Lagunitas Brown Shugga

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

Great looking reddish orange, hazy, spiral head, spotty lacing. Aroma of malt and its friends dough, biscuit, alcohol, brown shugga, wood. Palate is great, tiny carbonation, warm, sweet, sour, yeasty, tingly, malty, some alcohol but not overpowering, some nice balance, not at all too sweet. Excellent!

Enjoyed via 12oz bottle. Pours a nice dark brown. Aromas of American hops come across, along with matching aromas of character malts (Crystals). Palate is malty sweet up front, with an almost bracing balance of hops on the back end, finishing medium sweet. Excellent!!!!

On tap at Andys Corner Bar. Deep reddish brown in color with a medium off white head. Malty caramel aroma. Dark fruity notes. Hoppy and malty flavor. Sweet tasting. Finish is slightly bitter. Well balanced beer. Medium bodied. Enjoyable.

~Pours a semi cloudy deep amber with big fluffy off white head. ~Very sweet caramel malt scent with dark fruits like raisin and some citrusy hops. Some spice as well. From scent alone I have a feeling that this will be too sweet for me. ~ The hops come out a bit more in the flavor. Pretty good balance. Candy sweetness is on the verge of me not liking it. Alcohol is definitely present. ~Heavy mouthfeel, a bit sticky. Bitter finish. ~ Just don’t really care for sweet beers. This one is drinkable but may upset my stomach.

Bottle. Aroma of tropical fruit hops, toffee, nougat, vaguely sugary malt. Flavor the same, lots of the nougat and toffee, sweet malt starts to take over from the hops. Full bodied, rich mouthfeel. Not the most complex beer/barleywine ever, but very drinkable and enjoyable.

Chestnut brown ale, tan head that dissipates kind of quickly. Nose is sugary with hops. I used to think of this beer as too hoppy for a barleywine. (I typically like the warmer, maltier barleys.) Tonight, though, this is going down easily and I am liking the malt/hop balance. Not much mouthfeel but still very good.

Decent beer, full of caramel and sugars, butter scotchy flavors. Enjoyable.

Poured a clear deep mahogany with a very nice off white (almost light brown) head. Raisin smell and some toffee... Taste was somewhat one dimensional with a heavy butterscotch slant and burnt sugar...roasted caramel, corn, molasses, pumpkin and carrot, butter, and a good slightly sharp hop bite towards the end. Really not quite sure what to make of this barley wine...it was good, but did not win me over completely.