Lagunitas Absolutely Free

No, unfortunately I am not giving away beer, rather I am commenting on Lagunitas' latest release in the Mothers of Invention commemorative beer series.

Last year, the brewery released "Freak Out" to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of the eponymous album. This year, they did the same for the Mothers' second album, "Absolutely Free", by releasing a beer with the (in)famous KILL UGLY RADIO graphic of Frank and his pumpkin.


The beer itself is a very dry Pale Ale. I know many people will find its malt profile to be simplistic and one dimensional, but I found it refreshing. In this era of really huge high gravity specialty beers, it is nice to find a brew that doesn't have that heavy malty alcohol flavor and syrupy texture. I suspect the wort was made with a simple one stop low temperature mash, that resulted in a dry, thin beer with fine carbonation and a hearty but not over the top abv of 7.8%. The color was a medium amber. I got the impression there was little specialty malt used. Nevertheless, despite the low residual sugars, the pour produced a very creamy and persistent head.

The cleanliness of the beer and absence of maltose, creates a neutral backdrop for the flavor of hops. What the beer lacks in maltiness, it makes up for in hopiness. The hop flavor is strong and complex, but not overly bitter. Underneath, it has the strong citrusy flavor of cascade hops, with a powerfully piny flavor up front (perhaps Simcoe?) and a n almost minty aroma.

I suspect the relative lack of malt flavor and the brash front-end hopiness without the big bitter soapiness, will not endear this beer to the Imperial IPA or 120 Minute aficionados. I suspect others will find it to be "unbalanced". To me, it is nice to have a refreshing very dry pale ale that has a very strong hops flavor and aroma without the over-the top ABV and IBU's of specialty beers like Alpha KOng etc.

Regardless, the label alone makes it worth the $5 pricetag (22 oz).

Thanks for the write-up; looks worth trying. Care to share where you procured it?

Matt wrote:Thanks for the write-up; looks worth trying. Care to share where you procured it?

Sorry I didn't include the address. I had to search my desk for the store's business card to get the actual name (it is listed online as P & W liquors).

It was selling out pretty fast, so call first. Ask for it as "Kill Ugly Radio".

Rogers Park Fine Wine and Spirits
6733 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60626
773-761-1906

Would be interesting to know how FrankZ. would feel about having his mug on a beer bottle, albeit a well-crafted brew. He was known for his general distaste for drugs and most alcohol, and spouted off about beer drinkers in particular. (Although his comments were geared toward stereotypical suds swillers.)
Then again, he wasn't afraid of promotion...Next year's bottle may well depict him in drag if the 3rd album is any indication.

stewed coot wrote:Then again, he wasn't afraid of promotion...Next year's bottle may well depict him in drag if the 3rd album is any indication.

And ironically, the beer will be called "We're only in it for the money".

And of course, sales may well drop dramatically if they ever try to incorporate the next title in line, which I believe would be "Lumpy Gravy" or "Uncle Meat". There's a marketing challenge for ya...

Would be interesting to know how FrankZ. would feel about having his mug on a beer bottle, albeit a well-crafted brew.

For what it is worth, they state in bold letters on the label that they have full-permission to use the name and image. (Of course, Frank himself did not have much of a role in making that decision.)

I bought a bottle of it Friday at the Whole Foods on Ashland. They had several bottles at that time. Drank it yesterday. A really nice beer. I am with D4v3, it will not appeal to folks that feel that if the beer is not-over-the-top-slap-you-in-the-face, it is not good, but it is a well made brew.

Don't get me started on Alpha Kong. It is the poster child for "extreme" beers gone out of control.