Lagunitas Brown Shugga

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Petaluma, California USA

Deep copper amber, clear, medium brown head that is fairly dense. The aroma is hop-dominated, but there is a firm maltiness underneath. The malt character really shines on the palate-- brilliant chewy toffee with a subtle liquory/port-like note underlying it all. The hop load shows up again in the bitter, resinous, dry finish. Loved it!

Pours a filtered dark coppery color with little head that dissipates quickly. The aroma is mainly barley and brown shugga’ (obviously) with notes of tangerine, strawberry, and alcohol. Bittering hops dominate the flavor from start to finish with notes of dried fruit, candy sugar, and caramel. The finish is also highly alcoholic leaving me wanting a bit more body to balance.

12 oz. bottle from Broudy’s in Jacksonville Beach. Pours a dark amber color with a light tan head. Aroma is very hoppy with some caramel notes and some fruit. Flavor is piney and hoppy, then burns on the finish. Good beer, but needs something to calm down the alcohol burn.

Aroma has loads of orange hops, caramel and malt, clear auburn, pours a huge, tan head leaves plenty of lace. Flavour has orange/pine at the start, with butterscotch, rich malt, caramel and alcohol. Full bodied, very well balanced, bitter, slight burn from the alcohol although it’s toned down with the sweetness of the malt. Great! " I’m no school boy, but I know what I like," how come ya taste so good?

12oz bottle. Pours a clear coppery amber color with a wispy brown lacing. Aroma is rich and sweet, dominated by caramel and brown sugar along with roasted malt, syrupy hops, and spices. Taste is medium-bodied, with some slight sweeter hints quickly giving way to a generally astringent and boozy finish of alcohol and bitter hops. Where’d all that caramel and brown sugar go?

Poured a nice amber color with a thick two finger white head that clung to the glass and lasted throughout the drink. The nose picked up some nice earthy tones, caramel malts, and a vauge scent of licorice - I don’t know, maybe it’s the brown sugar that I’m tasting. Tastes hoppy, very sweet, the caramel malts and sugar crystals were almost too sweet; especially as the beer warmed. The mouthfeel was pretty well balanced, a good carbonation level; the aftertaste was slightly unpleasant, like too much sugar in the Kool-Aid. Certainly drinkable, it didn’t taste like it was 9%+ alcohol.

Barleywine? Yeah, no kidding. A very satisfying treat from Lagunitas. Relatively inexpensive too at $7.99 for a 6-pack. Pours like a thick iced tea with no apparent head. Taste is typical of much more expensive barleywines; Caramely, "shugga-ey" and definitely boozey, but to a slight fault. No surprise though, considering it’s near 1/10 alcohol. This is probably the best that Lagunitas can do, in my opinion. Not a big fan of this style, but this is a good one nevertheless. I’m pleased; Definitely will have again sometime, even if I have to go to work the next morning mistakenly reeking of whiskey. Thanks Lagunitas.

This is a remarkable beer. It is better than tha average barleywine. It starts off with a fruity and sugary aroma, and at first sip you taste the namesake brown sugar on top of the typical barley wine flavors. The alcohol presence is noticeable but subdued, and the hops don’t bite nearly as bad as other barleywines I have tasted. Good stuff! After aging a few I noticed that a decent amount of citrus comes out over time, but the sugar, toasted sugar, and sweetness still come through.