99 for a bomber here in NYC.  It still weighs in with an original 9.6% ABV, which I planned to increase dramatically. 

My original plan was to freeze it in the bottle with the cap off, but then I realized it would overflow or explode, so I opted for a large plastic container.  I covered it loosely with the lid, and let it go in the freezer for 24 hours. 

What I got was three ounces of a very strong, concentrated version of the original beer.  A little more oily in mouthfeel, and with about 25% of the alcohol burn I expected.  It still retained all of the delicious molasses, caramel, and maltiness of the original brew.  Plus, it got me kinda tipsy, even though I was nursing it.

I realized a few mistakes from this original experiment, which I will correct next week to get an even better yield, but suffice to say: the pigeon is in the house, and here to stay! 

Review#10 Lagunitas: Wilco Tango Foxtrot

I am going to say something here that I have probably said 100 times at work in the last three months:  This is my favorite limited/seasonal release of this year so far.  There are many close seconds, but each time I grab one of these I remind myself of just how much I love this beer.

For me, this beer achieves the perfect balance between hops and malt, which is kind of unusual for the folks at Lagunitas.  It pours brownish red, with a white head that disappears very quickly.  There are hints of sweet malt, toffee, caramel, some hops, yeast, raisins and berries in the nose.  Most of these take a back seat in the taste when the malt kicks in with a hint of sweetness and the hops come around every now and again to give your taste buds a little wallop.  It finishes a little dry with just the slightest bit of bitters, and makes you want another swig.

Just thinking about it makes me want one right now.

It's not a lightweight either, as its 7.83% ABV will attest too.  And priced between $4-5 for a 22 oz. bottle, its also not a drain on your wallet.

So do you really like this beer?:  Hell yes I do!  I would recommend this beer to anyone, even if you are new to craft beer, or have never had one, this could be a great starting point.  I would just like to know one thing from Lagunitas; Why The Fuck isn't this available year round?  I guess I will just have to stock up, or just wait until October when my other Lagunitas favorite, Brown Shugga' becomes available.