Lagunitas Imperial Red

THIS IS A BIG BIG BEER. BEAUTIFUL COLOR AND HEAD. THIS BEER COMES ON STRONG BUT FINISHES NICELY. JUST GOT 12 OZ BOTTLES. NOT THE SAME AS PICTURED. MAY BE NEW LABEL. MAYBE I JUST DONT REMBER. I’LL HAVE ANOTHER.

Dark red with a really nice tall dense light manila head. The aroma is citrusy and sweet. Bitterness surrounds a good malt back backbone, a bit of caramel. The body is a bit thin and does not carry the load to success. Still it is quite drinkable.

Pours a nice shade of red with a brown core and a tight head. The nose jumps off this beer - lots of citrus as well as perfume and flowers. Big, chewy body offers loads of caramel and honey are balanced with a wallop of citrus and rind. A real surprise - bright, fresh hops balanced by lucious sweetness. Nice.

Mahogany pour, no bubbles, minimal beige head. Smells of pine. Sweet malty flavor with some hops. Smells like lots of hops except they dont come thru in the flavor as strong as expected. Palate is good for the style.

dark rust color with an off-white head. pungent piny aroma with a bit of plantstore quality to it. A fresh funky bitter hop flavor, some caramel to balance things, albeit lightly so. Lots of hop flavor, big bitter finish. More toast in the finish than regular IIPAs. I can’t recall the body of this beer, so it must have been not too bad. Nothing special in my opinion.

12oz bottle. Moderately hoppy nose with notes of woody maraschino cherries. Dusty and pallid, papery and somewhat stale on the tongue, with light notes of toast, creamed cherry yogurt and a mild bite of toasted grains. Mediocre.

Bottle: Pours a golden/copper color with a big fluffy white head. My first thought is this beer isnt red at all, not even very close. Whats up with that? Anyway the flavor is more important. Aroma is of sugar and caramel and citrusy orange/lemon hops. Flavor is malty and sweet with a sharp hop bitterness and a citrus slghtly lemony finish with the candi like caramel sweetness coming through to the end as well as a lingering bitterness. This is a beer that will hang on in your mouth for awhile and makes it hard to drink a lot. But it is good for awhile just a little too sharp i think.

Super hoppy on the nose - sweet and caramelly aroma as well. Nice amber body with a great, long lasting tan head. Very rounded - smooth full body texture. Great hop presence on the tongue. Very caramelly, toasted bread malt profile. Soft yet defined resiny hop finish. Very well rounded drink, not a stunner in any facet but just really well built with across-the-board appeal.