I had to laugh when I saw this one at Pattee Creek Market in Missoula this week (it is also available at Worden’s Market).  Lagunitas Brewing Company has a history of great beer and funny names, but Wilco Tango Foxtrot is my favorite so far. Name, that is.  Billed as a “malty robust jobless recovery ale,” I can only imagine what the backstory is to this one.  Lagunitas apparently released it back in March, but it just showed up in Missoula over the past week.

The label asks the question, “We’re not quite in the red, or in the black, does that make us in the brown?” – which describes the color perfectly. (You should know by now not to trust my pictures for color.) I find it to be a clear, deep red, but at certain other angles it looks brown or even trending towards black.  It has a lightly tan head with a sweet malty aroma. Their website calls it an imperial brown and describes it as “rich, smooth, dangerous and chocolatey.”  It definitely delivers on being rich and smooth which, when combined with its potent 7.8% abv can certainly make it dangerous.  There is a medium-full body. I taste a hint of chocolate in there, too, or perhaps roasted malt, but overall I get flavors that taste like toasted brown sugar.  The lingering slightly bitter finish is very pleasant.

Despite it being 92 degrees out, I enjoyed this beer with some asiago and roasted pepper sausages on a bun with caramelized onions on a lazy Sunday evening.