Leinenkugel's India Pale Lager Review

Name: Leinenkugel's India Pale Lager
Style: India Pale Lager
ABV: 6%

Leinenkugel's recently released a brand new beer and it's a style that has been gaining popularity in the past couple of years. It's an India Pale Lager (IPL) that carries the name of the style, with no fancy name to go along with it. I saw this at the Keyport Growler Station and just had to try it out; Plus it's been a long while since I've had a good IPL.

It's an interesting choice when it comes to style choice, especially from a brewery like Leinenkugel's but then again they also have just released a Braggot that's brewed with raspberries and rye as part of their Big Eddy series, so I'll give credit where it is due.

Appearance - A very clear dark golden color with a mild amount of visible carbonation. The head is fairly foamy and takes on an off-white color with decent retention, while the lacing is quite sparse.

Aroma - Strong citra and piney hops on the front of the nose with a healthy pale maltiness to back it. There's even a hint of caramel sweetness and even a bit of yeastiness in here as well while still retaining that lager scent.

Taste - Strong piney hop bitterness with the citra hops taking a secondary role. On the back end of the palate is where the pale malts and lager yeasts starts to shine through, while the piney hop bitterness & citra hops linger throughout. The aftertaste is light hop bitterness with light lager yeasts and is otherwise on the drier side.

The last couple of offerings I've had from Leinenkugel's were okay, but not something I would necessarily go out of my way to have again and frankly, I was expecting the same when I got this. Needless to say, this beer is much better than I expected and it's definitely one of the better offerings I've had from Leinenkugel's. The hop profile is quite nice and the rest of the flavor is nice, crisp and balanced. I believe it's a draft only beer right now, but if I were to see this in bottles, I would definitely pick it up again!

Leinenkugel's India Pale Lager - 8.5/10