Eye Of The Hairball Ale
Lagunitas Brewing Company

Wonderful wintertime warmer-upper. Alcohol content alone will give you a goood kick in the bottom...make your head happy....but it's the mouthfeel...the well balanced malts and hops and perfect non-sugary but just-thick-enough "weight"...dopplebock-like I'd have to say...that makes the beer stand out. I couldn't smell the beer that much, to tell the truth. No matter, because I'm not into smelling beer...I'm into drinking it. Not a classic, but definitely worth buying a few and sticking in the cellar to drink periodically as it heats up this year (that's what I'm doing, at least).
I got it for $2.99 for the "big bottle". Glad I'm not paying those high Virginia prices...what's up with that....a high alcohol tax?

Appearance – Clear but very dark ruby black in color with a monstrous head that must be respected (else you will be cleaning up your floor). The head is big, beautiful, and tan, with good retention and some cool lacing.

Smell – Oh, mama, this one is big. The huge, caramel malts are just the start. You’ve got “brown shugga” types of sugars here along with some oaky notes and a hop balance. The hops are sharp and piney.

Taste – This is heavy-duty from start to finish. The huge sweetened malts from the nose come out in the taste like they were aged a few years in American oak barrels. There’s a subtle hint of bourbon as well.

Behind that, you’ve got a respectful hop balance that is very sharp and distinctive. All these flavors come together nicely, making this a well-balanced Strong/Old Ale for sure.

Mouthfeel – Exceptionally smooth and full-bodied, this one will get your lips smacking and your salivary glands watering. My mouth is sticky from tasting this ale. It is big and chewy.

Drinkability – This is one of the smoothest full-bodied SOAs that I’ve sample thus far on the site. Another awesome offering from Lagunitas.

A strange 22 oz. Brew that I have only seen once and was glad I picked it up. Also, cannot find mention of it on Lagunita's website but I would buy this any time I saw it. A bargain at $4.99! The gibberish on the label almost makes it worth the $5. ;-)

Labelled as a "Wheat Wine" and that it is !! Hazy Golden color with a good bit of sediment and a nice Lt Tan head. Light Grainy malt aroma is a bit spicy with a faint alcohol presence. Grainy Malt taste with alcohol noticable but not too strong. Full bodied and creamy.

This would have made a fabulous weizenbock had it been used with that yeast strain .

The Gibberish: "Well, we all sat there a while and stared at the eyeball on the bar and argued about what it meant. The eyeball, for it's part was phlegmatic and offered nothing. Another round was ordered and we agreed that sometimes an eyeball is just an eyeball. But now there was the matter of t he hairball. Matted and moist, almost dripping, it looked back at us from the far side of the eyeball. The hairball ordered a hi-ball and the drunks at the other end of the bar got up and left. A woman dressed in a flimsy bernouse appeared at the dorr to the bar and told us that she had a pizza for 'Harry'. Fuzzily she looked at the eyeball. The eyeball said some-thing softly to the hairball and blinked lovingly. The hairball swooned. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. We all knew that this truly was the Eye of the Hairball."