Lagunitas Brewing Co.
Petaluma, CA
Available: AK, AZ, CA, CT, CO, FL, GA, ID, IL, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NY , NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, VA, WA, DC, WI, WY, CANADA
Lagunitas Brewing Company is emerging as a battle-tested brewery capable of making great beer out of goat’s milk, brambles, and asphalt on the surface of the Moon, if need be.
ABV: 10.14
ABW: 8.07
Color: Dark Brown/Black
Bitterness: 72.45
Original gravity: 1092
Dank, burnt and a bit smoky; deep nose, almost a bit peaty, but with some fruity bits hiding in the back. The beer floods into the mouth, an overdone carbonation foaming across the tongue―it’s sweet and darkly roasted, with a hammer of bitterness coming down at the end. This is not crushingly bitter, nor hugely sweet: a balanced imperial stout, and quite warming at the end. Desserts and cigars are obvious, but Westphalian ham on pumpernickel with hot honey mustard would be fantastic.
There seems to be two schools of imperial stout in America today: the soft-spoken, fist-in-a-velvet-glove kind and the oily, roasty, in-your-face style. This is definitely in the former camp, with a sweetly plummy, barely roasty, port wine-ish nose and gentle, chocolate cake body with accents provided by raisin, cinnamon and roasted sugar cane. A sweet mocha finish completes the picture. Forget pairing this gentle giant with dessert, it is dessert.
Lew Bryson writes about beer and whiskey from his home in southeast Pennsylvania. He has a family and two dogs. That's all you need to know.
Once described as “beerdom's Brillat-Savarin,” Stephen Beaumont is the author of five books and countless articles on beer, spirits, food, travel, and how it all goes together.
Just purchased a bomber of it, but have not tried yet.The gold standard for me with stouts is Brooklyn Black Chocolate; Jewbilation is the only one I have rated better, mainly because of higher ABV.Still trying to differentiate between an Imperial stout and a Russian Imperial stout. May not be much , if any,difference.Comments appreciated.