Goose Island Imperial IPA

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

Draft: Not as impressed as I thought I would be. Real stickey/pineyness with a serious alcohol presence. Not very well balanced, and the body was a little thin for my liking. Still enjoyable, but I was expecting more.

(Bottled) Hazy deep golden with a small head. Very strongly fruity-hoppy, slightly yeasty and alcoholic aroma. Fruity, grainy-malty flavor with well-hidden alcohol. Medium to full-bodied, low-carbonated palate. A nicely fruity and well-balanced brew, despite the large amount of hops.

Hazy red-amber color; creamy head. Strong aroma, extremely malty in the beginning, balanced then by the wonderful hops, fruity; a touch of vanilla too, and pine needles. Good body structure, without being thick; malty flavor turning into toffee, enough sugars; well balanced by the powerful and aromatic hopping; light hop fruitness and some hop oils. Not being too sweet, it’s also not cloying. Wonderful.

Bottle. Unclear / hazy orange color with a average frothy fair lacing mostly diminishing off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, moderate to heavy hoppy, grapefruit, spuce, brown sugar, licorice. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and heavy bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium to full, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. ;o))

Pours hazy gold with white creamy head. Strong aroma of hops. Strong hop flavor. Loads of hops. Refreshing and smoothe. Wish I had more.

Big hop aroma. Pale pour. Decent balance in the flavor. Doesn’t really offer anything new, but still pretty good. I don’t feel like writing any more. Got this as an extra from someone. I don’t know who, because my beer spreadsheet is on my laptop, and my laptop freaking died. Fuck.

Bottle labeled 2006. Sweet fruity aroma, some vanilla, and some caramel malt. The rater below me definitley got it on point, it smells like many barley wines. Pours orange, hazy, with nice lacing on the side of the glass. Some grapefruit hops come through initially, followed by intensely sweet malt, then followed again by the dry citrus hops. Sweetness hangs around in the mouth, coats it, and kicks it for a minute. Very well balanced sweetness and bitterness, but as far as I like my Double IPAs, it is far too sweet. I am glad I got to try it though.

Unique, intriguing, strong, sweet, chalky aroma features apple, hay, cherry, raspberry, chocolate, and plum scents. Smells almost saison-esque with its farmhouse aromas and dry character, but with a definite Pacific Northwest hops twist. Also smells much like many barley wines. <P>Pours a hazily opaque, glowing orange/tan with a small amount of short-lasting, cream-colored head. Produces surprisingly extensive lacing given the lack of head foam. <P>The taste is quite sweet, pepper-spicy, and fruity (especially apricot). The alcohol is well-masked, although it does make its presence felt after multiple sips. In many IPAs and double IPAs, the hops dominate the flavor in the initial sips, while the underlying, malt-derived flavors emerge later. This beer produces the opposite effect, with the hoppiness developing slowly but surely in the flavor. Very dry finish, again reminiscent of a saison. <P>Citrus- and bitter-hoppy aftertaste. Full-bodied, soft, and smooth in the palate. Lively on the tongue. Easy to drink for such a thick, heavy, and high-alcohol brew, but it is filling. <P>I drank this sample from a 12 oz. bottle labeled as 2006 and marked as best when consumed by March 31, 2007, so it’s supposedly two months past its prime. I’m guessing that the sharp hop character has diminished somewhat, but the underlying flavors are strong enough that I doubt that the beer is suffering too greatly from aging. Goose Island Imperial IPA is a very good and unique beer. It does not taste as one might expect from the style, but who cares? It’s still really good.