Lagunitas B3K

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Petaluma, California USA

Grainy, husky malts, orange blossom, resinous hops, some creamed corn, vegetal notes in the aroma. Clear amber body is topped by a decent, fine bubbled, off white head that recedes rapidly to a lasting cover with some sudsy lacing. Fairly bitter, biscuity flavour with fair to moderate dark malts character. Medium light body with soft but lively carbonation. Sampled at the Falling Rock at GABF 2005.

Dark brwn and red, dense bubble formation. Malty rich aroma, like a dark barleywine, and of course lots of hop character, but I think one could make the argument that this is a bit too formulaic, a bit crude, or at least unoriginal. Normal palate for what this is. Tea notes in the flavor, with caramel. There is nowhere near the sense that this is 11.3% abv. It tastes like 5.5%. Decent but unexciting.

2005 bottle. Have had a few of these on a number of different occasions. Pours a amber-beige to dusky brown color, with an off-white to beige colored head, pretty well retained, though rather small, little lacing. Clear and filtered (surprise!). Aroma of brown sugar, wet, green hops, raisins, prunes, cinnamon and caramel. Flavor is your basic sweet caramelly malt, raisins, brown sugar and some very astringent dryness, perhaps from some lightly toasted/roasted malt. Hint of dry berry-like fruitiness, quite sugary though with a medium-full body overall, typical force-carbonated texture. The only thing I enjoyed was the very well hidden alchool. Almost don’t believe it’s 11.3% Just pretty boring, overall though. Not poorly made or anything. Reminds me of an amped up Nuevo Noir minus the Belgian yeast and spices. Ok so that dosent really say much. But it’s just boring caramel/brown sugar, nuts and dates. Lots more hops though, than Nuevo noir, obviously. But the base malt character is bland, IMHO.

Bomber poured a clear reddish brown with a long lasting amber head. Aromas of wet cardboard, prunes,grain and vanilla. Palate wasmedium bodied and slightly dry. Flavors of dark malt, cocoa,a hint of vanilla, and some nuttiness with a dry slightly warming finish. Hides its alcohol well, making it very drinkable.

22 oz bottle (thanks chris). Clear dark brown with a nice tan head and lots of lacing. Aroma reeks a mile away of soggy cardboard and grain cereal. The oxidized taste isnt too surprising with flavors of oak, grass, nuts and hops. Surprisingly there arent any dried fruit flavors. Not bad but I expect a hell of a lot more from Lagunitas.

Courtesy of richlikebeer... Appears a dark amber brown with a small ivory head. Nice lacing. Solid collar that never fades. Smell is of rich vanilla, oak, caramel...reminds me of a well aged barley wine. Taste-see smells listed above. Mouthfeel is smooth, creamy, and well rounded with a mild smokey sweetness. Drinkability is good. This one was wonderful.

Pours a deep bopper amber with a nicely-lacing, frothy tan head. Aroma has some subtle toasty caramel and good piney hop balance. Body starts full and malty with some good dark caramel and nice hop balance. Has some light fruitiness and enjoyable complexity. Hides the abv very well.

Bottle. Pours brown. Nice sweet caramel malty aroma, with some light hops. Lots of sweet caramel flavors, a touch of vanilla. Alcohol is present but extremely well hidden for 11%. Dry bitter finish. Extremely dangerous because of its ease of drinkability. Awesome beer - wish I had more.