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."

Dave's BrewFarm Kotura

Dave's BrewFarm Kotura. No word on the name, most probably a Japanese wind. 8.5% ABV. What else? "Five different malts come together with classic Weizen yeast--chocolate, caramel, and toffee flavors with a healthy ABV makes for a nice dessert beer."

Utter blackness, under a slim, tanned head.

Sweet aromatics, with caramel, toffee, the like..

.creamy, sweet luscious, lovely. AH…

Taste…rich malt, full of chocolate and toffee, caramel, all that. Hops are minimal, sweetness is high, but not overpowering. Unless you need to steer clear of that sort of thing. This is strictly labeled as a dessert beer, so don't ask for a refund if you yearn for something drier. 

Very rich malty flavor, like a liquid candy bar, and ever-so tasty. There are some hops adding buttering balance, nicely dancing on the tongue at the start of the taste, with the tasty malt mix rising up and fandango-ing into the flavor of it all.

In the end it's a dry sweetness, and an excellent balance. Beautiful beer. So very nice. 

August Schell Firebrick lager

The Schell's sample pack keeps on giving. And I keep on looking back on old reviews for them. Some, like Oktoberfest, I had to hold off, and try to give it another try. My old review was not kind to it, and it deserves better now. But I think the Firebrick has retained it's character, over the years.  April, 2003, was when I made these notes:


Color is a clear orangey, head is a thick, fluffy white.

Aroma is sweet and fresh, with touches of citrus,sea air, and a whiff of caramel, maybe. Palate is smooooth, with a trifly, tumbling texture for the tongue to play over. Very tasty, and sweet, and the malt's really pulling it's weight.

Very rich and satisfying, and not as thin in body like others of a similar style. If I can name names, I'd be happy if this one was the default beer everywhere on earth, like Samuel Adams is. It has a firmer body, and is malty, hoppy, malty, hoppy, a beautiful tango, back and forth, the two keeping pace with one another and surprise and delight the palate.
Again, a great lager.

"All malt Vienna Style Lager" What, are they sneaking something else into their other beers? Do I have to keep an eye on those guys in New Ulm?
Nonetheless, Firebrick's a winner.