Question About Lagunitas "Big Junior Ale"

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by kiki3drt292, Sep 20, 2013.

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  1. kiki3drt292

    kiki3drt292 Initiate (0) Jan 13, 2011 California

    Today a co-worker totally surprised me with this beer, and I'm wondering if anyone has had it or has any info on it (I have not been able to find anything online).

    I'm not looking to trade this beer, just a little info on how it is aging or what style it even is.

    Oh, and here is what the label look like
    http://beerlabels.com/labels/labels.pl/4942/lagunitas-big-junior-ale.html

    -Thanks!
     
    #1 kiki3drt292, Sep 20, 2013
    mctizzz and LotsofLupulin like this.
  2. Kerfluffel

    Kerfluffel Initiate (0) Jan 31, 2013 Washington

    I have nothing useful to contribute.... but I am incredibly jealous.
     
    #2 Kerfluffel, Sep 20, 2013
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  3. Robtobfest

    Robtobfest Initiate (0) Oct 21, 2009 Connecticut

    Never heard of it. When was it released?
     
    #3 Robtobfest, Sep 20, 2013
  4. nick1257

    nick1257 Initiate (0) Mar 8, 2012 Massachusetts

    Fax me a bottle?
     
    #4 nick1257, Sep 20, 2013
  5. kiki3drt292

    kiki3drt292 Initiate (0) Jan 13, 2011 California

    He said it was released around the early to mid 2000's, if he recalls correctly.
     
    #5 kiki3drt292, Sep 20, 2013
  6. tjensen3618

    tjensen3618 Maven (1,391) Mar 23, 2008 California

    Something is off about that label.
    You can't have a OG of 1.070 and an abv of 17.5%, unless of course it was mixed heavily with a liquor of some sort, or distilled.

    7.5% is in the ballpark for that OG.
     
    #6 tjensen3618, Sep 20, 2013
    raffels likes this.
  7. kiki3drt292

    kiki3drt292 Initiate (0) Jan 13, 2011 California

    Huh, strange. Putting the beer up to the light, it does seem a bit thin to be such a high abv, but the label on the bottle is the same as the one I posted above, gravity and all.
     
    #7 kiki3drt292, Sep 20, 2013
  8. LotsofLupulin

    LotsofLupulin Initiate (0) May 5, 2012 Colorado

    Ice distillation could bring up the ABV that high without having a high OG
     
    #8 LotsofLupulin, Sep 20, 2013
  9. DogTown

    DogTown Initiate (0) May 17, 2006 California

    That beer was brewed in faraway 1996 and was frozen three times. Frozen, then transferred off the ice and refrozen. Thrice, in all. The base beer was our holiday ale at the time; Lagunator Ale. Big Jr Ale was named for a bottler that everybody called Junior. He was very gentle Samoan giant and one sad night, hearing voices telling him to hurt someone, he died. We made 30bbls of the original beer and ended up with about 20bbls. I wouldn't imagine it tastes like much anymore, but there is a tiny bit of history there. I'm glad there still a little bit of Jr. around.
     
    #9 DogTown, Sep 20, 2013
    Rommel56, Paccamacca, danieelol and 5 others like this.
  10. kiki3drt292

    kiki3drt292 Initiate (0) Jan 13, 2011 California

    Thanks for the info! I guess my friend has been working at our store longer than he thought. Frozen three times huh? Lots of alcohol with very little water- interesting. I'll have to bust this bad boy out during a bottle share to try it out, and we'll all make sure to toast one up for Junior.
     
    #10 kiki3drt292, Sep 20, 2013
  11. Paccamacca

    Paccamacca Pooh-Bah (1,624) Sep 15, 2012 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    How bizarre- My buddy's brother brought a bottle to a Christmas party I was at on Saturday (along with a 1998 Gnarlywine). He used to own a beer/wine store back in the 90s and he'd had a 4 pack cellared properly since original purchase but even so, it was a drain pour :slight_frown:

    It tasted incredibly thin and watery, slightly sweet with very little carbonation. The Gnarleywine on the other hand, was still fantastic!

    [​IMG]
     
    #11 Paccamacca, Dec 18, 2013
    Shmuffalo likes this.
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