Lagunitas Lucky #13

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

22 oz bottle. Rosy tinted clear brown with light beige froth. Nose is red currants, caramel and a touch of yellow raisin. Medium light with zingy carb. Taste is grenadine, caramel, red licorice and spruce. Sweet and tasty.

22 oz. bottle poured into a trappist glass has a caramel red amber color with an initial off white head that fell quickly to a thin coating. aroma has sweet malt, light flowers, and underlying hops. when the bottle first opened it seemed there was more hops to it but then they faded. mouth feel is medium with lower end carbonation. flavor is bold on the malts, caramel, thick and chewy. hops are there trying to poke through but just get pushed aside by the malt. biting bitterness comes through and it finishes drying with an odd lingering flavor.

Aroma of those west coast hops, with some fine underlying malt too, copper, small tan head. Flavour is a hit of orange/pine, quite malty, to my liking, medium bodied, tangy, full bitterness. Very good.

Big floral hop aroma, slight note of caramel malt. Mouthfeel is more... fluffy. Not sharp and rich, or chewy and viscous, it feels really smooth. I must say, its just plain odd. The flavor is pretty balanced between the malt and the hops, but I really cant get past the odd palate. Towards the end the crispness comes out a little, and dries out the tongue a little.

I have a major dilemma with this beer. I’m not a big fan of reds, but I’m a hop-head. This beer has an equally strong flavor from both of those areas. It pours a nice amber color with a thick off-white head. The head stays for a couple minutes and it leaves a lot of sticky lacing behind in the glass. The funny thing is that a lot of reviews point out the hops. I smell the malts, first. It’s a turn-off. Give it a good swirl and I smell more of the hops. The hops are there, but are overpowered by the malt. The taste is slightly different. The first thing I taste is the caramel from the malt. This isn’t my favorite thing. However, after the malt comes a nice little kick from the sweet hops. This is a nice hop flavor that takes over for me, leaving a good taste in my mouth. It seems like the good (hops) is overpowering the bad (malt) in the taste category. Overall, it isn’t bad. I cringe a little at first, because the taste of a red, especially one this bold, isn’t my favorite. But then the hops come in and make everything better. Lagunitas has balanced these two flavors well, making a beer that is drinkable.

22oz - Aroma of crystal and caramel malts with a hop resin back. Pours transparent garnet with a medium head and good lacing. Flavor matches aroma. Palate is sticky. Tasty brew.

Thick dense head. It makes the most beautiful patterns in the tulip. It’s like rings in a tree. Sweet floral aroma, in front of a dark fruit booze scent. Really good nose. Malty. Deep orange red brown color. Way tasty, full body with tons of flavor. Big and smooth and mellow in the front. Almost a saltiness. Bitter fruit flavors jump up. Then goes creamy and malty. Even better than I remembered. Definitely have to find a few more of these.

Full of taste, bold, and hoppy as hell. Carmel color pour with lots of hop aroma. Thick off white head and excellent lacing in the glass. The bottle identifies this as a Red hopped ale but this is a dark Imperial IPA in my book. Citrus aroma and hit upon first draw - still some caramelized grain and hop hit - the alcohol is there on the finish but does not burn --- very smooth. Second and third draw just makes the mouth water for yet more and it gets better every time. One of my favorite ales right now - nice malty/hop balance. Insane - get this ale!!