Lagunitas The Waldos' Special Ale Review

Name: Lagunitas The Waldos’ Special Ale
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 10.8%
IBUs: 100

Lagunitas, when was the last time I reviewed anything from you? Well checking my history, it was December 2016 with their Stoopid Wit. However, today’s beer is one that honestly has me at a loss of words but not in the way you might be thinking. I give to you The Waldos’ Special Ale.

With a lot of the beers I review, I always try and do some research on them and I feel like I kind of fell down a rabbit hole with this one. Case in point, here’s the description from the brewery itself:

In 1971, the Waldos met one afternoon at 4:20 in the front courtyard of their school near the statue of Louis Pasteur. They set out in a '66 Impala armed with a "treasure map" on a journey to find a secret garden near Point Reyes. They met there at the same time every day and continued their quest. They never found the secret garden....But they keep lookin'. The dankest and hoppiest beer ever brewed at Lagunitas was made with help of the Waldos for all treasure hunters. Cheers!

Let’s see here, we’ve got a 4:20 reference right off the bat and it’s anyone’s guess what this treasure map to “secret garden” is; Although they do tout it as the dankest beer ever brewed so use your imagination as to what this secret garden. However, my biggest burning question: who or what is a Waldo? Seriously, what is a Waldo, Lagunitas?

Appearance – Slightly cloudy dark golden color with a high amount of visible carbonation. The head has a thin soapy look to it and there’s nothing left behind in terms of lacing

Aroma – Strong citrus & grapefruit sweetness with a potent resiny scent with some notes of apricot & peach. The toffee & caramel malt backbone is also very strong here as well.

Taste – Strong grapefruit and bitter resiny hops start things off on the front of the palate and do they ever make themselves known! In the middle of the palate, that toffee/caramel malt backbone comes into play to keep things from getting too out of control. On the back end of the palate is where those peach & apricot fruitness helps bring things back full circle. The aftertaste consists of a lingering toffee maltiness and light bitter hoppy taste. There’s also a light boozy heat that I can feel after consumption.

Well, it’s certainly a dank tasting beer but it’s also got enough variety in the overall flavor to keep things interesting and there’s nothing wrong with that! As such, that alone makes this a very easy recommendation.

Lagunitas The Waldo’s Special Ale – 9/10