| Lagunitas Brewing Company 1280 N. McDowell Boulevard | Petaluma, CA 94954 (707) 778-8776 lagunitas.com |
Lagunitas Brewing Company was founded by Tony Magee in 1993 in Lagunitas, CA. Merely a year later, Lagunitas had already outgrew the space and moved to its current home in Petaluma, CA.
Known for modern interpretations of traditional styles and sarcastic descriptions and stories on bottles, Lagunitas was number 6 on the Brewers Association’s list of Top 50 Breweries of 2014 based on beer sales volume.
Lagunitas has increased production at a jaw-dropping rate over the past decade. In 2004, annual production was 27,000 barrels. That increased to 106,000 barrels annually by 2010. The brewery began a major expansion in 2012, pushing output to 360,000 barrels annually.
Lagunitas opened an additional brewery and taproom in Chicago, IL (Tony Magee is a Chicago native) in 2014 and became the largest brewery in Chicago, surpassing Goose Island. The 300,000 square foot facility was formally a steel plant and briefly served as a TV/film set. The 250 barrel brewhouse is capable of producing over 250,000 barrels annually.
But Lagunitas is not done yet. In 2015 they announced that a third production brewery is currently being built in Azusa, CA. Located just outside of Los Angeles (Tony Magee lived in L.A. for 12 years), the 178,000 square foot facility will open with an annual capacity of about 420,000 barrels, becoming the largest brewery in L.A. County. The built-out capacity for the space is 1 million barrels. The new brewery should be up and running in early 2017.
During my visit to the Lagunitas taproom in Petaluma, these tasty beers were on tap…
- IPA – 6.2% ABV Ruthlessly Delicious IPA
- Pils – 6% ABV Lager like you like it
- Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ – 7.5% ABV Way Smooth and Silky Ale
- DogTown Pale Ale – 6.2% ABV 21st Century Pale
- Maximus – 8.2% ABV Kinda like their IPA on steroids
- Hop Stoopid – 8% ABV Double-Barrel Dose of Malt and Hops
- Sucks – 8% ABV Brown Shugga’ Substitute Ale
- Censored – 6.7% ABV Malty, Roasty, and Deceptively Smooth
- Imperial Stout – 9.9% ABV Dark, Thick, and Scary
- DayTime – 4.6% ABV Fractional IPA
- Mandarina Bavaria Pils – 6% ABV German Pilsner
- GnarlyWine – 10.2% ABV Pure Madness
- CitruSinensis Pale Ale – 7.9% ABV Pale Ale with natural blood orange flavors
- Little Sumpin’ Extra! – 8.5% ABV More Wheat-esque-ish-ness
- Cherry Hotside – Wild Ale
Grab a pint or enjoy a sample of 4 beers. You can’t go wrong with regulars like the IPA and Pils. Sucks is my all time favorite Lagunitas brew, but I recommend checking out some of those unique speciality beers on tap.
The food menu at Lagunitas includes snacks and shareables like chips and salsa, soft pretzels, house marinated olives, hummus, nachos, wings, and a cheese plate. If you want something more, try one of their salads or a toasty sandwich like the BBQ pulled pork, turkey club, smoked brisket, or garden sandwich.
The taproom is open Wednesday to Friday 2 to 9PM, and Saturday to Sunday 11:30AM to 8PM. The Schwag Store is open Monday to Tuesday 9AM to 5:30PM, Wednesday to Friday 9AM to 9PM, and Saturday to Sunday 11:30AM to 8PM. Tours of the brewery are offered daily.
