Lagunitas Cruising with Ruben and The Jets
Chocolate pepper stout brewed to 8.6% ABV, with a healthy amount of chocolate nibs and a subtle zing of white peppercorns. Cruising with Ruben & The Jets Ale was brewed in honor of the 40th Anniversary release of this Album from Frank Zappa.
3.5
423 reviews
Petaluma, United States
Community reviews
Tasted on 1/28/11 from a bomber bottle purchased at Discount Liquor, I think this beer is around two years old. Pours cloudy dark brown with a thin tan head that leaves a very thin collar of lace after a quick recession. The nose is tons of creamy chocolate and caramel malt along with coffee, dark chocolate, and hops bitterness. The flavor is creamy milk chocolate, caramel, toffee, slightly burnt brown sugar, and it is dusty with bitter coffee, dark chocolate, and hops. The body is full with a creamy texture, light carbonation, and a long bitter and milk chocolate finish.
Poured a 22oz bomber into an oversize wine glass.
APPEARANCE: Typical jet black stout. Initially forms a generous, fluffy, tan head, but it evaporates and leaves little lacing.
SMELL: You’re sure this isn’t a Russian Imperial Stout? Smells like sour red grape and Hershey’s chocolate milk syrup. Noticeable booze aroma too.
TASTE: Just like the nose: sour red grape and chocolate syrup. Surprisingly mild palate. Not much bitterness or aftertaste. Does dry my mouth out with sourness, though. This palate just seems off. Doesn’t have the roasty notes of a good imperial stout. Alcohol is way too prominent for only an 8.6% ABV beer.
MOUTHFEEL: Thin, watery, wet, tepid, flat.
DRINKABILITY: I can get this down without much trouble, but the palate is so mild and the mouthfeel is so weak it’s not really enjoyable to drink. Alcohol is tolerable, but distracting.
OVERALL: Not a bad beer at all, but I don’t like it.
Bottled. A dark brown beer with a thin brown head. The aroma has notes of sweet and roasted malt as well as caramel. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt and caramel as well as lighter notes of roasted malt.
22oz twist-off bottle. Pours dark brown with a one finger light brown head that leaves a ring of lacing and holds a wispy cap and ring. Aroma is a lot of chocolate, some sweet dark fruits and coffee, roasted malts, some toasted bread, a hint of cardboard/oxidation. Good strength. Flavor is predominately chocolate, with some coffee, caramel, toffee, roasted malts, dark fruits, fairly sweet, not getting much of the peppercorns except for just a hint on the finish. Alcohol is completely absent in the flavor. Mouthfeel is on the thin side for an Imperial Stout yet still creamy and foamy with lowish carbonation. Tasty chocolate stout, albeit a big aged and slightly oxidized.
The man and the lp were favorites when I was a youngster, right now, I still like the p and the man but the beer, not so much. The beer poured very dark but also had some ruby highlights. A small tan hear with some retention and lacing. It smelled pretty good with chocolate, coffee, dark fruits, molasses, and caramel. Didn’t get any hops. The beer was medium - full bodied with a sweet finish and a little heat in the after taste. On the tongue there’s the chocolate, molasses, coffee, caramel, etc. sweetness along with a tinge of heat. While it all seems to be there, it just did not mix very well for me.
As a Zappa fan, I couldn’t not try this beer. I’m not sure I glad I did but I still had to try it. They call it a chocolate pepper stout as if that is some sort of thing. To me, it kind of tastes like a big porter crossed w/ a barleywine. It’s brown in color w/ a fine ring of head, generally uneventful appearance-wise. The nose is lightly roasty w/ a bit of toffee and caramel malt w/ an earthy/peppery hoppy bite. Rather barleywine-ish sticky sweetness dominates the palate. This is a beer that’s big in such a way as to prevent you from drinking it too quickly w/o being the kind of beer you want to linger over and drink slowly. Some coffee-like malts linger and play w/ a heavy hop bitterness in the finish. This really comes off as a beer that’s just big for the sake of being big and as such I don’t have much use for it.
