Lagunitas Brown Shugga

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Petaluma, California USA

12 ounce bottle from Holiday Wine Cellar ($1.49). Pours a clear ruby-brown color with a finger of off-white head. Hop aroma (pineapple, citrus, forest) is immediately noticeable along with sweet malty tones and a definite note of the eponymous brown sugar. The hops are even stronger in the flavor as resiny pine and citrus emerge. The hops outdo the sweet malty tones and there is very little evidence of brown sugar flavors. Still, it’s a pleasant flavor and quite drinkable as the high alcohol is very well concealed. Overall this seems to lean at least as much toward being a double IPA as a barley wine. Aging would probably help quite a bit (this bottle was very fresh).

On tap at Killarneys. Pours a crystal clear reddish amber with a short beige head. Aroma is sweet with some brown sugar, slight hops, and a touch of alcohol. Flavor is some roasted caramel, moderate bitterness, some brown sugar, pretty sweet. palate is thick and sticky, carbonation is light.

on draft at Killarney. Copper reddish pour small white head. Aroma of sweet with subtle hops. Taste like a barley wine but sweeter with some brown sugar. Very tasty.

Pours a brown/orange color with a brown sugar aroma. Smell is very sweet, unlike the taste of the beer itself. The beer has a strong alcohol taste with a bitter bite to it. The aftertaste gets calmer after you drink this beer. Overall, this beer is heavy on flavor, bitterness, and alcohol content.

Draft at Peach’s in Yellow Springs, OH. A 9.9 percent beer for $3 a pint! A different brew, reminds me of a barleywine but finishes with a nice hoppy, dry finish. Big and powerful, this 10% giant hides the alcohol well even with the traces of warmness in the finish. The pour is dark amber and flavors of sweet malt, fruit, caramel, creme brulee and floral hops are present. Complex, sweet, big with a nice hoppy finish.

12 oz bottle that I have had in the cellar for about six months. The color was a deep orange, cloudy, and had a short white head which disappeared quickly. The smell was a little bit sweet. The taste was alcoholic and slightly like a barleywine. Not much hops going on at this point. I liked this beer a lot better fresh. Also, the high ABV is enjoyable but lowers the drinkability. I can’t wait for Gnarleywine. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 05-08-2007 16:32:45

On tap. Pours a clear orangish brown with a small head. Aroma is citrus and hoppy. Flavor is citrus, hops, bitter and astringent. I thought this was more like a DIPA than a Barley wine.

Bottle pours a see through copper red with a thin off white head. Aroma is sweet, dates, and nutty with alcohol notes present. Taste is sweet malt with a residual hop bitterness and a hint of alcohol. Malt flavor is long lasting with a heavy mouthfeel. Brown Shugga is a decent barley wine but the bitterness and alcohol flavors could be balanced and muted somewhat better.