Greetings beer aficionados, Brandon here with another edition of the Saturday Night Sixer! As always the Sixer is here to help you at those times where you just seem to be staring at coolers of beer, unsure of which is going to best please your palate. Well, look no further than our weekly recommendation found right here; remember that all the brews here can be found at your local fine packaged liquor store. Now, onward to beer!

We here in New Mexico have been spoiled by our plethora of wonderful craft breweries around the state, so sometimes we forget about the wonderful beers from out of state that we might not have access to … hey, we’re only human, OK? That being said, we’ve been somewhat deprived of the beers from Lagunitas Brewing Company until recently. They have been absent from the shelves of Albuquerque’s retail beer establishments for a while. Well, lo and behold, an e-mail came across the NMDSBC account, advising us that the folks at one of our local liquor stores finally had Lagunitas beers in stock!

After setting up shop back in 1993, the Petaluma, Calif.-based brewery has been winning over craft beer fans all over the country with their stable of awesome beers and enjoyably quirky beer labels. They currently have distribution in over 30 states and are poised to expand even further in time. I was personally quite excited for their Albuquerque arrival, as it had been a while since I’d been able to indulge in one of their beers. Currently their famous IPA, its hopped-up-a-level big brother Maximus IPA, the easy-drinking Pils, and others can be found in town; you can also get yourself bombers of this week’s Sixer feature, the Cappuccino Stout. This big beer is the product of stout brewing combined with local coffee beans. According to the website, “We get some help from our friends/neighbors at Sebastopol’s Hardcore Coffee just up the road. The coffee beans are freshly ground when we drop them into the brew kettle and whirlpool, giving that deep coffee flavor without taking away from that even deeper beer flavor.” Thirsty yet? Read on and you will be.

The Cappuccino Stout has all the typical stout qualities one looks for right off the bat. It pours rich with a thick, tan head that is akin to that of a milk or cream stout, and possesses the deep brown/near-jet-black (coffee bean) colors as well. The head sticks around for a bit then dissipates to a thin coating with subtle lacing underneath. Aroma-wise, it is fairly mild. The coffee smells wonderful and is certainly prominent, with a slight earthy spice hop profile.

When you get to the palate and taste this beer it gets a bit different than what you might expect. It has a very rich mouthfeel that coats the whole palate, which again feels similar to a cream or possibly an oatmeal stout. Those tastes are quite awesome; the coffee beans are certainly there all through this beer, but they aren’t overwhelming at all. The chocolate and caramel malts play well with the beans and give it the “cappuccino” that is on the label. There is a subtle sweetness in the middle, along with those earthy hops in the back, and it finishes with more coffee. There is a bitterness from the hops and roasted malt in the back, but the sweetness in the beer balances this perfectly and keeps it from being overpowering. I could ramble on more about how balanced this beer is; the coffee beans are not overpowering and are an excellent complement with the chocolate and roasted malts.

The Cappuccino Stout is a big beer at 9.2-percent ABV, but it has almost no alcohol bite, making it one to enjoy with caution. It is quite rich, and as such you probably will want to enjoy only one as it is. Although you may be tempted to pour another one, as it is simply so full of flavor that you will want to enjoy again and again.

Overall this is one of the most delicious stouts I’ve had the pleasure of tasting this season … and believe me, I’ve tried a lot of stouts this year! I would wager that this is a stout that most will enjoy; it has the creaminess that someone just warming up to dark beers would appreciate, with enough malts and complex flavors elsewhere to keep everyone else happy. For those in the Albuquerque area, you can currently find Lagunitas exclusively at Jubilation Wine & Spirits. The Cappuccino Stout is a limited release, though, so make sure to get it while it lasts. Lagunitas certainly lit the lamp with this brew, and it will certainly put a jolt in your system, so enjoy!

Until next time …

Prost!

— Brandon Daniel