22 ounce bottle. Pours dark brown with a 1 finger dense light tan head with very good retention and decent lacing. Aromas of chocolate, coffee, dark fruits, caramel and roasted malts. Taste of chocolate, coffee, molasses, caramel and dark fruits. It has a bit of bitterness on the finish with some alcohol warming after the finish as well. This goes down surprisingly smooth for it’s alcohol content, with a very creamy body. Medium carbonation and body. This is an enjoyable stout, very interesting and different from what I have had in the past. Tasty, this got better as it warmed up a bit more.
I was pretty surprised when I turned this beer’s page on and fell on its imperial stout classification. It falls in the usual lagunitas standards as a dark brown pour (certainly not blakc nor opaque) whose head as minimal. My bottle had more than a year on it, but at almost 9%, you would expect that not to be apparent yet more than a hint of coiny/dead leaves oxidation was noticeable. Besides that, the aroma focuses mostly on the residual sugars side of things with lots of molasses cookies and brown sugar maltiness and a fair amount of dextrins. It gets almost syrupy as it warms up, becoming spicier (pepper), more herbal and unfortunately not drier, heading towards milk chocolate in a most warming way. Not very complex with regards to its bold sweet and stoutish aspirations and too vague and unfocused, lacking in freshness to strike my sensible chord.
Very fruity with a chocolate background. Sweet but I didn’t get the pepper. It has a dark brown appearance with a tan lacing head. The flavor is sweet with a tad of roastiness. Not bad. It seems to want to be a little more than it is but just misses the mark.
Bottle. darker pour, blackish brown. Roasty aromas, dried fruit, light chocolate/ toffee-molasses. Taste was more quad like, chocolate quad?. Dried fruits, roasted malts, hints of choclate, molasses-toffee sweetness. Decent
Poured black with a thin head that faded to nothing smelled of plums raisons and stout tasted about the same
A deep brown pour with large brown head and floaties. The nose is both spicy and fruity with notes of pepper, raisin, apple, and a hint of chocolate. The full body is smooth and creamy with a mostly sweet taste followed by a somewhat dry finish.
22 oz. bottle. Pours dark brown with a moderate tan head that lasted through the first two sips and left light lace. Pleasant aroma of malt, dates, toffee and molasses. So far, this beer is reminding me more of a Quad than an Imperial Stout. The flavor is heavily laden with malt, molasses and toffee. Syrupy body reminds me of an underdeveloped Barley Wine. No sign of the chocolate nibs or the peppercorns, or for that matter an imperial stout. Disappointing.
brownies, dark fruits, cherries. Malty well balanced a bit tart. Rich brownies finish.
Has an aroma of dark fruit and chocolate. Pours a dark murky brown color with a thin off-white head. Sweet raisin taste up front. Malty. Chocolate notes on the finish. Raisin/dark fruit taste strong throughout. A bit much for me. Decent.
Bomber. pours a dark brown color. aroma: boozy, caramel, sweet dried berries, raisins. taste: smooth caramel, a little hop bite, nice burn from booze, great beer.
Bottle. Pours a dark brown color with a small off-white head. Has a roasted malty chocolate and coffee aroma. Roasted malty chocolate flavor with hints of coffee and some hints of pepper. Has a roasted malty chocolate finish.
$4.99 for a bomber. Pours a dark brown with a small white head, no lace. Not as stout like as I expected. Aroma was of chocolate, some coffee and roasted malts, some sourness was present as well. Taste was malty, consisted of semi-sweet chocolate and some Guinness like sourness. A good brew but not quite an imperial stout. For $4.99 its pretty solid though.
22oz traded bottle. Dark brown pour with a big, tan head that lasts quite awhile. Malty aroma but also a sticky sweetness to it as well; maybe a little spice? Honestly don’t taste much of the pepper or the chocolate. A nice stout though. I let this sit a year+ so it’s possible the tastes have muted a bit. Possibly some lingering pepper spice late in the finish.
Pours dark brown/black with a large tan head, huge chunks of yeast floating in it. Aroma is chocolate, roasted malts, light alcohol. The sweetness of the chocolate and malt isn’t cloying, but it is dominant. Notes of toffee, not really noticing any pepper. Nice smooth palate, finish is fairly short and sweet.
nice sweet chocolate/molasses aroma. nice creamy body hints of chocolate some roasted malts, some spice. some dark chocolate aftertaste.
