Lagunitas Imperial Stout

     Review Date 8/8/2007

I truly despise the month of August. Some people think that February is the worst month of the year, but I know better. It’s really August. February, at least, has Valentines Day. But what has August got for holidays? Nary a one, I tell you. Sandwiched in between July and it’s 4th and September’s Labor Day, August is a pretty much an all-work month, and really just delays football season by a further agonizing 31 days.

What's more, August isn’t really a great month to be drinking Imperial Stouts, either. Imperials, after all, are the biggest, baddest, boldest stouts going, loaded with character, flavor, body, and alcohol. Not really the stuff to cool you off during those miserable, sweltering, dog days of August. Did I tell you I really hate August?

Still, if you must drink an Imperial Stout in August, you might want to make it a Lagunitas Imperial Stout. That’s because, as Imperial Stouts go, this one is sort of like Imperial Stout Light, no matter what time of year you drink it. This came pretty much as a surprise to me, since I’ve been, on the whole, very impressed with the brews from Lagunitas.

A quick glance at the label (something I didn’t do before buying the stuff), shows the reason why: the original gravity of this brew is only 1.082, a mere pittance for an Imperial Stout, though still far higher than that of most beers. But for an Imperial I expect something higher, around 1.1 or so.

Pouring the beer into my glass, I immediately knew something was wrong. That’s because I saw light passing through the liquid. A really great Imperial Stout will be opaque, not diaphanous, so this was not a good sign. A rather thin tan head formed atop my pour, and a quick whiff revealed roasted barley and licorice.

A sip produced a disappointingly thin body. While my tongue should have been treated to a silky smooth, oily texture, I got a more watery mouthfeel instead. On the plus side, there is some roasted barley flavor to be found here, along with deep dark chocolate, espresso, and licorice. But in the finish the beer thins out again, which detracts from the overall experience. A little roasty and hop bitterness does come through, but not much alcohol, though this one is strong (but not as the style goes) at 8.2% by volume.

Overall, I find Lagunitas Imperial Stout a disappointment. Our own Mark Stevens wrote an excellent review of this beer a few years ago and had similar complaints. It’s fair to say that Lagunitas hasn’t made any improvements since. Given the quality of most of their line, I guess Lagunitas is entitled to the occasional miss. Still, it bothers me how average this one is. Beer geeks likely will not be happy with, and novices, well, novices rarely drink Imperial Stouts.

Better to stick with an Old Rasputin (which tastes like a bigger beer than it really is), Victory Storm King , or Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout instead. In fact, I wish I had one of those right now. This really must be August…..