Lagunitas Brown Shugga'

Lagunitas Brown Shugga' Ale,  Sweet Release, Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, California.

Appearance: bright amber coloring, with a big, lasting off-white head.

Aroma: Sweetness first, with hops laying low here, nice and malty.

Taste: Now we're getting started. Begins plump and powerful, a rich, caramel-toned malt explosion. There's a sharp edge to it, revealing a higher alcohol level. Is it merely 9.9%, is that all it is? I'm getting the brown sugar, but it's more toffee and rich, dark fruit notes, a little bit of hop bite shining through. Tasty, tasty ale, this one.

This is, as they say on the label, a unique ale, not really fitting any style or category, a thing unto itself. And I like it.

I first wrote about this beer in January of 2006. Looking back on those old notes, they seem like they were written by an idiot man-child. I will soon destroy them and erase them from the memories of all mankind. For now, I will fade back and luxuriate in the deliciousness.

"We believe this special ale is Something Unique. Feeding brown cane sugar to otherwise cultured brewery yeast is a kin to feeding raw shark to your gerbil. It is unlikely to ever occur in nature without human intervention. And it looks weird besides. But it has happened and now it''s too late."