Lagunitas Imperial Red

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Petaluma, California USA

Bottle. Pours a deep red, almost brown. Frothy white head. Resiny floral aroma. Has none of the malty backbone that a red should have. Tastes mostly like a typical west coast IPA think Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo but dark red. Not bad for what it is, but there isn’t much of a red ale here if that’s what you’re looking for.

Sample at Beer Club Meeting on September 16, 2009. Great carbonation! Nice, thick head. God, I love Lagunitas. Brown color. Hoppy, perfumy dark aroma. Flavor is hoppy! Sincerely dark and hoppy... wow, I love it. A great Strong Ale!

Pours deep red with creamy off white head. Aroma is mostly bitter pine hops and malt. Very creamy and smooth drinking. Bitter finish. Would drink again.

12 oz. bottle. Pours a clear amber with a small creamy off white head that leaves good sticky lacing along the glass. The aroma is a sweet fruity malt with pine and light hops. Thin mouthfeel with a sweet fruit taste with a light hop and pine and nice bitter finish. Easy to drink a very good American strong ale from Lagunitas.

dark red mahogany body with creamy white head. sweet smells of malt, hops and pine. bitter taste lingers with every breath. Big taste

Bottle->snifter: Pours an average, off-white, diminishing head that exhibits fair lacing atop a dark brown body. Heavy malt aroma with an average aroma of hops. The body is full, texture gritty, and the carbonation average, finishing astringently. The flavor’s duration is short, moderately acidic, and heavily bitter. Yes, I’m a fan.

12 oz borwn bottle. Label states 7.5% abv. Pours with a nice tight beaded, creamy head. The beer is predictably reddish coloured, good lacing is left on the glass. Nose is grapefruity hops. In the mouth there is some malt, caramel sweetness, hop flavours quickly take over - grapefruit and some orange fruitiness. Finish is long and bitter, with lingering grapefruit, some pine. Medium body and carbonation, very drinkable for a beer it’s strength.

With a small fluffy wuite head and a very clear bright red body, this beer looks like it is going to be sweet and gloriously malty. The smell, though, is of a massively hopped IPA or American Strong Ale. Unfortunately, to my dismay, the flavor mimics the latter. There is some good amount of malt in here to counteract the strong hop flavor and smell, but not enough to satisfy my tastes. It is thinner on the tongue than most American Strong Ales (namely the Stone Brews) and lacks that chewy, bready quality of red/amber ales. Bottle (6-pack) at Lucky Liquors in Miami.