Lagunitas Brown Shugga’ - Tasting and Aging Notes
By jason on Mar 12, 2008 in Aging Badly, 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.
Six Month Tasting: September 15th, 2008
Assertive hops? Nowhere to be found now. They were underwhelming, to say the least.
It was still a tasty beer, with rich brown sugar sweetness, but it’s clearly not heading in the right direction. The malt has a nice raisin-like dark fruit flavor, but there’s not much bitterness to complement it. The same intensity of flavor just wasn’t there.
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.
Six Month Outlook: Not good. This brew looks like it’s heading south in a hurry. I’m betting the overall flavor of this beer will continue to spiral down. Bummer.
Next Tasting: March 2008
Jason
Lagunitas beers are not good to age because they are ales, with big and I mean big hop taste. They don’t make a beer called HOP STUPID for nothing. hop when they age like any flower die and in turn give off a bad taste. These beers are meant to be drank and the fresher the better.
Rory Smith | Nov 12, 2008 | Reply
Age-related concerns aside, this is a hell of a good beer and I hope they continue it well after the 2009 season.
RM | Jun 30, 2009 | Reply
I have some brown shugga in my cellar as well, curious to see how it ages. Also have gnarly wine, hairy eyeball, as well as some zappa series imperial stouts and belgian strongs. Those should age well, but tbe BA chatter makes me nervous… only one way to find out.
TSA | Sep 18, 2009 | Reply
Lagunitas beers are awesome beers really not good to age because they are ales. Thanks for sharing.
Houston Bella Rosa | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
I do not understand, what is it about “ales” that you guys say they do not age well? Most of the beers i see and tried in people’s vintage collections are ales and age amazingly well. Lots of reasons can contribute to a beer’s declining taste with age, but it just does not make sense to use a blanket term of ‘ales do not age well’ (paraphrasing) as a reason. Am I missing something?
I am just learning about cellaring, at least as a hobby. I brew ales at home that 6-18 months later turned out fantastic and completely different from fresh versions. Had ales a few years old at tastings, even highly hopped ones and they turn out great too.
This prompted me to open a bottle of Brown Shugga i purchased in October 2009, though kept colder at 45*F on the floor of my kegerator. Last bottle, sadly. Kept out for 30 minutes before pouring, and let my hands warm it while drinking.
Hops have certainly faded some in the aroma, getting lots of those caramel tones from the crystal malts. Taste is still somewhat sweet, caramel-molasses though bitterness is still there. Some hop flavor is also present, grapefruit-like on the sides of the tongue though the malt profile of the beer stands front and center. Little bit of alcohol warmth also present. Different from when i first tried it though i still find it enjoyable. Compared to when i drank it fresh i would say the beer has mellowed a bit and become more balanced.
Poured very clear, dark, copper-red that i can hold up to my monitor and read text perfectly. Somewhat tan head about an inch tall that lingered for a couple minutes before dropping. Now finished half of the 12oz bottle from a tulip style glass. Thin layer of head just floating on the surface of the beer, with lots of lacing on the sides of the glass. Head comes back with every drink i take, and slowly drops.
Over all impressions i like it, though it’s important to note the colder temperatures it was stored at certainly played a roll in that aging would have been slower and it has only been five months since i purchased it. Beer is still very enjoyable, maybe even better from when i first had it. Looking forward to the next release so i can cellar a couple bottles proper and see what everyone is talking about.
Hope my impressions helped a bit, love any excuse to talk beer.
nolan | Mar 9, 2010 | Reply