Shugga High Strong Ale pours with a firey burnished orange hue, offering up sky-high flavors and aromas of fresh crusty bread, complex caramel, raisin and fig, rounded out with a blunt nose of citrusy, piney and slightly dank hops. Beyond the significantly high gravity malt foundation, a big dose of brown sugar helps this beer dry out a bit while simultaneously adding layers of slightly sweet toffee and maple. This is a real whopper of a beer, so don't bogart it - Shugga High is best consumed in good company.

Brewing Notes

• Style: American Barleywine
• Fermentation Range: 64-72F
• Original Gravity: 1.098
• SRM: 13.5
• IBUs: 50
• ABV: 9.5%

Tasting Notes

• Aroma: Strong malt aromas of fresh bread, caramel and raisin with citrusy, piney and slightly fruity hop notes.
• Appearance: Deep orange color with good clarity and a tight off-white foam head.
• Flavor: Complex and slightly sweet malt character of bread crust, dark caramel, fig with moderate grapefruit citrus and faint pine undertones. Medium-high bitterness.
• Mouthfeel: Full bodied with a silky mouthfeel and a long, lingering finish.

Brad’s Notes:

Inspired by a hugely popular seasonal beer brewed on the west coast, Shugga High Barleywine is an interesting take on the American Barleywine style. The relatively simple malt bill lends a full, smooth sipping experience and delivers a huge wave of complementary flavors, while the medium-high bitterness and firm hop flavor balance out the moderate sweetness of the malt. To crank things up a notch, a healthy dose of delicious brown sugar is added to encourage higher attenuation and also adds additional depth to the beer’s overall flavor, with notes of raisin and faint maple candy. This is quite a large beer, so be sure to give it time to age properly for all of the nuances to come together to form a cohesive array of flavors and to deliver an absolutely enjoyable sipping experience. Pairs perfectly with chilly evenings, crackling fires, s’mores, maduro wrapped cigars, and CCR on cassette tape.