December 7 - Lagunitas Brown Shugga Sweet Release


Oh Lagunitas, it's been a while, hasn't it?! I tried their Lagunitas Sucks Brown Shugga Substitute, which was brought in to temporarily be an alternative to the Brown Shugga as they had capacity problems due to construction at the brewery.

Appearance: Brown Shugga pours a clear honey-red with minimal carbonation, beige head that sticks to the side of the glass and for 9.9% ABV.. don't judge a book by its cover!

Aroma: Brown Shugga for the win! A bit of brown sugar to start it off, a nice balance of bitter hops to give it a light pine scent to it and that's all really I'm noticing. Sweet. Hoppy. Not that bitter for most part, mostly floral.

Taste: The Brown Shugga makes its appearance again in the flavour.. well that's like calling a Pumpkin Ale a Pumpkin Ale when it doesn't contain any pumpkin in the first place, it's all about the shugga yo! Ahem.. A caramel sweetness from the malt, lightly roasted and earthy which leaves a bit of a roasty aftertaste on the palate, a somewhat syrupy mouthfeel and oh.. the hops, decently bittered, doesn't leave much of an aftertaste, mostly floral and disappear in the mouth pretty gently. The more I drink it, the more I'm starting to warm up, and I'm getting more of a syrupy aftertaste (a la Cola) now.

Overall Thoughts: Just by looking at it, you wouldn't think it'd be 9.9%, but it is! A great sweet and florally hopped ale by the folks over at Lagunitas. I still have another one of their beers to try.. but not sure when I'll get around to do it.

lagunitas.com/beers/brown-shugga/


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