Lagunitas Brown Shugga’ (2013)
November 21st, 2013 by Scott in Other Beer Reviews
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How come you taste so good?
Just in time for Thanksgiving, the wonderful concoction known as Brown Shugga’ has returned to ensure you are well-lubricated for all the family gatherings. Because let’s be honest, when you’re fielding tons of questions about everything and anything and listening to the chatter around the table, a 9.9% ABV beer is a good thing to have nearby.
But it’s not just the 9.9% that makes this beer an excellent choice. It tastes wonderful.
Way back in 1997 (I think I was in 8th grade, so Lagunitas has been around a while), the brewers at Lagunitas were working on a batch of Olde Gnarlywine Ale. They screwed up. Instead of dumping the batch, which is quite an expensive endeavor, they threw a ton of brown sugar into the batch and out came Brown Shugga’. Lagunitas has a special way for words; here’s how they put it.
We believe this Special Ale is Something Unique. Feeding Brown Cane Sugar to otherwise Cultured Brewery Yeast is a’kin to feeding Raw Shark to your Gerbil. It is unlikely to ever occur in nature without Human Intervention. And it looks weird besides. But it has happened and now it’s too Late.
Copper-colored with a medium white head, Brown Shugga’ has a strong pine scent along with a sugary sweetness behind it. The flavor is fairly similar but throws in citrus along with the pine and the alcohol doesn’t hide like in some beers. Sweetness washes over the palate at the end, but it’s never sticky. Carbonation is a bit on the low side, but I think it fits.
Once Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas season officially starts (although let’s face it, we’ve been seeing Christmas stuff since before Halloween), which is why I’ve stashed a bunch away for when I need a nice strong beer. It’s great for office holiday parties!
While we’re here, can we discuss insane school functions? Have you seen this Nokia ad?
My daughter had a Thanksgiving show the other night, and this Nokia ad is absolutely true. The only exaggeration is that you’d be able to get a clear shot by sitting in the back with that phone. You wouldn’t, because people are crazy. It’s the fault of everyone having a camera on the phone in their pockets. My parents never did this; they sat in their seats and took pictures and video to their hearts content with a regular camera and a VHS camcorder that was so big it sat on your shoulder. A smartphone just isn’t good enough for these events, but people believe that if they have a camera in their pocket then why bother with anything else. Then the mob of phones and iPads block everyone’s view throughout the performance.
It was ridiculous, especially the woman who held her iPad above her head to take video; she alone blocked the view of nearly everyone behind her. Not only was she doing this, but the crowd was correctly exposed while the children on stage were overexposed and washed out.
Brown Shugga’: good for dealing with ridiculous parents at school functions as well.
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Dean Finder
People hold their iPads, phones, etc, above their heads during parades and fireworks all the time.
I was watching the castle projection show from the Magic Kingdom Hub a few days ago when someone held his iPhone with one hand and a point & shoot camera with the other above his head, directly in my view. After the second camera went up, I didn’t feel too bad about shoving around him and standing in a small open space directly in front of him.
During the Wishes show later, I noticed someone filming it with their iPad video recorder-with the flash on the entire time. They managed to kill their batter, make their video look awful with incorrect light settings for fireworks, and piss off everyone around them, all in one shot.