I was at The Whip In a few weeks ago getting stocked up on Doppelbocks for January’s edition of The Session, and saw what appeared to be a very interesting new brew from Lagunitas. My instincts were spot on. Also on the heels of my own recent coffee beer brewing experiment, a coffee porter, I was feeling it.
Pours the color of motor oil, with a creamy tan head. The aroma is exactly what you’d expect. Roasted malts and espresso, all day long. The taste is the same, with a couple more layers. There are nice chocolate notes behind the bitterness of coffee, and layers of citrus and floral hops behind that. I’m sure it took every bit of restraint for these hopheads to keep the IBU’s lower than most of their brews, but it’s still there in a very balanced fashion.
In the mouth this beer has a creaminess that you’d expect from a cappuccino and light carbonation. I’m barely aware of the 8% at all. I could kill an entire afternoon sipping this on the patio.
The crowds over at Beer Advocate weren’t quite as supportive of this one as I am, giving it a solid B. I would give it an A- for sure. I love the balance of rich, roasted coffee, toasted malts and West Coast hops. There’s a nice smokiness that really brings the essence of coffee and beer together as one.
As an interesting sidenote, the beer porn above was taken on my back patio on one of these lovely 72 degree December afternoons we’ve had in Austin. On Christmas eve, we noticed a new resident on our patio, I call him Chuck the Christmas Owl.
