1001 Beers: Brown Shugga

Beer Number 60: Lagunitas Brown Shugga

Lagunitas founder Tony Magee describes Brown Shugga as a "strange and irresponsible beer." This seasonal ale was born as a result of a series of mishaps on the night shift back in 1996. "I got a call at home from the brewer, telling me that the original gravity of Gnarleywine he was brewing was too low. I had miscalculated the recipe." This is a test of the skill and creativity of a brewmaster. "I told him to go to every grocery store in Petaluma and buy all the brown sugar that he could find and stick it into the kettle until he got the beer to the right strength. On Monday morning, I came into the brewhouse early and there were about 200 boxes of C and H Brown Sugar scattered on the floor." Progress was dicey in the fermenter, but after some weeks, a beautiful creature emerged from the aging tanks.

An interesting story about this brew. I heard a few other interesting stories while at the brewery about other beers in their line up. But I suggest you go on the tour to figure those ones out. I had a great time there and I cannot wait to do it again. It is great having family in the city, wouldn't you agree?



This beer checked in at 9.9% and it is an interesting one for sure. The head on this one was essentially copper on top of a body of the same. A very malty brew, surprising given that usually added sugar to your beer thins things out. I guess the malt behind it was already up there... then again, apparently they were brewing Gnarlywine... A bit boozy and a very sweet initial bite. I feel you could pick out the molasses quite a bit. Tasty brew. Just wish I could pick out the Frank Zappa reference.

By the way, if you know your Frank Zappa, you may have figured out that the quick-thinking salvage job that created this beer holds a secret message: Necessity really is the Mother of Invention.

941 Bottles Of Beer To Go!

Cheers!

Shiner Tasting

One thing I figured I should do before leaving Texas was to get out to the Spoetzl brewery. The brewers of the beer, Shiner Bock. I had rough plans to get out and visit the brewery while checking out a baseball game and etc etc etc. Well, those plans fell through. Not for any reason specifically but yeah. Well one of my favorite craft beer spots out here, The Friendly Spot, actually had their whole line up in bottles one night. I figured that drinking there would be just as good as visiting the brewery. I love the environment, the people, and I didn’t have to travel way the hell out of my way to do it.



When I got to The Friendly Spot I looked around at what they had that was new or something I could not resist and guess what I found… HOPTIMUM!!! I have been wanting this one so bad. I could not let it go. But anyway, I had to get the night of Shiner drinking going after this.



I started the night by ordering a Dortmunder Spring Ale, Shiner Blonde, and a Wild Hare. I have had the Wild Hare before but I just thought it would be a decent palate cleanser before moving on…

Dortmunder… Well, It had a decent golden hue and was pretty clean. It was really sweet and floral and had a light carbonation… I guess I can see how this one was meant to be a spring ale but overall I was not a fan of it. The Blonde had a hazy straw colored appearance and a butterscotch nose. The blonde was surprisingly earthy and had a light mouthfeel… again, this made me wonder about this brewery. I moved on to the Wild Hare. Which is just a solid beer. Nothing special but not bad. I have had the Shiner Bock before and the Shiner Black. The only ones that were left for me to try were The Hefe and Blonde Light… I decided to say screw it and got into beers I knew I would appreciate. The night ended up being big… bigger than I would have first thought to believe. I had a Lagunitas Censored, a Leinenkugels Summer Shandy, Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard, 512 IPA, and… Dogfish Head Black & Blue.



I have been looking for Black & Blue for quite some time now. Totally exceeded my expectations. Everything about this beer is just simply amazing. The aroma, the flavor, the mouthfeel. It was just everything that I call classic DFH but in a good way and not the usual they are only doing it because they can. This is for sure one I am going to be coming back to time and time again. I hope I can find some bottles of it in store.

Cheers!

Drink What You Damn Well Please Day

WOOT! West Coast Circle Jerk! I mean, wait... The first International IPA Day or something like that. My original intention were not to drink a single IPA today but I guess my plans totally messed this one up. I planned to head to a brewery today... Bear Republic.



The one thing that makes me mad about my visit here is I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF MY AMAZING HAMBURGER!!! Before I go on, This burger was A Half Pound, Jalapeno Poppers wrapped in Bacon, with Onion Rings, Pepper Jack, and some crazy sauce. LOVED THIS BURGER! I want to have it again.

I loved this Brewery. As we were walking by I found some very delicious treats.


I kind of wanted to steal this spent grain to make something with, or remash and make a small beer.



Here is the spread. Some very awesome, awesome brews. Racer 5 got me my IPA Day Badge and there were many great beers to be had after that. Honestly though, Racer 5 has never tasted so good. As we left I saw something very exciting...



Guess where I decided to go!



I think this may have been a bad idea. I had very many, many great craft beers. Take a look.



18 4oz pours... This did not end well, well it did not end bad I survived though my palate was beyond crashed. The Beer Sanctuary was very nice... a few too many dogs for my taste, especially seeing as that there was never a dog for Lagunitas (learned that one on the tour), several of their beers were named after towns and apparently all of their beers start as seasonal releases and then if they are liked they move into the year round sector.

I got about halfway through this taster tray before I figured that if I were going to make it all the way, I would have to taste everything right now. I tried to take the best tasting notes possible but after a while everything began tasting like toffee. I love toffee but it did not seem right.

There were several beers that I went back to the next day in order to actually find out what I was tasting. I thought their growlers were kind of a rip, I mean it was cool that they gave it to me in a Mason Jar but they did not even brand it... wtf?