Wilco Tango Foxtrot - Lagunitas (USA - California - Petaluma)

Wilco Tango Foxtrot - Lagunitas (USA - California - Petaluma) 7.8%

An amazing aroma and taste to match: very hoppy (melon & cucumber), hints of peaches but also malty and roasted.  Dark and almost chocolatey tasting at times. It's not bitter at first (or maybe there is just too much going on to really notice it) but it does have a bitter finish. As far as colour, just like one of the many humourous lines to read from the label: "We're not quite in the Red, or in the Black...". It tastes like they mixed a heavily hopped beer with maybe a stout. It's really really good. Too bad it was only a limited release.

Beer Maven's Superbowl Picks

In honour of the single biggest event in American sport, I am reviewing a handful of American beers that I think would go great with this year's (or, I suppose, any year's) Superbowl.

Miller Genuine Draft (USA - Milwaukee - Wisconsin) 4.7%

Light tasting but not without character; it's malty and sweet. This beer is lightly carbonated and as a result does come across like a draft beer. Not at all strong tasting, MGD is a nicely drinkable beer that still has something to its flavour which makes it my pick for Superbowl viewers who are looking for something that is very easy to drink but isn't just another international lager.

Samuel Adams - Boston Lager (USA - Boston - Massachusetts) 4.8%

Reddish gold in a glass. A little malty, sweet, hoppy and pleasantly bitter. Smells of spicy hops. This is a very pleasant beer, if only more lagers were this interesting. A good American drinking beer for the Superbowl viewer with a taste for better, more flavourful beers.


Lagunitas - Little Sumpin' WILD (USA - Petalume - California)

An interesting hop flavour with strong tastes of melon, grapefruit and passion fruit, and a mild bitter bite. Smells a little of pine and is a nice gold colour in a glass with a frothy head. The bitterness does not overpower the aftertaste but instead fades into the background to allow the beer's sweetness to come to the fore. It's hard to believe this beer is almost 9% but it's obviously crafted with care and this beer is well balanced. This beer is included in this list of Superbowl beers for the true beer geek out there that won't even take the Superbowl off from tasting.

Cheers!