Lagunitas Brown Shugga at Kite & Key

With the ongoing expansion of their brewery last year, Lagunitas wasn't able to brew Brown Shugga. Since it's a 10% barleywine, it just took up too much space in their limited number of fermenters for too long for them to be able to afford it. However, the expansion is finished now so it made its triumphant return this year!

Grapefruit hoppy nose. Body followed, sort of, with the grapefruit hoppiness starting things off. Quickly following was a big brown sugar sweetness and that's where this becomes kind of different than other american barleywines. The finish was sort of a mix of the two with sweetness and bitterness playing next to each other. At first they don't mix well and it was a little odd, but as you drink more and the hops faded into the background, the sweetness came to the front. It's a pretty interesting barleywine, that's for sure, and worth trying. It can be a bit polarizing as some think it's too sweet, but I thought it was pretty tasty.

Lagunitas Lucky 13 at Kite & Key

Took my usual Tuesday visit to Kite & Key and picked out Lagunitas Lucky 13, an American Strong Ale.

Really nice grapefruit sweet nose, no real bitterness at all. Thick body. Began with a really pleasant grapefruit and light bitterness and ended with a decent amount of caramel sweetness. The play between the malt and the grapefruit hops was really great in this one. Never got too dry or too sweet and was just tasty.

On a separate note, I found out that my Tuesday at Kite & Key is going to become Monday at Kite & Key. My favorite bartender, Jacqueline (probably spelled her name wrong but it's close enough for science), has changed her shifts to Monday so I will to. Not like the day really matters.

Lagunitas Imperial Stout

The other stout I drank over the weekend was a Lagunitas Imperial Stout. Not a terribly original name for a beer but at least you know what to expect. Apparently I bought it back in 2010 at some point so it was probably around a year to a year and a half old. Not sure how aging changed the flavors that much without having a fresh sample on hand though.

Interesting nose. Sweet with hints of chocolate and then almost a salty or soy sauce like flavor. It sounds gross, but somehow it worked with the sweetness. Thick body which was nice. Not as thick as BA Boris from yesterday, but close enough. I like a nice, viscous imperial stout as it gives it a nice mouthfeel and makes it more interesting to drink. On first sip, I found some chocolate, roast and then caramel and malt. The salty flavor from the nose was present but blended into the whole and was eventually subsumed by the maltiness. Didn't change much as it warmed up other than the saltiness mostly going away. Pretty unique stout with a different flavor profile than most which made for a nice change of pace.

Blue Dog Wealth of Riches

Sometimes I think I may have issues with my obsession getting the better of me, but then I just shrug and get over it. This past Saturday was definitely one of those times when I decided to head out to Chalfont, PA to go to the Blue Dog tavern. First, if Google maps is telling you it's going to take two hours by public transportation, it's probably right. Second, if you are going to the suburbs and Google maps says you need to walk a mile from the train station, there probably aren't going to be sidewalks and so people are going to look at you like you're a psycho when you're walking down the side of a road on the shoulder. Oh and some of the sidewalks do this.

Lagunitas IPA

The latest IPA I tried was a Lagunitas IPA.

Grapefruit nose with no bitterness and a few caramel notes.  First impression is citrus and grapefruit.  A little bitterness appears but just a tiny bit, nothing major.  While there wasn't any sweetness to be found, the bitterness being low means it wasn't a problem for me. The citrus notes were really enjoyable.  Another very drinkable beer from Lagunitas.

Philly Beer Geek Contest at Time Restaurant

As I said in my previous post, my loss in the Philly Beer Geek contest by one point at the POPE led me to try again on Wednesday at Time Restaurant.  It was being held at 6pm and Time is pretty close to my office so I figured why not give it one more try.  I arrived around 5:45 and was the first person to express interest.  I met the General Manager, Terry, and a couple of the bartenders and they were all incredibly nice.  This time the contest was being run by Terry so it was a little less formal than Monday.  It turned out he had just found out about the whole Philly Beer Geek thing, thought it would be a good way to bring some people to the bar, and so only signed up a couple weeks ago or so.  And, hey, it got me to the bar so he sort of succeeded, I guess.  I just have to go win it for him and then he'll get some press.  At about 6:30 he managed to get a couple more people into the bar for the contest and we got started a few minutes later with about 4 or 5 of us participating.

San Francisco - Lagunitas

On the third day of our "totally not a beer trip" trip we went to our third brew pub, Lagunitas.  This one is in Petaluma, CA halfway between Moylan's and Russian River and also right off 101.  Very convenient place although it's located in what seemed to be an office park.  Lucky offices.  The sign is easy to miss as it's small, but we managed to find it.  As you walk in there are tables outside and then a tented area in front of you.

Beer Tasting 2

I held another get together for a few people this past Friday.  This is the second time I've done this with the first in October.  They each brought a couple bottles of beer they wanted to try and I supplied some pizza and banana brownies.  Some bought based on the labels (one bought his bottles because there were dogs on the label) and others (me) bought because there were some beers they wanted to try but never get around to picking up.  Either way, we ended up with another fun lineup.

From left to right, we have: Why I Oughta IPA (Pete G's Double Black IPA), Ballast Point Victory at Sea, Troegs Flying Mouflan, Uintas Labyrinth, Terrapin Big Daddy Vlady's, and Cigar City Bolita.

The start of vacation beers!

Wednesday night, I opened a bottle of Founders Imperial Stout that was bottled in 2009.

Poured with no head but it still had a little carbonation.  Mild coffee smell.  First sip had some pleasant roasted notes with some coffee notes.  A little bitterness and some slight fruitiness are found, but they quickly disappear.  Nice thick mouthfeel on it.  Considering it's 10%, the alcohol is really well hidden.  Enjoyable Imperial Stout and another good one from Founders, a brewery out of Michigan.  Their more well known stouts are Breakfast Stout or Kentucky Breakfast Stout, but this one compares positively especially if you aren't looking for a mouth full of coffee.

Beer Tasting

I had some friends over on Friday night for a beer tasting.  I got 3 bottles for it and everyone else brought 1 or 2 big bottles (except 1 guy who brought 4, 2 commercial and 2 homebrew.)  I thought it would be a fun way for all of us to try things we either don't usually drink or can't drink alone because the bottle is too strong.  I've had a bottle in my fridge for 2+ months because of that issue.  I took some notes and tried to get pictures of all of them but missed 2.

By the end, we finished 12 bottles.  I'll go through the first six and then the last six just to split up the post a bit.