Lagunitas Imperial Red

Bottled. Amber coloured.Unclear. Dense light brown head. Sweetness, flowers, pine, light fruits, light caramel and grass in the aroma. Flavour of caramel, cocoa, liqourice, pine, flowers, light roast and grass. Quite intense. Medium to full bodied. Dry. Heavy bitter end.

THOUGHTS: Big surprise… another American strong ale from Lagunitas. But this one smelled an awful lot like a barley wine, but it didn’t really taste like one. Hid alcohol well. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a medium to dark orangey red with a small, off-white head that mostly diminished and left good lacing. The aroma was moderate caramel malt, and candy, moderate heavy pine, resin and citrus hops, brown sugar, slight alcohol,, slight Band-aid, a little apple, a little raisin, that barley wine smell and slight milk chocolate when warmer. The initial flavor was sweet, a little acidic and lightly bitter; while the finish was sweet and more bitter. There was caramel, alcohol, cherry, citrus hops, a little less pine hops, candy, resin, a little rubber and orange. The medium to full body was a little syrupy and very sticky on the lips with very tingly carbonation and a metallic, lightly astringent and lightly alcoholic finish.

Holly hoperrific Bat Man!!!! I’ll get back to the hops in a bit but first what the beer looked like. The beer pours a copper / red, it actually is the same color as cheery wood, the quarter inch of tan head lasted the entire beer and left some pretty impressive lacing but I can’t explain it the body of the beer some how looks cheap kind of like a girl you see at the bar looks good from far but far from good, can’t explain why. Hops, hops, hops that’s all I’m going to and all I can say about the aroma. The beer is very thick and creamy feeling in my mouth but leaves it very dry after the beer has disappeared down my throat. Hops is what I taste and pretty much hops is all I taste, there is a good malt flavor hidden under the intense hops, and what I believe is caramel at the back of my throat and the high alcohol content could not be detected. The beer starts off sweet for the first couple of seconds and then turns bitter directly after the swallow. Wow this was way hopier then I ever imagined it would be, but I enjoyed drinking this beer but don’t think I could handle more then one in a evening. P.S. This beer might have some hops in the recipe.

Brownish red and crystal clear with an average beige head (albiet on a rough pour) that has some decent retentsion but no lacing - slides right back down. Aroma, well, some hops and by some I mean mega hops. Tons of hops. Spicy, floral, strong hops. I also detected some ripe tropical fruit. One dimensional flavour: hops. Massive spice and a strong bitterness. No shortage of flavour, except it’s all hops...anything else present gets crushed. Beer came across suprisingly smooth and then it explodes the throat with tons of spice leaving a really heavy bitter aftertaste. Tingled the roof of my mouth. Decent body. Not sure if I want this again.

Pours redder than a fat chick’s menstruation. Deep in color, and capped off with a great head and fair lacing. Rich with sweet malt, but perfectly balanced with some bitter and citrus-infested hops. Alcohol is hidden extremely well, which is probably why my first time drinking it resulted in mexican food at 2am and a great night’s sleep on the bathroom floor.

Bottle. Pours clear amber with a one finger beige head that results in spotty lacing. The nose is sweet malt and ripe citrus. The taste is caramel, ripe dark fruits and tart grapefruit in the finish. Nice creamy mouthfeel. Good brew.

On tap @ Reggie’s. Interesting brew that redeemed Lagunitas for me after the Gnarly Wine fiasco. Ar: Lovely floral profile reminiscent of FFF brews. Candied sugar and best of all, cardamom. Ap: Copper/Golden amber color, small ivory head w/ some residual starfish lacing. Fl: Not quite as intense as the aroma, but should be a good session beer despite the abv being marginally on the higher side. Caramel malt, fruity hop tones, cotton candy and some residual sweetness that i couldn’t quite identify. Metallic aftertaste is a bit of a letdown. Finishes dry and refreshing.

notes from 4/8/09 pours copper red with a 2 finger head that left good lacing. smell is piney with strong sweet malts. taste is candy carmel malts and pine hops. a medium body with good carbonation. overall this is just too damn sweet for me.