ABV: 9.6%
IBU: 67
Availability: January – March
@untappd says: 3.88/5
Despite its best efforts, not even this beer could shut down my sill.
The Undercover Investigation Shut-down Ale beer has, by far, one of the coolest backstories out there. California’s Lagunitas Brewing Company was once a much different company. In its less mature days, the brewery would hold open-house parties at 4:20pm every Thursday. As you can imagine, high times were often had. On St. Patrick’s Day, 2005, the inevitable happened: a weeks-long undercover investigation caught them in the act.
They were found in violation of the so-called “orderly house” law, and their license to sell beer was suspended. They nearly lost it all. In the end, since they were just smoking and not selling, their license was restored in 20 days. As legend has it, the Alcoholic Beverage Control officer returning the license–a “cowboy” who was trying to make a name for himself with the bust–was asked sarcastically if shutting down places like Lagunitas was what he’d dreamed of doing while he was growing up. The officer replied that he’d wanted to be an astronaut. A year later, with their legal woes behind them, Lagunitas released this Undercover Investigation Shut-down Ale, an “especially bitter ale in dedication to all the world’s would-be astronauts.” Burn!
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