Lagunitas Sirius Ale

Palate is smooth and thick, but more oily than creamy. Looks great, but head goes pretty fast. Aroma is really nice, but too subtle, hard to really get a full sense of. Flavor is quite delicious initally with lots of honey and a little citrus, but far from overly sweet, plus a good dash of bitter balance. Butit hits with an unpleasant bitterness at the end, and a little something

Gold color with a very thin white head. Some citrus and honey in the aroma. Flavor is rather sweet with a bit of citrusy hops at the end. Not hoppy enough to cover up an unpleasant malt liquor like sweetness for me.

Bottle. Pours clear gold with a white head. The aroma is hoppy, with sweet citric and floral notes. The flavor is well balanced and sweet hoppy, with sweet citrus fruits and floral notes. The finish is short and sweet. Much better than I expected.

Brassy with a thick, fluffy head. Fantastic perfumed mix of malt and hops. Again, the flavor is an excellent balance of crisp, PNW hops with some bite and dry bitterness on the finish, but with a well-developed maltiness. Flavorful and well-balanced throughout. Strong ABV propels the flavors to the forefront.

On tap at Toronado San Diego. Pours clear golden with a small white head and modest carbonation. The aroma is sweet vanilla bean, coriander and toffee malts. Flavor leans a bit too sweet for me and has a cloying finish with average bitterness.

On tap at The Galway Tribes (Frankfort, IL). Poured a decent enough amber hue with a decent white head. Aromas are mediocre, fairly hoppy and very reminiscent of an APA. Taste is similar, a lot of hoppiness up front mixed with some decent malt profile that seemed caramel and biscuity, but overtaken by the hoppy bitterness for sure. Over glorified APA with a stronger alcohol content. Finishes well enough, but nothing special. Mediocre.

2008-09-12. Lightly hazy orange amber body with a smallish off white head. (3+) Aroma is mild, light hops and malt. (6+) Flavour has a pleasant malt base, caramel with just a touch of toasty malt, moderate sugars and alcohol in the finish. Pleasant hoppy bitterness makes variable appearances at different tomes and lends a slight feeling of hotness to the alcohol as the glass warms up. (7+) Average plus palate. (3+) Threatens to let the alcohol get a touch too strong at times, but I quite like something about it. Bottle was a few months old but has not seemed to suffer from it. Bottle from Mabel’s Florida Trip

Has a nice orange coppery color, but not much head. Smells strongly of tangerine with some grassy hop bitterness in there as well. Flavor is citrusy again, and more bitter this time. Pleasant creamy mouthfeel. Medium-full bodied. This is not particularly complex or anything, but it has lots of flavor, and I simply love it. To me, it is a double IPA, but I can see why it got lumped together with American strong ales. It’s unique. And I like that.