Lagunitas Cruising with Ruben and The Jets

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

Color is a near solid mahogany with low carbonation and a thin tan tight head. Aroma is a faint roasted scent. Taste is sweet and spicy. Starting with a medium body it goes down crisp. Finish is sweet with a hint of chocolate then a mild roasted flavor with a spiciness. After taste leaves you with a smooth feel and a faint bitterness. Overall its a nice little stout with unique flavoring.

The pour into the glass started out looking a bit too brown, but by the time the Tulip glass was filled up, the body looked suitably dark. The head was khaki in color and foamy, but died rather quickly. The smell was very unimpressive, with grassy and herbal aromas dominating, and not much of roasted grain, chocolate, or coffee. The taste recovered towards the norm a bit, as the sour-sweet-astringent flavors came fast and loose. The chocolate nibs and peppercorns were evident in the mid palette, and lingered into a long drawn aftertaste. The body felt a little thin considering the style but was pleasing otherwise. A softer interpretation of the style except for the use of peppercorns.

Pours a nearly opaque dark mahogany with a thin, spotty-lacing wispy white head. Aroma of sweet milk chocolate and caramel with some light fruity notes and a touch of raisins. Body starts with good fullness and rich sweet creamy chocolate flavor with a touch of dark fruity complexity before a drier, roasted malty finish with lingering mild peppery character. A pretty interested and unique beer that pairs well with dark chocolate.

The latest brew "honoring" the works of a man who drank no alcoholic beverages, period. Originally I’d picked up the album on a five-finger discount from a Zayres on the southwest side of Chicago. I bought the beer at the Binny’s in Orland Park, IL. It’s got a dark brown body with a modest light brown head that quickly reduces to a clumpy film. It’s got a milk chocolate aroma, somewhat smokey, with a dose of white pepper. The lightly roasted malt is detectable in the flavor, but the beeriness of this is too hidden by the adjunct tastes. Interesting, but Frank would not have drunk it, not even for Cheap Thrills.

Bomber at Jerry’s. Dark brown with decent, creamy brown head / Mild cigar and fruit box nose / Medium body, chewy, with good balance and dry finish / Mellow, winey flavors of roast barley, straw, tobacco, coffee, white peppercorns, semisweet chocolate, and vanilla / Not the typical coffee-chocolate monster, but interesting and more complex and balanced than many.

Bottle. Pours a nice, deep, and thick mahogany with a healthy off-white head. Initially the beer smelled of vegetables and chocolate but as it warmed the chocolate overpowered the vegetable and left a nice, velvety and almost smoky chocolate powder aroma. Flavor was very earthy initially but warming allowed the chocolate and coffee notes to shine. Thick and lasting mouthfeel. Great beer.

Pours dark brown with minimal off-white head. Moderate carbonation. Aroma is of malt, dark fruit, and chocolate. Underwhelming aroma. Taste is of chocolate, malt, rubbing alcohol, dark fruit, and pepper. Has a very harsh dry, peppery finish. Body is very light. Something was way off in this beer, and I did not enjoy it.

pours a barely black almost dark brown with thin tan head. huge aroma of chocolate malt and light pepper. flavor is nicely balanced between sweet, dry and peppery. really nice and very interesting.