Oshkosh Beer of the Week: A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale

After all that squawking about hops yesterday, this was an easy choice for Beer of the Week. A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale from Lagunitas has been flowing at Becket’s and catching the attention of Oshkosh beer freaks who crave a snootful of hops with their ale. This is an excellent end-of-summer brew that starts with a shout of American-hop aroma. Take a nice, long whiff off it. You’ll get grapefruit juice, pine, tropical fruit... all the usual suspects are there raising hell.  But what differentiates this beer from your typical hop bomb is the smoothness of its flavor. The smell has you anticipating a punishing bitterness and though there’s all manner of “C” hop thunder in the offing, the beer finishes with a lightness that’s unexpected. The brewers at Lagunitas say they run a lot of wheat into this beer and perhaps that’s what accounts for the fluffy ending. For a high I.B.U. beer that clocks in at 7.3% this thing drinks ridiculously easy. Just one caveat: Becket’s has had this beer on for over a week now and the quick way they cycle through their taps probably means it won’t be around too much longer. If you want it, you’d better go get it. And if you miss it, don’t worry, you’ll be all right. A couple faucets over they’ve got Bitter Woman IPA from Tyranena pouring. There’s another beer that’ll fix your hop jones.