Today, I'm checking out two beers brewed specially by Lagunitas Brewing Co. for the Sam's Wine & Spirits chain here in Chicago. That would qualify them as rare beers, I guess, since there are only four locations selling them. But Lagunitas has a lot of quality beers at a decent price of about $5 per 22 oz. "bomber" bottle. There still seem to be more than a few of these available.
Photo by Mark McDermott
Black Rain Imperial Stout
I poured this into my shaker glass for bigger beers, and was met by a rather thin smell. Normally with an imperial stout, you'd find an obvious alcohol smell, and some dark "roasties," from the black kilned malt used in the style. But they weren’t here. The head kicked up a bit more fizz, but then shrank away quickly. The taste made me think first of vodka mixed with Kvas--a homemade Russian brew based on rye bread. It finally came in kind of thick and sticky though, one of the few characteristics of the style. I got some black coffee roast notes, but it became syrupy, too. Kind of a letdown for a Lagunitas brew. This is the first time I noticed that Lagunitas' 22 oz. bottles come with a twiast-off cap, vitually unknown at this bottle size. Rating: 23 out of 50.
Photo by Mark McDermott
El Chupalupalo American Pale Ale
This one started with a great smell. Citrusy pine, then a bit of mango, all from the hops. Beer in the glass showed a cloudy orange pale ale body under a fluffy head that turned a bit rocky after a minute. The taste was no hop bomb, but there was plenty of citrus, especially grapefruit, and a faint pepper burn. Malts were lightly roasted, and almost chewy. I did detect a bit of a soapy aftertaste, maybe from last time I washed the glass, but not too distracting. Once there was room in the glass for my nose, I got a grainy smell reminiscent of walking into a brewpub when brewing grains are being mashed and the door to the works is wide open. Pretty nice. Rating: 34 of 50.
No doubt the name and label was meant to suggest el Chupcabra, the folkloric "goat sucker" that has become the Bigfoot of Puerto Rico, Mexico, and other Latin lands. But a "chupalupalo" would be someone who sucks hops, as in "Humulus lupulus." A pretty apt description of us beer geeks. Hmm… Bigfoot!
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