Beer With Seafood: Lagunitas Pils

It’s good to give yourself a treat once in a while, something you really like and don’t want to live without.  For my wife - still missing her East Coast roots after decades in Los Angeles - that treat has become lunch at Connie and Ted’s.

Connie and Ted’s is a West Hollywood restaurant specializing in what they describe as “simply prepared fish and shellfish, inspired by the classic clam shacks, oyster bars, and fish houses that dot the New England Seaboard.”  Denise and I seek out the places that do things right, not fancy or overdone, just right.  Connie and Ted’s is one of those places, and it has achieved the status of “treat” in our family.

It is expensive, but we generally share what we order, and that generally includes a beer.  Lagunitas Pils is a Czech-style pilsner which rings up a 6% abv number.  Served in a 12-ounce bottle, the brew costs $6.

Located in Petaluma, a California town north of San Francisco, the Lagunitas Brewing Company has 17 beers on their list, but they note that Pils is their “only Lager, brewed with loads of imported Saaz hops and a bottom-fermenting yeast strain that leaves it a bit lighter with a lot of smoothishness.”

The beer’s head is a big, frothy white and it stays nicely.  The color shows fairly rich for this type of beer.  Nutty aromas dominate the nose, with notes of bread and cereal and a bit of lemon.  Malty flavors mostly decorate the palate, but the taste is rather subdued - it’s a better beer with food than without.

The Lagunitas Pils sure did hit the seafood well.  The lobster roll and Ipswich clam steamers both benefited from the pairing.


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