Brewery: Lagunitas Brewing Company

City: Petaluma, CA

Availability: Late November/December

ABV: 7.85%

IBU:  63

According to Lagunitas Legend, the Petaluma-based brewery had some capacity issues when brewing their Brown Shugga ale, so they whipped up the Lagunitas Sucks as a substitute. The Sucks was so popular that they’ve been rolling it out ever since. 

It’s a good thing for us, because this stuff is delicious. It looks like liquid gold in the glass, and taste the same in your mouth.  The floral hoppy nose is followed up by a hoppy punch that unleashes the beer’s 63 IBU’s when it hits your tongue. Unlike most hoppy beers, the fruit is on the sweeter side, more mango-ey than grapefruity. That sweetness morphs into a biscuity maltiness that makes it really easy to crack open another one.

A little too easy, in fact: the crisp, sweet hops make this feel like a much lighter beer than it is. We’d even consider it a session beer, but at 7.8 percent, it might not be the kind of session you’re looking for.