The Beer Critic Beer reviews for beer enthusiasts.
Brewery Website: http://www.lagunitas.com
Type of Beer: American Amber Ale
Alcohol Content: 5.9%
Beer Review –
Appearance: Color is a beautiful copper, rich and bright with a slightly hazy complexion. Poured with a two finger head that receded quickly leaving good lacing.
Smell: Talk about a sweet smelling beer, this puppy is bursting with malty goodness. The dark malts give a nice toasted brown sugar and chocolate sweetness and we can thank thse crystal malts for the delicious toffee smell. I also noticed there was a bit of a spicy raisin finish. One of the best smelling beers I’ve reviewed.
Initial Taste: While not as intensely sweet as you might expect from the smell, the malts certainly make themselves present. On the first sip, toasted brown sugar and caramel flavors cover the taste buds. The sticky sweetness slowly slides off the tongue making way for the hops with a touch of lemon and pine. The finish is well balanced (a little on the sweet side) and a bit dry giving this beer good drinkability.
Thoughts: After smelling this beer you almost half expect to taste a heath bar when trying this copper style beer for the first time. However, this beer does not disappoint. Lagunitas has a great reputation for delivering quality full flavored beers and Censored Ale is just that. With only 25 IBU’s the hop presence is pretty low. And even though this is probably the sweetest beer that Lagunitas has brewed they have done a good job with building the sweetness and still keeping the drinkability of a lighter beer. I highly recommend to sweet lovers and hop-heads alike.
I haven’t had this beer in a while, but based on my recollection I think you nailed it in this review. I’ll need to pick it up and review it soon also.
I don’t know if I would have recommended this beer to my hop-loving friends though. Maybe more a “if you want to see an interesting, well-rounded expression of a sweet beer” recommendation.
Im in love with Lagunitas ive been blown away by this beer along with Undercover Shutdown Ale, Brown Shugga, and Lil Sumtin Sumtin. They have defiantly got me interested in craft brews anyone have any suggestions for other quality companies to try.