Lagunitas Imperial Red

Brewed by Lagunitas Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Petaluma, California USA

Interesting smell of cherries. Flavor is crisp hops, and a bit of cherries. I would drink it again.

12oz Stubby $10.99 6-Pack Sam’s Chicago 84.20 IBU I love big hoppy reds. Let’s see how Lagunitas’ version tastes. Pours crimson with a barely noticeable amount of haze. A two finger creamy dirty white head formed on the pour and faded to a collar leaving some thick drink line style lacing. I see no carbonation rising to the surface. Smells like my kind red ale. Big juicy lightly sugared grapefruit hit the nose first along with a strong showing of pine. A sweet caramel maltiness comes along and balances the aroma. Starts off bitter and hoppy, finishes sweet and caramelly. Flavor sports the same characteristics as the aroma. The caramel sweetness comes through upfront and the slightly sweetened grapefruit along with piney hoppiness mingle and create a nice balance of juicy flavors. A toasted graininess shows up mid-palate and disappears as quickly as it came. The sweet caramel and juicy grapefruit finish things off along with a quick alcohol spiciness. I drank three of these from this 6-pack already and this was the best one. Strange. I find a lot of Lagunitas’ beer to be too syrupy sticky for my liking. The body on this beer is done nicely. Medium bodied with a nice creaminess. The carbonation is on the low end of the spectrum and actually works nicely in this beer. This beer goes down extremely easy. Big flavor in a 7.6abv and the alcohol is just enough to let you enjoy a few in a sitting. The big hoppiness is balanced by a big maltiness and it’s all around juicy. The mouthfeel is done right which, for me, is a big hurdle in truly enjoying Lagunitas’ beer. Sampled 10/24/07

This red ale poured with a modest tan head, eliciting a floral aroma. Malty and slightly sweet at the start, with a sharp hop bite at the finish.

12oz from Immy - thanks! Hmm, this one might shape up to be my favorite Lagunitas. In general I’ve found that their brews are a bit too sweet and malty for me, regardless of style, but this is a nicely crisp red, with plenty of floral hops, and just the right bite on the back end.

Pours amber with a smal eggshell head. As I expected, hops dominate the aroma. Those delicious citrusy-sweet and piney hops that must fill the brewery in Petaluma with their perfume. This one has a decent malt backing, too. This balance carries over to the flavor, making for a surprisingly drinkable hop-bomb.

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.