New Belgium 2 Below

December 15

New Belgium 2 Below.

Light amber in hue, with a slightly sour nose. Also in the nose I pick up fresh hop notes.

Very interesting… a much different beer than I expected. Not much body, but with a big mouthfeel, if that makes sense. The flavor is slightly malty and very yeasty, reminiscent of bread baking. The sourness of the hops really accentuates this, so this beer is very much like drinking bread dough. Very crisp, refreshing bread dough. This is not nearly as bad as it sounds. It does get a little old pretty quick, though.

WDTB? They had it at Disjecta. That was cool. Other than that haven’t seen it much.

WSDTB? Bakers?

8.2/10

Lagunitas Brown Shugga

I have been remiss. Appologies...

December 14

Lagunitas Brown Sugga

Slightly malty nose with good sweetness and depth. Deep red in hue.

Good flavor, rich and complex, but overly sweet at the finish, almost cloying.

It has the malty richness of a high alcohol beer in the finish, slightly overly sweet/alcoholic.

The start is very very mild, not much there at all. The body is good, but the flavor is not particularly interesting until the end.

Some people really like this beer, but I am rather blasé about it. There are not really enough hops to balance all the malt, and it lacks the spice or complexity in the middle to really distinguish it.

One dimensional beers can be good. However the flavors here are simply not exciting enough to be left unbalanced. The sweet is too overbearing and nothing balances the alcoholic twang at the finish.

WDTB? My team, as we are sponsored by Lagunitas. Awesome. Those who really like malty/strong beers.

WSDTB? People looking for mildly flavorful strong beers. This is definitely flavorful, but not on par with something like Arrogant Bastard.