Lagunitas Cruising with Ruben and The Jets

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Petaluma, California USA

Pours dark brown with a creamy 2 finger tan head that has good retention, as with a few other Lagunitas brews I have had this stuff is infested with protein globs. That fact is pretty strange considering this an imperial stout that came out what, like 6 months ago? You would think it would keep a little better. Aroma is roast, light coffee, trail mix with dried fruit, toffee and amaretto. Flavor is lots of chocolate, some coffee, a little dark fruit, some spice and some earthy and bitter hops. Palate is medium thickness, syrupy and feels almost slimy to the finish, an occasional protein glob is noted as well. Sometimes those are o.k. by me, but in this case they have a hard feel and got stuck on my tonsils a couple of times... gross. Overall I am not impressed, the flavors sort of seemed to clash, the aromas were too weak and of course the globs of goo didn’t impress either.

Bomber. Pours a dark and thick brown with a thin but dense head. Aromas are weak... a bit of chocolate and maybe a little prune, but it’s all very faint. Flavor is similar, but more full than the nose. Moutfheel is the best aspect of this beer... it is thick and creamy, but there doesn’t seem to be enough flavor or aroma to match and it comes across as a little weak. A bit of alcohol warmth in the finish. True, the chocolate is pleasant, but there’s not enough else to make this one excel. It does get better as it warms, however.

Deep brown,small tan head.Sweet alcohol nose.Sweet start,neutral mid.Harsh alcohol heat. Peppercorns are faintly noticeable.Syrupy

Pours deep chestnut into a snifter. Off-white head recedes to hug rim. Dusty cocoa aromas. Thick with alcohol, molasses and chocolate upfront. Lasting mocha finish.

Pours a dark brown with beige head. Aroma of roasted malt, coffee, toffee. Taste is similar. Nice bitter hop finish. Nice mouthfeel, bit too much carbonation though. An enjoyable stout. Cheers to Zappa!

Pours a midnight opaque brown with a decent light brown head. Aroma is dark unsweetened chocolate and red wine. Taste is thick rich sweet roasted malt, molassas, fermented raisins and some chocolatiness. Very good stout; true to style yet interestingly different.

22oz’er - my first new beer since returning from the land of few brews. Pours a ruby brown with a decent cascading head of tight bubbles. The aroma is fairly bold, of malt balls and molasses. The flavor of this must be driven by the chocolate nibs, but it comes across more as malted candy than chocolate. I don’t get any sense of any pepper, but this is still a nice flavorful beer. (#3534, 5/13/2009)

From a bottle poured brown with a good amount of head. Sweet malkty flavor and a lingering finish.