Lagunitas The Hairy Eyeball Ale

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Appearance: brilliant polished mahoganies and garnets. Coppery pithy head leaves lace and lingers as a thin film. Swirls lovely with lace, puff, and a solid collar.
Nose: candied white sugar, caramelized brown sugar. Hint of maraschino, fresh black cherries. Rustic woodiness permeates – earth, root, and bark. Plums. Spicy sweet heat in the back; stewed apple cores and apple skins with cinnamon and nutmeg. Toffee. Granny smith apples come and go. Spiced raisins.
Palate: clean medium weight that coast and dries at the same time. Sweet, dry, spiced, fruity, and woody all at the same time. Apple and plum skins, cinnamon sticks, bark, red apple flesh than dry tannic bitterness of skins. Black cherries canned in water for natural juicy sweetness. Juicy succulent black raisins in the middle. Amazing melding of flavors albeit smidge less complex than nose. Quick kick of granny smith tartness in last bit of swallow, then gone.
Final Thoughts: another tastebud pleaser from Lagunitas out of California. While not all their beers are hits, I am discovering more hits than misses these days and I like it. Yum.

Deep amber brown, minimal head. Aroma is sweet sugary malt, molasses, caramel, and a whiff of hot alcohol. Flavor is very sweet, a little bit of hop bitterness, but not enough to counter the cloying sweetness. It’s a little smoky and oaky, on the nose and the palate. Could be classified as a scottish ale. Palate is very heavy and viscous, and this along with the high ABV and sweetness makes this anything but refreshing. Out of balance, cloying, and boring. Lagunitas really likes to over malt all their beers, even their hop bombs are terribly sweet.

Smells like sticky, coagulated molasses. Taste like a slop of oats, brown sugar, and plantains. With that said, there is still a underlying medicinal flavor that plays bumper cars against your ability to fully enjoy the brew. A decent diversion from worse beers, but this isn’t the excalibur of ales or anything, so don’t get your hopes up. Expect moderate flavor with a tinge of disappointment.

12oz bottle shared with the guys at The Bayou
Appearance: Clear copper with a small off-white head and light spotty lacing
Aroma: Sweet Caramel, sugar and nutty
Taste: Sweet caramel, nutty with a bitter finish
Nice, but very sweet

12 ounce bottle at the Bayou. Pours a red/brown color with a medium off-white head. The aroma is caramel and sugary sweet malts. The flavor is similar; unbalanced sweetness with caramel and sugary flavors, some light fruitiness. Still, pretty nice.

A clear, mahogany pour with a tan head. The aroma is sweet with notes of caramel, a little sugar, and some lighter fruit. The full body has a thick and creamy texture with soft carbonation. The taste mildly sweet in the beginning, but the finish is bitter and leaves a slight salty taste.

Impressively robust dark brown color with a towering cream head and excellent lacing. The looks could kill and the aroma is just as alluring. A caramel and cocoa hint to the rich wheat smell. This is followed by cherry and the slightest hops to bring some balance to the malt leaning look and smell. The taste is a heavy malt which is very sweet and reminds me of black cherry. This sweetness attempts to cover the hot alcohol taste but doesn’t totally succeed which is good. This feels like a barleywine style. There is some hops to keep the sanity to this beer and its appreciated. Drink this beer slow because it takes some time to adjust to the taste and strength and it grows better each sip.

A very nice rendition of a strong ale. Tasty and refreshing. Caramel, roasty and light coffee.

(bottle) Malt and hop balance with pronounced alcohol. A decent winter warmer, but not on the top for this style. Worth trying.

Wasn’t expecting a 9.0 I bought it looking at ale. Good overall beer though very impressed