Lagunitas Brown Shugga’ - Tasting and Aging Notes
By jason on Mar 12, 2008 in Barleywines & Strong Ales, Reviews
Name: Brown Shugga’
Brewer: Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Vintage: 2007
Bottled On: N/A
Cellared On: March 1st, 2008
Original Tasting: March 7th, 2008
I hope you’re all bearing with me as I work through a bit of backlog of reviews. This one happens to be my first brew from Lagunitas Brewing Company, the very awesomely named Brown Shugga’. Lagunitas beers have a bit of a mixed reputation for cellaring - but I’ll get to that later on.
Brown Shugga’ is a spring-lake clear brownish red in the glass, smelling of floral hops with a bit of sweet malt backing. Not very much carbonation was present; the head was dissipating as I poured. Kind of reminded me of a barleywine in this respect.
There is certainly brown sugar present in this brew, but the name is a bit deceiving. This medium-bodied beer is actually very well balanced - assertive hops and the malty sweetness are working really well together. The sweet sugar flavor (which has a bit of a maple twang to it in my opinion) is evident throughout the beer, but in an almost subtle way. This medium-bodied brew has the tiniest bit of a warming sensation from the alcohol on the sweet finish.
It’s not the most complex beer in the world, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s still delicious and very easy to drink. Trust me, the brown sugar sweetness will keep you coming back for more.
Cellar Outlook: This is a toss up. Lagunitas beers do NOT have a very good reputation for cellaring well. Why? Beats me. If you check out the Beer Advocate Cellaring Forum though, you’ll find a lot of thumbs down for aging these beers. I guess I’ll have to find this one out for myself.
Next Tasting: September 2008
Jason
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