Wilco Tango Fox Ale

Wilco Tango Fox Ale (WTF) is an American Strong Ale (Although BJCP puts it in the Barley Wine guidelines) by the Lagunitas Brewing Company of Petaluma, California. You may wonder why it's Wilco and not Whiskey. Well, California's Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) is picky about what can have the word whiskey.

I had this beer at a friend's house, who bought it from BevMo. The beer has an ABV of 7.83%.

The color is a deep amber and has a thin, off-white head and little lacing. The aroma is a malty caramel, with bready and dark fruit tones. The taste is strong, sweet caramel, roasted malts, and finishes with bitter, piny hops. The high alcohol stands out and adds a bit of warming at the end. It has a medium body and medium carbonation.

Overall the beer was ok, but nothing stood out. As one of my friend's stated, "Lagunitas beers are all starting to taste the same." If I want this style of beer I'd probably go with North Coast's Old Stock Ale, it's just better. I'm not sure if all of Lagunitas beers are starting to taste the same, but this wasn't very unique.

This raises the question of how many beers should a brewery make? I appreciate experiementation, especially the brews that Dogfish Head, Russian River, and Stone put out. But if you're going to make a style, make it stand out, or just make it really well. WTF does neither.

If you want this style and WTF is all there is I would consider it, but otherwise Skipt It.