Wave if You Like New Beers

Lagunitas Brewing Company's Lucky 13 is available at area stores. That's good. The problem is trying to find a category to place this beer in. It's 8.9% ABV and 77 IBUs. It's described by Lagunitas as a "Mondo large red ale". So it's Imperial Red, right? But they already make an Imperial Red...a really good one at that. And I wouldn't put this beer in the Imperial Red category, more like a hoppy Imperial Amber. Confused? No more than usual on my end. But I also pulled over at an apartment complex that had one of those air-powered wiggly waving people things that you see at car dealerships and I watched it for like ten minutes. Then I went to Whole Foods on Carlisle, where I saw this beer. $4.99 for a 22 oz. bottle.

You may have noticed more and more Uinta beers in Albuquerque lately, like the Hop Notch IPA, Dubhe Imperial Black IPA, and Sea Legs Baltic Porter. Or you may have been staring at the wiggly waving thing like I was. Nobody's judging. But take a sec and check out Uinta's latest release, Birthday Suit Sour Brown Ale. Uinta doesn't delve too often into the sour beers, though they have been doing barrel aging for years (and maybe we will get the Oak Jacked Pumpkin this year, hello?). Grab one of these ($12 for a 25.4 oz. bottle, again at Whole Foods on Carlisle) and try it next to a La Folie. See which one gives you more acid reflux. Everybody wins!