Lagunitas

Such is the widespread success of the American craft beer scene, it's easy to forget just how new a phenomenon it is. Many of the established craft brewers started with a homebrewing kit in the garage; Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman did just that less than forty years ago. Likewise Tony Magee, founder of Lagunitas. A failed print media sales rep, Magee moved to California from Chicago in the early 1990s, unemployed, in his early 30s, and wondering what to do with his life. To keep him occupied, a family member gave him a 5 gallon (19 litres) homebrewing kit for Christmas. After just ten batches of intermittent success, Magee was so enthused by the project he bought a new, and much larger, kit able to produce 200 gallons (750 litres), and set up his own brewery.

Magee's original bottling machine

Hearing the stories of Magee's first attempts to brew is heartening for anyone thinking of starting their own business, whether a brewery or anything else. He was forced to find a space to brew his beer after a batch boiled over and destroyed the kitchen stove two days before Thanksgiving. Having moved to the back of a hardware store in the small town of Lagunitas on the California coast, Magee suffered another huge and embarrassing setback. Not realising the pipes led to an anti-septic tank, Magee washed leftover sediment down the sink. The dormant yeasts in the sediment reacted with the waste in the tank to ferment, creating carbon dioxide. With no release valve, the carbon dioxide built up in the tank until the pressure caused the tank to explode, flooding the town with fermenting shit. As our guide at the Lagunitas brewery joked, this is still the recipe for Bud Lite.

Despite these inauspicious beginnings, Lagunitas is now one of the most successful craft breweries in the US. They have just opened a new brewery in Chicago, which will bring total production capacity to 1.4m barrels a year. The brewery is staying true to its roots though, maintaining its smaller facilities in Petaluma where they've been since 1999 (having moved from an even smaller base across the road). There's a relaxed, very friendly vibe at the brewery, which offers free tours and has a tap room to sample their range of beers - as with most US craft breweries, the number of styles of beer made is extraordinary.

the beers

Pils (6%)

A pale straw colour; a yeasty, bready nose with citrus fruits. Crisp and refreshing, with a dry finish.

Fusion 24 Couch Trippin' (5.7%)

Perhaps my favourite of the beers I tasted. An amber brown colour; sweet chocolate and caramel aromas, with malt and black tea. Not too hoppy, with a nice peppercorn spiciness on the mouth.

New Dogtown Pale Ale (6.1%)

The first beer that Lagunitas bottled. A classic Pale Ale, with grapefruit and pine nut aromas and a dry, hoppy finish.

IPA (6.2%)

The archetypal California IPA, first brewed in 1995. Widely available in supermarkets and bars, this is one of my go-to beers. It's hoppier, maltier, and spicier than the Dogtown, refreshing with a spicy and slightly sweet finish.

Brown Sugga (10%)

A beer that came about by accident, when Magee wrote down the wrong recipe; brown sugar had to be added afterwards to start fermentation. An amber colour; sweet caramel, toffee, and molasses aromas on the nose, with a hoppy, malty, nutty mouth. A good combination of hops and sweetness.

the eclectically decorated and furnished tasting room

This is just a small selection of the beers Lagunitas make; there are plenty of seasonal beers on rotation - strong and sweet at this time of year - and the brewery is experimenting with barrel ageing. As long as the facilities in Chicago don't make Lagunitas lose touch with its laidback origins, it will remain one of my favourite, most versatile breweries.