First beer review-Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout

This is my first beer review for our new website. Forgive the format and style, but have decided to go with the traditional stepwise review of the beer, which is: Appearance, Aroma, Taste, Mouthfeel, and Drinkability. Its a time-honored and fairly straightforward way, in my opinion, to describe and review a beer. So...as always, this is just MY opinion.

The Lagunitas Brewing Company is located in Petaluma, California. Lagunitas makes many fine beers, and, being a coffee beer fanatic, I just had to try their Cappuccino Stout when it became available here by me in northern NJ. This beer is a seasonal 2010 22 ounce beer brewed in December. The description on the Lagunitas website describes it as follows:

'Big, Dark and Scary Imperial-esque Stoute brewed with plenty of dark malts and roast barley and loads of Sebastopol's hardcore coffee for even bigger roasty flavors and that extra krunk".

The beer is classified as an American Double/Imperial Stout with a 9.2% ABV (alcohol by volume) and 29.5 IBU (International Bitterness Units).

I used a chalice glass for my tasting, however, a pint glass is probably preferred.

Appearance- Pours a dark black/brown with a thick, beige head that is about a finger thick, but dissipates quickly and reasonable lacing

Aroma (or smell if you prefer)- The first thing I notice is a fresh brewed expresso aroma, with roasted malts and chocolate notes also fairly prominent.

Taste- It starts off with roasted malts and coffee. To me, the coffee flavor is very prominent, more of an expresso flavor. I can also taste some hints of chocolate, which is probably due to the malts. Some milky flavors as well. There is a more bitter chocolate flavor in the middle, and some alcohol notes in the finish. As the beer warms up, there is more of a roasted malt and chocolate flavor, and maybe some hoppiness on the back end. Expected more of an alcohol burn given the ABV.

Mouthful- medium bodied, and very smooth. Somewhat on the lighter side of carbonation. Crisp with minimal aftertaste.

Drinkability- Very drinkable. Very little alcohol flavor, given it is 9.2% ABV. Good coffee flavor, but not as bold or full bodied as some of the other coffee stouts I've sampled, and, by far, not the worst one I've had. This is a good beer to drink if you want some coffee flavors, a beer with a bit higher alcohol content with boldness more like a stout than a porter.

Comments: I really enjoyed this beer. Maybe because I have an affinity to imperial stouts, and because I love coffee beers. I found it the kind of beer I'd pick up if I wanted something in between a real bold, in-your-face stout and a porter. Not the best coffee beer I've had, which, for me is the Brassierie du Diel Ciel Peche Mortel, and, for a good coffee porter, I would recommend the Flying Fish Imperial Espresso Porter. I would definitely drink the Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout again!

Overall: B+