Bomber $4.99 to my favorite snifter.Pour is dark brown, but once glass is full it appears black. Head is quick off white and then disapears. Aroma is rasins and burnt coco and black licorice. Taste is smooth and coco rasins and rye bread with a subtle hoppy spice finish. Palate is a sticky and chaulky finish. A awesome 5 dollar imperial stout.
Serving: 22 oz. bottle from Total Wine Sterling
I’ve let this one sit on the shelf awhile (18 months) to see how some age treated it. It pours a dark brown with ruby highlights and a small, frothy, light brown head. The nose is roasty with lots of flint, coffee, dark caramel, and molasses. It is suprisingly light on the tongue for a Impy. A bit earthy with a good bit of brown sugar, molasses, raisin, roasted malt, and a hint of anise. Medium mouthfeel with average carbonation and a dark, raisiny finish. A solid brew who’s age has served it well.
Two and a half shelf years and it needed it. I bought 2, had one at the time and it was awefull. It sat and sat and sat. I popped this bad boy open and was pleasently surprised that this pepper stout matured quite nicely.
Coffee, chocholate, roasted smoked barley and lots of time.
There’s a big difference between kneeling down and bending over! FZ.
Bottle. Brownish pour in the sunlight. LOTS of sediment. Aroma is caramel and chocolate. Taste is molasses, cocoa, bread, and caramel.
22oz bottle.Pours a dark blackish brown with a thin brown head.Nose is chocolate and bread.Taste is chocolate and peppery with sugary malts.This is nothing special just another solid offering from Lagunitas.Big time bang for your buck.Really easy drinking Imp Stout.
22oz bottle. Pours a deep, murky brown, almost black body with a thin, brown head that dissipates quickly and leaves a moderate lacing. Sweet and malty aroma with lots of caramel, chocolate, plums, and licorice. A light vanilla, soy, roast, and raisin bread. Just a hint of pepper sneaks its way in. The flavor is similar and very thin on the palate. Lots of caramel and cocoa up front with a raisin bread middle. Some nuts and teriyaki beef jerky before this finishes with a smooth vanilla, a light roast, and a more distinct, but not biting pepper. Slowly dries with the slightest earthy bitterness and smoke. A slight alcohol warmth as well. Very creamy and smooth body despite the thinness with a very light carbonation. Overall, an interesting beer all-around. Its sweet, but not overly sweet with some nice pepper subtleties and a very unique body. This one leaves me somewhat perplexed...
Served from bottle into Nonic. Poured a nice dark brown almost black with a slight amount of off-white head. Upon sitting it developed a very nice tan sediment layer on the bottom. The aroma comprised of malts and a much sweeter note that I could not figure out. The flavor of this brew was malty with a slight hint of nutty that ends with a slight coffee note upon swallowing. It maintained nice lacing throughout. Overall this was not a bad stout. I really enjoyed all of the flavors including the subtle coffee aftertaste as it does not overpower the other flavors as most stouts with coffee flavors do for me. This is a very nice beer from Lagunitas and hate they are currently only brewing this one once as I would definitely buy more.
Poured dark brown, very little head. The aroma was malty, caramel, toasty a hint of chocolate. The taste was sweet. The body was medium, the texture creamy, the carbonation soft. Overall pretty good.
Bottle and served in my NB worthy glassware: Pours a deep cola brown with an okay head and spotty lace. The aroma has notes of mild banana brown bread, some chocolate and sweet caramel malt, some Special B methinks and perhaps even a touch of dark candi syrup. Peppery and clove like vapours along with an earthy and smoky quality. The taste starts syrupy sweet and fruity much akin to an Abbey Double with a peppery finish and a touch of constant earthiness and lingering dry smoke and a quick dash of booze. The mouth feel is soft and a tad sticky but not too heavy, a bit ashy.
While I dig this beer overall profile even if a bit too sweet, I am shocked that anyone could call this an Imperial Stout. Like I said, seems more like a sweeter Abbey beer or even more a strong Danish styled Jule brew with it’s peppery overtones.