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RATINGS: 34   MEAN: 3.69/5.0   WEIGHTED AVG: 3.64   SEASONAL: Special   EST. CALORIES: 255   ABV: 8.5%
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
It is just a plain old 'punch-in-the-mouth' of a beer, meaning that it is SG of 1.075 or so and a robust bitterness... The beer is, in a word; Dark, Alcoholic, Bitter, and Unapologetic. Brilliant. Hunter has long been one of my personal heros and inspirations. From the label: Hunter S. Thompson occupies an honored seat in the pantheon of our heros. We have appropriated much from him, both stylistically and literally. From a direct and unattributed quote on the BrownShugga about "...The short-changed children of the eighties..." to the tone from the Imperial Red Ale story. We didn't ask permission to use this image or make this beer but Hunter did not ask permission to spray-paint "F---the Pope" on the America's Cup boat in Newport Harbor way back when either. Hunter looms as large as Kerouac, Hemmingway, Baudelaire, and Dylan in our thinking. His subersive Thursday columns in the also gone Examiner propelled our own processes and in that were changed. Gonzo is dead. Long live Gonzo!


3.8
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
IMtheOptimator (1161) - Bethel, Connecticut, USA - OCT 18, 2005
UPDATED: OCT 22, 2005 Poured an effervescent dark ruby with a small semi-creamy off-white head. Aroma is a conglomarate of strong grassy hops, caramel, and molasses, touch of cinnamon. Mellow flavor of grass, caramel, touch of dark fruit and citrus and alcohol... surprisingly unaggressive. Long bitter finish of hops and alcohol. Smooth decently carbonated body. Tastes like something generic from Stone, only with less oomph in the flavor. Good, yes. Worth scouring the globe for? Hmm... probably not.

3
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 12/20
fly (1357) - austin, Tejas, USA - OCT 9, 2005
Ho hao heye wish eye might say so much more. Lagunitas could and should be able to say so much more by beer. Tthough the bats were flying at half mast, I never saw them get any higher. The guy in the backseat was so past passing out that even though he was dark, he was not noir. I was wishing for the desert and ignoring the heat. I was wishing four more and finding only two. Can you fathom okay?

4
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
egajdzis (4550) - Spring Mount, Pennsylvania, USA - OCT 2, 2005
Poured a reddish amber color with a small, light tan head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of caramel malt, nuts, butter and some light floral hops. Taste of caramel malt, some smoke, citrus fruits, orange peel, raisins, and some light alcohol as well.

4.7
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 20/20
Nejhleader (1003) - Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, USA - SEP 15, 2005
UPDATED: DEC 21, 2006 i don’t even need to let my biased love of hunter effect this score. The brew is awsome! Freak Power!

3.8
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 15/20
JCW (1270) - Cincinnati, Ohio, USA - SEP 9, 2005
UPDATED: MAR 13, 2007 Very much a punch in the mouth beer. Looks like an Amber Ale - redish brown in color. Aroma is very much Lagunitas, they like Three Floyds have a house hop aroma/flavor that is pretty distinct. Aroma of old leaves and American hops, with a touch of malt. Thick body for the style, very bitter which some up the finish too!. Still looking for more of it(I love the label), but my thanks go out to beerguy101 for this one!

3.9
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
elnadeau (786) - Laguna Niguel, California, USA - SEP 4, 2005
Pourd dark brown-amber with decent head, sweet roasty caramel, fruit and alcohol aroma. Fairly bold and complex, this beer is hard to pin down. Claims to be an imperial red? Full bodied, some hints of cherry, cocoa, spices, bread; somewhat astringent bitterness with alcohol not all that well hidden. But yes I liked it quite a bit.

3.7
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 14/20
BeerLimey (2112) - California, USA - AUG 30, 2005
Clear dark amber appearance, good head formation. Strong caramel malt aroma, berry fruitiness and mildly spiced hoppiness. Medium to full bodied palate but a fairly easy drinker for the style. Plenty of sugarry sweetness, blackcherry and cranberry fruitiness, mild roasted chocolate, intense citric bitterness towards the end that probably would be more emphatic were it not subdued by all that sugar. Some Belgian influences, some brown ale influences, plenty going on, tastey stuff.

3.8
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 16/20
ChillCoat (1030) - Concord, California, USA - JUL 22, 2005
Something special for #200... Bottled. Pours a dark amber color with a sizable, almost frothy ivory colored head. Smells malty, with notes of dark fruits. Almost barley wine-ish in flavor. Cherries and fruit with hints of chocolate. Strange (but good) hop bitterness in the finish along with a bit of warmth. I would recommend trying a bottle!


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Rating Notecard:
Beer: Lagunitas Gonzo Rating Avg: 3.64 No. of Ratings: 34
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