Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout

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

Bomber pours black with little khaki head into a snifter. Quite a good bit of roasted malt/coffee in the aroma. Hops are noticeable with a touch of spice. Quite roasty on the palate with black coffee, some balancing bitter hops. Has a frothy mouthfeel with low carbonation and full body. Has an odd, bordering unpleasant dishwater-like finish/aftertaste. Definitely a bitter bomber. Still pretty good despite the finish.

Very dark brown, but deep red when held to light. Aroma is roasty with fruity notes. Flavor is coffee and choc/cocoa flav’d. Quite tasty, and made the superbowl extra super this year.

Bottle. Pours a dark opaque brown with a light brown head. Smell is espresso and coffee beans. Taste is the same. Slightly thinner than I was hoping for, I would’ve liked it a little creamier. Surprisingly powerful, couldn’t taste the alcohol in it.

This may honestly be my new favorite (non-imperial) stout. Pours a deep, dark brown, with a thin-ish beige head. Ends up a really pretty glossy black with a high-contrast head. Aroma is hops and dark, roasty malts. This is the first coffee stout I’ve had in a really long time in which the coffee doesn’t taste really stale - it’s actually almost like someone dropped half a shot of espresso in here. Super dry, with a full mouthfeel. I still prefer a sweeter, chocolatier stout - but this is really good stuff.

On tap for growler fills at Half Time. Pours a clear brown with a thin tanned beige head, a bit lighter than I would have thought. Jalapeno, coffee, roast, sweet fruit. A bit sweet, roasty, light coffee. Smooth. Finishes with more roast bitterness, some warming alcohol.

Bottle. Dark brown pour with a thick lasting tan head. Aroma consists of a strong coffee presence along with caramel, nuts, roasty, and leather aspects. Tastes fairly sour and very sweet with a bitter intensity that stays as the other sensations fade.

22 oz capped bottle (2009 version, sampled early Feb 2010): clear mahogany red hues set below an large bubble ivory foam. Aroma is more milk chocolaty than cappuccino with undertones of unroasted raw coffee beans. Lactose and slightly burnt toast also tickle the nose. Very soft, clean mouth feel, almost silky. More lactic qualities on the tongue, along with a lingering sweet chocolate. The 9.26% alcohol is incredibly hidden (until you stand up). Sticky lips ensue and there is a light cherry fruit aftertaste for some reason. A wonderful beer, and certainly a best buy for $3.99 at my local shop. Cheers!

Just picked up a bomber of the 2009 batch earlier today. This beer pours with a dark brown color. When held up to a light, I can see through it which just isn’t "right" for a stout...especially a stout of imperial strength. The aroma is fairly weak and not all that enticing. What’s there is mostly chocolate, but with a hint of coffee. The flavor is a little better than the aroma, but this tastes nothing like a stout. It tastes like a malty imperial brown ale with a dash of coffee. Since this is supposed to be a stout, where’s the expected stout roastiness? Additionally, I like more roasted coffee flavor in my coffee beers than this one has. As the beer warmed, the sweetness became more pronounced, and in the end I couldn’t finish the bomber. This brew is best described as a fairly sweet, dark, dessert beer with some coffee added to it. Whether you call this coffee beer a stout, a brown ale, or something else, it’s just not very good. Thankfully, there are many other (better) coffee beers to choose from these days.