Lagunitas Imperial Red

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

On draft, nice dark reddish brown. Not that much head from bartenders pour, but little head did retain. Aroma is nice and balanced and gets better as it warms. Mild scent of sweet hops. Nice hoppy flavor with some bitterness lingering. Onto Storm king, ready go.

Bottle from Kegs & Barrels in Plano, TX. Pours a clear deep amber/red with nice beige head. Aroma is filled with hoppy citrus, very aromatic. Flavor pine, a little sweetness, very light caramel, malty, nice clean bitter. Mouth feel is medium body with high carbonation. Overall, this beer has some liveliness to it, I very much enjoyed and would recommend.

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.

Bottle. Nice red color with copper hues, little bit of a loose white head. Decent floral profile with a very light grapefruit component. Hoppiness is a tad muddled as opposed to the clean aroma. But it’s still a very refreshing hoppy brew and one I’d come back to.

NW hops on the nose, piney and citrusy, caramel malts hidden in there too. Pours a dark red/amber with a dense white head. Very hoppy, not that balanced up front, there is a malty sweetness in there, and i get some good malt flavor on the back end. Its an IPA thats red. Still very tasty.

12 oz bottle from Oak Tree Buy Rite. Poured a crystal clear deep reddish/amber with a large dense frothy slightly off white head. Initial aroma is pure piney hops like an Imperial IPA, as it warms some other aromas start to creep in and I’m not sure that is a good thing. Something that reminds me of fresh cut pineapple on a plastic cutting board is there, uhm.....yeahn I know weird description but hey screw u this is my rating. Mouthfeel is medium with lively carbonation. Flavor is hop on, yeah I know it’s not an Imperial IPA but man is this hoppy. It’s hard to explain but when the maltiness kicks in it’s a different malt flavor then your typical IIPA so thats what sets this apart and makes it an IRA, hmm.....Imperial Red Ale (IRA) interesting.

Lots of sweet fruity malt in the aroma but much more balance in the taste. A bold beer! Flavor has hints of an IPA with potent hops and pine flavors. But there are also plenty of malts with caramel and fruit. Feel is silky smooth. Lots of warming alcohol and a unique dark fruit bitterness. This is anything but subtle and is quite delicious.

Dark amber pour with a nice creamy white head and thick lacing. Aroma is smooth and well developed hops and carmel malts. Very nicely done. This is how I think of an imperial amber.