Sonomica
Lagunitas Brewing Company

 

A: amber in cookie with a pinkish hue, done chunks floating in there. Small off white head.

S: light sour, with oak notes.

T: sour and sweet with oak and wine notes.

M: light with moderate carbonation. A slight sore pocket in the finish.

O: overall just a darn good brew.

Appearance: Deep, hazy golden orange in color, with a small, coarse white head. The lacing is thick, and patchy. Clouds of small bubble drift lazily to the surface.

Aroma: The aroma is dauntingly complex, suggesting restrained balsamic vinegar, wood, dark grape skin, red wine, over-ripe apples, and berries. For all of this, it is quite pleasing.

Taste: The taste opens a bit tart, with notes of balsamic vinegar, dark grape skin, berries, red wine, and wood. Later in the taste, there is a momentary burst of berry-like sweetness, some rustic yeast notes, As the taste draws to a close, the grape rind and berries offer a final flourish. The finish is dry and faintly sweet.

Mouth feel: Soft and velvety, with just a bit of gracious carbonation, quite pleasing.

Drinkability/notes: Sonomica is absolutely superb, gracious and elegant. I am reserving some of this for upcoming holiday dinners, I believe it would pair superbly with prime rib or turkey, offering a striking counterpoint to the wines typically served.

Presentation: Packaged in a stubby twelve-ounce brown glass bottle with a pop-off crown, served in a La Fin du Monde tulip.

 

Draft at PreFunk. Dark, clear golden pour, fine ring of head. Sour / tart aroma, sweet, malty. Taste is full on Flanders with some woody accents. Saison?

A - Pours out a hazy, mostly transparent deep orange, with just a hint of red in its highlights. The head forms up short, off white, small bubble lacing.

S - Foremost, traditional Saison notes of barnyard and limestone, mingling with the wood and red wine fruit.

T - Follows the nose, with lovely Saison elements, a good hit of wood and wine, and a tart, brisk finish.

M - Mild carbonation, soft, clean, moderate weight, and a very dry close.

O - A nice integration of wine into a solidly built beer. Tasty and rewarding.

a side of lagunitas too few people get to see, cool wood ageing, funky yeasts, and overall a pretty highly refined kind of wild saison type, done in red wine barrels, maybe pinot specifically, not sure, but its light and woody like that, from right there in wine country i assume, cool to make use of those. clear for the style, lighter brassy looking color, not really stained from the barrels at all, a little fizzy but not keeping its head real long in the glass, a little better on tap than from bottle in this regard, but they are close to the same. aroma rules, best part of this, sour but without the flanders vinegar thing, plenty of nutty and sweet malt for balance, red wine tannins and plenty of oak, vanilla and honey nuance there, tart berry, heavier port wine, and some funky brett, but more bacterial than bretty to me, even sort of incomplete in terms of the ferment, could be weirder, but its definitely out there for lagunitas. neat how much wine and oak are there in the flavor, tons of both, and the grain bill and body seem perfectly suited to them, cranberry and raspberry from the wine, warm vanilla from the wood, kind of wintery and cold weather flavors to me, a richness without it being sweet, lacking much carbonation which slows it down in a good way, and it warms up well. i thought this might have a little less acidity, more brett funk and farmy vibes, but its quite sour, and its gotten more so as its aged a bit, still woody and fruity and slightly metallic in a cool and flattering way, but this is a different type of brett profile, some lambic weirdness would really be cool, but not this time around. still, stoked to see lagunitas make a beer like this, its not all hops over there, and this is a solid effort. cool use of what seems like quality wine barrels.

 

 

 

 

Lagunitas Sonomica 2020 Farmhouse Ale, 8.2% ABV. Pours slightly hazy medium orange with a two-finger white head that left no lacing. Nose is funky red wine, taste follows, quite tart, no bitterness or sweetness. Good carbonation, overall excellent.

What a great beer.

the pour shows a craggly finger of head that dissipates kind of quickly leaving a naked, amber colored ale with some decent lacing.

the nose is firstly funky, then kind of spicy, then fruity. black pepper, cherries, apricots, and pineapple come through after the funk.

the taste follows the nose almost exactly until the barrel notes take over. all the aromas come through on the taste then the oak, vanilla, and smoke show up.

people sleep on lagunitas since their buyout but this 1 is definitely worth a try

12 oz bottle split with a friend, poured into a red wine glass. Pours a light hazy golden yellow with a nice head. Aroma and flavor feature light funk, leather, tannins, Belgian yeast esters, on a golden sour ale base. Hints of spice (like grains of paradise). Mouthfeel is fairly dry, medium bodied with average carbonation. Interesting to try, tasty enough but not quite amazing.

Opaque amber/brown color, minimum lacing. Funky scent of Brett, bit of red wine wood barrel warmth on the undercurrent. Taste is tart, funky, sour, and fruity. Notes of green apple and red wine. Crisp, clean, mildly boozy. I heard a friend compare it to Russian River barrel aged sours. Is it good? Very. Is it that good? Probably not.

 

 

No head. Smells of wine- apple, cinnamon, a bit funky. Taste is tart at first, mostly apple, then red wine with a bit of oakiness, and hints lactic acid and cinnamon. Moderately sweet, nicely balanced. Dry finish. I dig it.