Lagunitas Sucks and Boulevard BBQ are on the way

Ah, Winter seasonals; is their any better time of the year for beer geeks? Many have already come and some are already gone, but two will be showing up on Tuesday that are worth talking about. The first shipments of Lagunitas Sucks and Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad should start arriving at local stores this week.

Lagunitas Sucks is a brand new beer brewed to temporarily replace BrownShugga'. According to the brewery, "This sad holiday season we didn’t have the brewing capacity to make our favorite seasonal brew, the widely feared BrownShugga’ Ale. So this substitute beer is a ‘Cereal Medley’ of Barley, Rye, Wheat, and Oats…. Full of complexishness from the 4 grains, and weighing in at 7.6% abv, Then joyously dry-hopped for that big aroma and resinous hop flavor." I haven't tried it yet, but based on that description and the brewery's track record, I think its fair to say this one's worth tracking down.

I assume anyone who reads this blog already knows about BBQ, but for the uninitiated it is a Belgian-style Quadrupel aged in bourbon barrels with cherries added. It is one of Boulevard's best beers (it gets 99pts from Rate Beer and is the 8th highest-rated Quadrupel in the world according to Beer Advocate, if you care about such things) and one of my personal favorites. I will never forget drinking my first BBQ with my family at Christmas back in 2008. Not only did it blow away me and several people who don't typically drink beer, but along with Saison Brett it also helped change my perception of the brewery. The original Smokestack lineup, the Sixth Glass, Long Strange Tripel, the original Saison, and Double Wide IPA, was a great collection of beers. But the creation of the Special Limited Release line of the Smokestack Series and its first two beers, Saison Brett and BBQ, brought the brewery to another level. That's when Boulevard went from being my hometown brewery to being one of my absolute favorite breweries.

Both of these beers should be reasonably easy to find, at least in the early going. BBQ figures to be the more rare of the two, but I've heard there will be over 200 cases for the greater KC metro. Still, I wouldn't chance it, start your search Tuesday!

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