Lagunitas The Hairy Eyeball Ale

Light black forest cake and cherry aroma, smelled a little winey, quickly disappearing head, a slight sweet cake taste with a touch of molasses and cherry skin, hop bitterness and alcohol become evident in finish,a little confusing,not sure what they were going for

Thin dense foamy head. Reduces slowly with light carbonation. Rich aroma with dark fruit, caramel, chocolate covered cherries and a bit of roastyness. Quite the nice aroma. Color is a very nice port red. Roasty and sweet flavor. More cherries, roasted malts, molasses and a very dry and slightly bitter finish. The more subtle flavors are overpowered by the roastyness. Nice alcohol presence and warming. Flavors do not meld very well. FInish is dry and a little pasty. A decent brew but not one of the better american strongs.

I’m wanting to say that this brew is a bit on the bland side...but I’m guessing that the sharp alcohol is deadening my taste. The finish is a tad too bitter for the malty mid-stretch. (Maybe a little time downstairs will mellow both the alcohol bite and bitterness?) At this point, not very complex, bet pleasantly warming--and invigoratingly sharp. A stunning mahogany color. (2/07, home, 12oz)

Dark, almost porter-like, minimal head. Malty aroma and taste with just enough bitterness to balance. Almost like a wee-heavy with some hops. I’m not enjoying this as much as some of their others brews. Very smooth for its size, but just not super-interesting.

12oz bottle @ Coles Buffalo NY. Poured into 12oz goblet. Appeared rather flat with no carbonation &1mm head & no retention. Sweet malty aroma that sort of misleads. Fruity taste with malt backbone. good but something is holding me back.?.?

Another good looking arrival into Georgia from this successful brewer from California, I picked up my Hairy Eyeball in a six pack of 12 oz. bottles. As I poured the first of these into a pint glass, the beer looked rather unassuming. The body was clear, and mahogany brown; the head was small and short lived; and the lacing was sparse at best. The smell was much more enticing than the looks, as I detected honey, orange marmalade, and strawberries. There was also a noticeable spiciness from the hops as well a whiff of alcohol. The taste was even better than I had anticipated from the smell. I was expecting a sweet malt bomb; however this beer was actually quite well attenuated and balanced. There was sweetness there of course, showing up as apricots, toffee, and brown sugar, but the herbal bitter hops were quite bracing, and the overall the taste was more dry than sweet. The mouthfeel was a bit abrasive, but with some age, I think this would round out for the better. It was quite similar to the Brown Shugga, but not quite as hard hitting, which made it a much more approachable beer IMHO.

Draught at Brazen Head. Dark copper/brown with tan head. Aroma of molasses and dark dried fruit (prune, raisin). Flavor of dark but not too sweet malt--brown sugar, toffee--with a woody/barky character coming through underneath. Tastes almost like a barleywine, but with a little less sweetness. Full bodied and relatively smooth, very little carbonation. Overall a nice winter warmer.

12oz. bottle. Clear mahogany color with a small beige head. Sweet malty aroma with lots of caramel and some molasses. Flavor was lightly sweet, but was expecting much sweeter due to the aroma. Turns a bit bitter, with the hops that I couldn’t detect in the nose making themselves known. A bit of cardboard on the finish. Where is that lovely caramel I was so expecting? Aroma had me expecting better things, but not bad at all.