From Sep 2007 This pours from 12oz bottlebest before January 2008) a cloudy orange with a small but firm head of foam and it has some lacing. The smell is of citrus hops, grapefruit, and I'm also getting a bit of pine. The taste is very hoppy! I'm getting the citrus, grapefruit & orange, but I also can taste some floral and some spicy flavours. In the background, I can just taste some caramel malt but it's on the light side...man, the finish is *very* bitter but *very* tasty. The mouthfeel is medium, the carbo is medium light, and boy, for it being 8.8%abv, it's hidden pretty well. Also, the aftertaste lingers on like forever. A good feature if you like what's going on in this brew, a bad feature if it's not one that you favour all that much. Bottom line: A fine tasting Imperial Pilsner; If I were to make any suggestions about it, I'd say I'd like to see a bit more of a malt profile to give it more balance. Still, it's a winner.

Aroma and flavor is spicy hops, citrus and a mix of mild malt sweetness and bitter in the finish.

This beer makes me wnat to thrust my hand into fire as I drink it. At first you are getting hops with a hint of wool and the aroma remindes me of the time I wrestled a bull and it messed itself over me. The after taste is slightly wood and earwig with a fine hint of fuel. I’m liking it a lot and will probably bathe in several gallons of this fine brew this evening.

Rating this as i drink my second, it looks and smells like a IPA or IIPA. An almost burnt orange body with average carbonation and a yellowish tinged head that leaves plenty of good lace. Aroma has floral and some citrus notes, flavor is dominated by the hop tartness, with a dry finish. I am not normally a big fan of pilsners and this was my first Imp. pilsner, but i liked this stuff. Originally rated on 11/24/08.

Pours a deep golden yellow. Nice aromas of hops/citrus/peppery. Nice hoppy flavor, spicy/pepper, alcohol shows up in the back end. And once again I love the bottle.

"definitely hoppy, and definitely strong. the hop variety isn’t one that i’m crazy about...smells better than it tastes, but this is a well done beer. recomended for hopheads."

Light copper color with minimal off-white head. Spicy hop aroma. Fairly thick, rich mouthfeel with more earthy, spicy hops on the palate. Potent hop bitterness.

The body has a deep orange amber color with a few random and tiny bubbles of carbonation here and there. Its clarity is very good as well. The head is very thick and creamy with about a two and a half finger thick ness. It is light tan in color and very long lasting which makes for nice sticky rings of lacing on the glass. The aroma is really rich and full of leafy/spicy hops and pale bready malt. The flavor, like its aroma, has an intense spicy/leafy/herbal hop character. It is in you face with hops and bitterness. Under this heavy layer of hops is a simple and very modest pale bready malt flavor. There is just enough malt presence in there to remind you that this is a beer and not just a bottle of hop extract. It finishes with slowly with a strong hop flavor and bitterness that clings to tongue and feels like it is pulling the enamel off of your teeth. The palate has a full, thick body and slick texture with light carbonation.

Two finger head with good lasting power and nice lace on the glass edge. Very cloudy with a darker gold color Hoppy aroma as expected, but more muted than the "intense" monicker might indicate. Creamy body with an equally high carbonation. Very bitter flavor; could even be an extreme IPA if weren’t lagered. The hop is fresh and long lasting, well after the swallow. This would not be a regular drinking pilsner, but it is special and extreme in its flavoring. You will never get bored of it.

This was easily one of the most assertive beers I’d had from Sam Adams. The first time I had it, when it was called the Hallertau pilsner, I could barely stomach it. As my taste developed, so did my appreciation.