 Indulgence (141), Ajo, Arizona, USA
| 4.7 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 5/5 | 10/10 | 4/5 | 19/20 |
Sep 18, 2008 07 version: OMFG this is a holy grail beer, after trying the summer version, how could it get any better, but I find this another blowout... there is nutin but gold here... aromas, incredible fresh hops, some sweet and roasted malts, high depth... appearance, what can you say? It is perfect, huge fluffy head that just lays there forever, lacing, my whole glass is covered with the caked on beige bubbles... flavor, fogetaboutit.. it is outstandingly strong hops and roasted malts, some chocolate, some caramel, it is complete, palate is the only fall back since the alcohol sneaks through a little and packs a hawaiin punch... overall, out-freakin-stounding.
paytoplay (123), , California, USA
| 4.4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 4/5 | 9/10 | 4/5 | 18/20 |
Sep 18, 2008 2006 Winter YuleSmith. What a beer. Intense aroma, very complex set of hops. Darker and richer than the Summer version. Just the right amount of age. Very complete brew, great finish. Some pine, more wood pine and not sharp, some smoke and smooth malty flavors. Tough to describe. Looking forward to the 08 Winter for sure.
BeerandBlues2 (3202), Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
| 4.2 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 17/20 |
Sep 9, 2008 22-oz bottle received via trade with FlacoAlto. Pours tawny with a large, frothy, light brown head, mostly lasting with excellent lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, bread, caramel), heavy hops (flowers, perfume, pine), average yeast (leather, dough) with notes of alcohol, apple, and wood. Full bodied, sticky texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, light sweetness, heavy acidity and bitterness.
kopher (297), New York, USA
| 4.2 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 |
Sep 7, 2008 Pours a hazy rust, tons of off-white thick head. Aroma is surpsrisingly hoppy, fresh-cut grass and earth. Also some roasty-ness and corriander (?). Taste is full of subtle spice flavors, as well as almost-well-balanced matlyness and hops bite. Nice on the palate, smooth and semi-dry. A lasting, very sweet hoppy finish.
The hops, in general, are perhaps a bit overbearing for the style, but the thing would probably be too cloying otherwise.
malrubius (977), Valley Stream, New York, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 16/20 |
Sep 6, 2008 22 ounce bottle split in pint glass. Says 8.5% on bottle. Hazy red with lasting pinkish head and some lace. Hoppy spicy toffee strong aroma. Roasted toffee and brown sugar sweetness with some tart fruit and bracing high carbonated bitter biting hop flavored finish with some cloying. Fairly complex but heavily hopped. Carbonation overwhelms the finish and mouthfeel. Very good. And my quasi-wife would like me to mention that she likes it.
Philip (436), Illinois, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 |
Sep 4, 2008 Bottle. I recalled that I liked the Winter quite a bit more than the summer, and I remembered at the time (when Ratebeer had both listed together) that I thought it odd that they weren’t two separate ratings. Now that I had this one from the bottle again, I realize how much more I liked the Imperial Red Ale. Not only the copper color is an improvement, but the nose and palate tends more toward the rye spectrum than the summer version, and the fruits are darker as well. There’s some raw sugar and a fine amount of hop bite to accompany it. Well made and very drinkable, although not my favorite of the style. Complexity isn’t quite up there with the other great strong ales.
Beerman6686 (1271), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| 4.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 17/20 |
Aug 28, 2008 Pours a nice red color with an off white head. Aroma is of nice citrusy hops followed by sweet malts and a tad of alcohol. Flavor is just so smooth. Porbably one of the best mixtures of hops and malts in an ASA that iv’ve ever had. I liked this better than the summer one.
foundmd (163), Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| 4.3 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 18/20 |
Aug 23, 2008 22oz bottle. Lovely copper red color with a huge foamy head. Great balance of big hops and malt flavors. Has a subtle sweetness of caramel and fruits. This would be awesome to drink during the cold months of the holiday season.
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