BROWN SHUGGA'

"Ah, brown sugar, how come you taste so good?"
—from "Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones, as found on the album Sticky Fingers

Brown Shugga', a Barleywine by Lagunitas Brewing Company

Let's hear it for failed experiments that are given second lives! Hear, hear!

(According to the commercial description, this "aborted batch of [Lagunita's] Old Gnarleywine ended up tasting nearly as good as that they were hoping for, so they bottled it. God bless capitalism.")

Saturday night is steak night on the home front. New York steaks. Medium rare. A-1 sauce. Baked beans on the side. It doesn't get any better than this.

Brown Shugga' pours quiet and restrained, with little fanfare. The head is virtually nonexistent and leaves no lacing. This ale pours clear orangish-brown with an amber aura and a brief, thin skin of ivory.

The smell is very sweet—brown sugar, honey, and a sweet breadiness. The flavor is a little richer and more complex—brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, white bread (Wonder!), and alcohol. A light bitterness finishes and carries the spices through once the sweetness falls away.

Overall, Brown Shugga' is slightly understated and mellow. I like it a lot. It is fun to smell and even more fun to drink. And it nicely complemented the steak and the baked beans.

Woo hoo!