Goose Island Imperial IPA

Brewed by Goose Island Beer Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Chicago, Illinois USA

06 bottle, thanks to Bu11zeye for donating this to my fridge. Pours a hazy tan burnt orange with a medium sized off-white head, lots of lacing. Aroma is still pretty citrusy, with oranges at the forefront a bit of brown sugar, caramel, french toast, and maybe cheddar (but that might just be old hops). Flavor is very malty and pretty sweet, orange flavor is intermingled with the brown sugar, caramel, white chocolate and toffee. Finishes with a bitter orange rind flavor, and a real nice maple honey sweetness that comes out of nowhere. There’s a leafy grass taste as well, moreso when inhale some airover the tongue. Thick and creamy palate, surprisingly not too sticky considering the significant sweetness, and no heat whatsoever. There might be a slight cattyness on the nose and not as much bursting hop flavor, but I can picture how good this is fresh. As it stands I still think it tastes fantastic. Definitely my kind of IPA.

2006 vintage. Mmmmm....this beer is delicious! The body is a dense, unfiltered cloud of rusty orange. A medium sized, foamy, cream colored head settles to a thin layer with a well gathered, frothy rim. Intricate rings of ribbony lacing circle the glass. The aroma is huge, yet well balanced. Its as if they crammed as many malts and hops as possible into the bottle. Massive notes of buttery toffee and caramel malts are met with their fresh, orange hoppy counterpart. A massive dose of cream really adds a ton of smoothness to the nose. The flavor is again well balanced and huge, with the same components showing through in the same proportion. The only new element that I picked up is some vanilla, which is a nic touch. A downright full, creamy mouthfeel is just about perfect, with surprisingly no sticky cloying feeling. Finishes medium long, with bitterness showing through. Given its age, this one has ventured down the path towards barleywine status, but it’s still tasty as hell. Solid brew!

12 oz. single from John’s Grocery (Iowa City, IA). Poured into a tulip glass. The brew poured a deep amber color with a prominent thick head. A very lively looking beer that smells highly citrusy but mellower/sweeter than I’d expect (Which I like!). Wonderful intial taste that was hoppy and citrusy, possibly flaunting a touch of honey, without being harsh. A bit of a belly warming effect from the alcohol, although it was hard to discern much of its presence in the taste. Some light pleasant malts on the end. A highly hopped beer that comes out MUCH smoother than expected without any harsh acidity. I throughly enjoyed this brew and will definately drink again.

Thanks ucusty for bringing this back to trade to me. Poured a glowing golden orange with a creamy orange head. The nose was very citrusy, fresh hops, mandarin oranges, light alcohol, lemons. The flavor was also very citrusy, freshly hopped, waxy grapefruit peel, mandarin oranges, light alcohol, spicy hops. Slightly waxy palate that hides the 9.2% well. Lasting citrusy and waxy finish.

The color was a crisp orange. The orange was creamy, off-white, and laced some. The aroma was very fresh hops, apricot, and citris. THe flavor was citris, hoppy, apricot, and alcohol. The palate was smooth. The finish was warm.

2nd Houston Tasting. Clear sticky honey color with very little head. Sweet honey nose with big floral hops. Flavor is much less hoppy than the nose, nice and rich but not as hoppy as expected. Balanced hops with the malts.

12 oz bottle. Pours a clear, orangish-amber with a thin off-white head. Aroma is citrus and pine hops with sweet, syrupy malt. Flavor was sweet caramel malt with some potent citrus and peach. Mouthfeel is medium and creamy with a strong bitter aftertaste. This is one balanced, yet powerful DIPA. Very impressive!

Better than most. Lots of fresh hops in the intense aroma, and there is grapefruit and some pine. Flavor has some sweet malt but mostly bitter hops, and they are very intense. Full of flavor and full bodied.