Sakitumi Ale by Lagunitas Brewing Company 

Sakitumi Ale by Lagunitas Brewing Company 

• ABV 9.0
• O.G. 1.079
• 42 IBU

This Raging Bull’uva Double-ish IPA is punched with Sake Yeast and Rice, then hopped-up for a cold-clip of counter-balanced bitterness… it just don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing! 

This beer pours a crystal clear yellow gold with a good sized white head. Smells of sweet malt, lots of hops, minor citrus notes, and some woodiness. Tastes of bitter and high quality hops, slightly sweet malt, orange zest, and again some woody notes. The sweetness also seems to amp up as the beer warms (to a very pleasant level). Medium in both body and carbonation. Overall this is a very delicious IPA from Lagunitas. I’m picking up on what the rice and sake yeast did (maybe added some sweetness??), however, it’s very much worth a try.

The nose has piney citrus smell and flavor with a pineapple finish that lingers on the palette.  Balanced slight pepper up front balances pretty sweet towards the end of the sip.  This tasty double IPA has a super smooth mouth feel and even though the beer weighs in at 9% its very well balanced. As the beer warms up and pour another few ounces in my pint glass the beer smells very hoppy like most every beer Lagunitas makes but with underlying scents of cedar and pine board with some orange oil, while having a slight passion fruit smell and slightly sour as well. 

Sakitumi has a slightly boozy flavor and characteristic as the beer gradually warms up. 

In my opinion this beer is much tastier on the room temperature side as opposed to being right out of the fridge.. While the sake yeast and rice gets slightly more prominent as the the citrus and tropical fruit from the hops definitely wakes up and adds a enjoyable sweetness to the beer.