Lagunitas Cruising with Ruben and The Jets

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

Bottle. Pours a hazelnut brown with a small bubbly tan head. Nose is chocolate malts and black licorice. Really nice dark chocolate flavors (they were helped by the dark chocolate I consumed prior) with a mild alcohol flavors as well. Mouth is medium bodied with a mild carbonation to it. I enjoyed this brew, especially with the chocolate.

Bomber pours dark brown, not totally opaque. Aroma is fruity, with chocolate and anise notes. A bit thin for a stout. The fruitiness shows up in the taste, as well, dominating the chocolate and roasty notes. Herbal and anise hints, as well. Pleasantly drinkable, but strange. Appropriate, I suppose, for a Zappa themed brew.

650 ml bottle from Bev4less. Pours an opaque black with a sudsy beige head that quickly dissipates. The aroma is moderate with molasses, dust and anise. The taste is robust with earthy black licorice and molasses. The finish is long with lingering anise. The mouthfeel is smooth, full and malty. Overall:A very good stout, but not a great one.

Deep opaque brown with a big chocolate brown head. Sweet mildly toasty aroma with a tiny bit of wet dog. Very sweet with a vinous bitterness with an abrupt cherry licorice finish. Slight astringency in aftertaste. $4/22oz

Bottle at Max’s on Broadway in Baltimore. Pours brown with a dissipating tan head. Somewhat weak aroma of mild roast and malt. Flavor is interesting, which starts off with Molasses and anise. Semi- sweet finish has some husky grains and brown sugar, with some clinging tobacco flavor. I dig it.

This is a really good beer. Good chocolate aroma. Milk chocolate and mild pepper taste. Quite good.

22 oz. bottle. Murky brown oil pour, with a limited whitish creamy looking head. Mouthfeel is somewhat creamy, but rather light medium bodied. But it has these little bubbles that lace the glass rather nicely. Malty molasses, some chocolate and brown sugar. A little boozy, but really not offensive and really, 8.6 is not that high. Finish is kind of poor and warm alcohol. Drinkability, just ok. This is the best from this brewer I have had. Funny, since there are quite a few poor reviews for this. I can’t stand most of their brews, they are just limited hoppy strong ales. This is purely average for a double stout, but for the brewer I was exstatic that I was not disappointed in this one. To sum it up and the descent rating, this is what I expected from the Brown Shugga, which obviously came no where near.

A big surprise when it poured dark brown, almost black. A big beer but drinkable. The licorice and spice was noticable along with the sweetness. Was better after warming a bit.