The beer is an unexpected dark brown with a heavy red tint. The sticky foam on top settles to a patchy mass across the top with an exaggerated rim around the glass. The aroma is very faint - unexpectedly so. The little bit I can smell is floral and what really smells like heavy liquor. It's so hard to smell at all, that I could be entirely mistaken.First sip is much more muted than any of the Lagunitas ales I've ever had before. It's almost malty enough to be a lager. It has a strange overarching taste that makes it taste almost like a barleywine (not that it would be mistaken for one). I hardly taste any hops at all, and that is very unlike a Lagunitas ale, that's for damn sure.
I'm going to try a full swig to see what it will bring me.
Tip-in gives a light floral taste that brings a bit of carbonation burn to the tongue, but it gives way to the middle pretty quickly. The middle is unexpectedly malty. It's a sweet malt with a sour finish. The finish hits with an increased sourness and a kind of toffee sweetness that rounds out with a stronger taste of sour malt.
Bottom Line: All told, this isn't the greatest Lagunitas, but they set their own bar pretty high. This beer is not bad, but it lacks the sharpness that I had been looking for. Maybe after I finish the bottle, I will feel differently, but this is just better than average.
3.0/5
