Lagunitas Cruising with Ruben and The Jets

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Aroma is strong, hoppy and yeasty with an earthy undertone of molasses. It pours a rich, opaque sable with a fairly thick but not too persistent pale tan head. Flavor is mouth-filling, earthy, sweet but not cloying, with coffee and molasses tones and just a whisper of hoppy bitterness. Texture is silky-smooth and nicely tingly, leaving a coffee-ish, slightly sweet aftertaste.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Poured a dark brown some black to it, very small head not much lacing. Aroma was some chocolate and pepper but not typical pepper aroma. Flavor was tons of chocolate and roast, pepper finish on the tongue. Good brew

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

I have to admit when I was presented with this bottle, I started humming that old Elton John tune..............Ruben and the Jets. My next reaction was whether or not I should be having it with a reuben sandwich. It poured a very deep rich brown colour with a creamy beige head. The aroma was all chocolate and roasted malt. The flavour is more of the same, but there is a peppery hint in the finish.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

An odd beer, R&T.J's poured a nice looking black body with plenty of yeast floaters which made it look more like a belgian quad than an imp. stout. Aroma of sweet dark fruits, alcohol, chocolate, and wood. Good mouthfeel, Flavor was similar to the aroma with the alcohol being a bit more prevelant than i like, considering it lists at 8.6% instead of a 10-12% which it tasted like. Overall it was o.k. but not great.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 3

cheapdark (1769), Monacatootha, Pennsylvania, USA 2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall 5/10 4/5 3/10 2/5 6/20 Mar 9, 2009 Stout? No way, this is all impy stout; at 8.6%, how could this simply be a ’stout"? Large 22 oz bomber in a tall clear 24 oz mug. Funky wunky album cover label, ago zappa. Large black pour with a red hue in the sun. Unfading creamy tan head with one quarter inch thickness. Has a somewhat choco or caroub malty aroma. Initial taste impression is rather strong alky. Thru the session, the rudeness does not let up. Roasted alky laced burned and wet campfire wood. Bold and somewhat in yer face, dude. Heheheh, I was expecting a stupid pale lager for somereason, big surprise. Each slug and gulp reminds you it is a stronger dark beer. Continues to be someqhat brutal. Long lingering alky liquor finish, medicine. This stuff is in the typical laggy over the top style. Tho strong, does not really seem to be near 9%.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Just picked this up the other day from the package store, and opened it up today with my chili. Sampled it before the chili of course! I know some folks around here frown on rating beers with food. Anyway, pours a pitch black colour with a reddish tint near the bottom Head is tall adn creamy light brown colour. Aroma is strong with smokey and alcohol fumes, and some oak as well. Mouthfeel is very creamy and soft. Taste is awesome, packed full of burnt toast, dark roasted malts and wood. A slight, soft spicey finish as well. Exactly what i like in an imp stout.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Not knowing what a "BoppaDooyaDoo" style was at the store, imagine my great joy when I learned this is a stout. But it's a stout that falls a little short of imperial status, unique and troublesome at times I enjoyed it to a certain degree. Sugary molasses aroma with strong hints of cocoa and vanilla bean. Amber~brown body with a 1/4" creamy tan head and minimal spotty lacing. Bitter sweet to the palate, relatively thin with a metallic aftertaste. Flavors of bitter cocoa, licorice, and burnt caramel. There is a nice spicy pepper quality and a noticeable hop presence to boot. The enjoyment got better as the bottle emptied, different and overall pretty good.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

...cruisin with ruben?..odd people over at lagoos... pours a dark dark brown-black .. some lacing .. average roast and tar imperial stout aromas .. COME ON UNITED! ... very smooth ... lacks some of the complexity of most imperial stouts, but enjoyable .. i like wear (like sandals or jean shorts) the special series from lagunitas are going... grapes? .. another chance??

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a fat-two-finger thick, lightly browned, tan colored head. The beer is quite dark, but shows some clear, deep red notes to it even as it sits on my desk. When held up to the light it shows a brilliantly clear, dark cherry red color. The aroma is quite fruity smelling with ample berry notes (blueberry, and blackberry are noticeable), but these are most definitely, at least partially, from the chocolate character as the finish has a rich, bright chocolate note to it. There is also a touch of tartness here that accentuates the berry notes, a touch of up front roast character as well as a touch of solvent like alcohol and some toasted bread crust character. This has a very interesting nose to it; it can be quite intriguing at times.

The beer is soft and creamy textured up front, but this is somewhat cut by a prickly carbonation, but then it finishes with a velvety texture again. There is a strong roast character here that provides a lot of burnt bitterness. The beer is sweet up front which accentuates a bright berry character, and there seems to be a fair amount of hop character here as well; some of the berry notes come from this, there is also a touch of pine, as well as some grapefruit like notes as well as a herbal bitterness to the finish. The sweet chocolate notes get mixed in with the roasted grain character; the chocolate flavors are actually somewhat hard to pick out and if I didn't know this contained chocolate then I would not guess it. Also the pepper is almost non-existent, I get no zing, subtle or otherwise.

Not a bad beer given that the bottle advertises nothing about the beer on it, so to say I am disappointed in the chocolate and white pepper character seems a bit disingenuous. This is actually a pretty good beer, it definitely has a hard time fitting in a style description (which is, I suppose, fitting) as it is not really roasted enough to be your typical strong American Stout. Certainly interesting and a beer that I can easily spend an evening sipping my way through a 22oz bottle of.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bottle from SL. Pour was brown black with some mahoganey edges as the glass is tilted. Head is thin but well-sustaining, off-white to white in color, only ok lacing. The aroma was light roast, peppers - really, it really is there - some chocolate. The flavor was full chocolate, light roast, and then that peppery finish. Peppercorns, sure, I buy it. Mouthfeel is full, a neat brew.