Review – Lagunitas Lumpy Gravy

Here is another great brew from Lagunitas Brewing in Pentaluma, CA. Lumpy Gravy is another homage paid to the late Frank Zappa, with permission from the Zappa family. As I have stated before, I have not followed the career of Frank, and I could not name a tune, but so far, Lagunitas has made some of their finest batches of brew in honor of this man. So thank you Mr. Zappa for that.

Lumpy Gravy Imperial Brown Ale in a 22 oz bottle, poured into a pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a dark amber that lets a decent amount of light through. Super fresh, foamy head. I can take an educated guess I got it a week after it was bottled. Some murky clouds were also spotted throughout, and no visible carbonation in the body of the beer.

Aroma: Crusty Italian bread was the first thing I smelled. Hints of brown sugar and grape soda as well.

Taste: Semi sweet cocoa and brown sugar were the first things I noticed. Huge dry hop flavor after the sweetness. A tad bitter aftertaste, like a dry pilsner or a dry white wine.

Mouthfeel: The bold flavor doesn’t quite match the texture. Very thin, but creamy at times. The carbonation is very light on the tongue.

Drinkability: This would impress fans of the Amer or Nut Brown Ale style. I would serve it as fresh as possible, despite being an Imperial. On the other hand, letting this settle might let the malts balance out the huge hop profile. I like it, and I’d recommend it. I have yet to see it in my area as of this writing, but I’m sure it will be there soon. If it was an all year around, it wouldn’t be my everyday beer, but it is a pleasant change, and a great ale.