Lagunitas Brown Shugga

     Review Date 6/29/2007

Brown Shugga, How Come You Taste So Good? I have to admit that I didn’t make that up. No, it’s actually printed right on the label of Lagunitas Brown Shugga, a barleywine-style ale made with the addition of brown sugar. And of course the name of the beer is an allusion to the famous Rolling Stones song of the same title, itself more than full with its share of allusions.

Brown Shugga is a limited release (“sweet release” as the brewery calls it) seasonal brew that makes its debut each October. I have only seen it in 22-ounce bomber bottles, but it is also available in six-packs as well from what I hear. Being as immense a beer as it is, you can and actually should sock a few bottles away, as this one will age well over time.

I stored a few bottles of the 2006 release myself, and have just popped one in late June of 2007. The beer seems not much different that it did when young, though there seems to be just a bit less hop aroma now. But just a bit less.

Lagunitas Brown Shugga pours to a deep coppery color with a light wispy head formation and a very enticing bready malt nose. I decanted some of my bomber bottle into a wide mouthed Belgian beer glass to allow it to assume room temperature a bit quicker, and so that the aroma of the beer can rise unhindered.

A sip reveals more of that wonderfully fresh, bready malt character along with some rich chewy caramel notes, rum and raisin, and molasses. Initially there is some sweetness. The brown sugar addition doesn’t really add all that much other than raising the gravity and increasing the amount of fermentables, though, at least to me.

Some have described this beer as overly sweet, but I think that’s imagined, as the big grassy-minty hop bitterness, which emerges shortly after sipping and builds into a long, lingering dry crescendo in the finish, balances out any sweetness here. The warming alcohol is very apparent in the finish, too: this beer weighs in at 9.9% alcohol by volume.

The bitterness here seems a bit more than the 51.1 IBUs that Lagunitas claims the beer has, especially given the whopping 1.1 original gravity. Still, it’s there, even after about eight months of age. To my mind not as complex as a Bigfoot or an Old Crustacean , but in it's own way just as delightful. And at just $3.49 for a 22-ounce bomber, this is a great deal. Four and a half stars, though for the money and for Epinions I'll round up to five.

I love it just before dinner as an aperitif, or following a hearty repast as a digestif. It’s also a great nightcap just before bed, perhaps best enjoyed with a really good book, maybe even one about beer.