Great Waters Giant Star Imperial Pale Ale

Cask pour. Coppery orange, cloudy, and lusciously creamy. Perfume and clementine aroma of gorgeously fresh hops, blanketing a garden of earthy sweetness over sugar cookies, cotton candy, and beer bread. Wildly floral, and burly, a centennial-dominant celebration of hops over fulsome malts, and no suggestion of alcohol. It sings the sunny-sweet melody of west coast hops with a crystal-clear tone, and more delicately than almost every midwestern example in my memory. Brilliant!

Flavor, similarly, is all sweet floral perfume and juicy citrus and tropical fruits, mostly sweet, and driven in with cotton candy and distant toffee malts; golden kiwi and wildflower honey accentuate the flower qualities of its absolutely intoxicating freshness. Again, it really captures a cheek-dripping summertime orchard experience in a way simply extraordinary for a midwestern interpretation.

Full palate, patently round and fulsome in impression; caressing. While I didn’t have the chance to enjoy it on tap, it seems that the cask treatment has polished it into a gem, as its texture really couldn’t be more alluring, more velvety, or any softer. Finishes with the sweet remnants of the huge citrus flavors, and bittering somewhat as the hops coat the very back of the mouth in flower petals and dandelion hues.

This stunning example of grace and integrated flavor is another argument for how undervalued this brewpub has been, especially recently as its seasonal offerings have become increasingly distinct and memorable. Call it a new IPA from Valley or Port, and it would be sought after, and I’m only sorry that I can’t get growlers of this cask version to send around the country. Bravo!

On tap at the brewery. Hazy yellow with a decent quarter inch of white head. Malty body with a distinct bitter cirus ho finish. Mostly caramel malt on the sweetness.

Pours a darkish, lightly hazed, peach amber color with half an inch of nearly white soft foam. Good webby lacing. Citrus hops and bold caramel in the aroma. A brick house of flavors here. Want hops? Pine up front, grapefruit up front, grapefruit in the middle, pine in the middle, grapefruit in the the finish. Bitter with a capital B. Want malt? Caramel and toffee throughout - beginning to finish. This beer is frickin’ huge. Medium carbonation. Mouthfeel - thick and full, with oily hops, and tongue-coating malt. And yet so smoooth. So drinkable. If ever there was a session beer IIPA, this is it. Very addictive.

Orange/Gold Coloring with White Ring. Fruity Hop Aroma. Citrus, Dry Hop Cloud...Slowly Disappears for a Crisp, Dry Ending.

Deep orange-amber. Hugely hoppy nose, flavor is minty, spicy, and very citirc. Interesting finish at the end, sort of a spicy pine resin coating in the mouth. Oily and full. Decent stuff.

Served in a snifter. Very dark amber color with a medium head. Heavy hop aroma, but without that militant pine badness that can ruin an IIPA. The taste was a surprising balance of strong hops with strong malt. Slightly citrusy, but mixed with some earth tones. Alcohol is hidden to start, but she comes out for a victory lap about half way through. Very well balanced and damn tasty!

Ok. So I was pretty lit up by the time I sampled this brew, which was at the 5th of 6 bars on the Twin Cities "I love Beer" pubcrawl. But, I seem to have liked it. Hoppy aroma, but not a hop variety I liked very much. Orange amber in color. Large off-white head, lasting. Excellent lace. Root beer float head. Upon tasting the brew, still didn’t like the hop variety, but nice overall.

On-tap at the brewpub served in a 10oz snifter: Bright but dirty peach color with a substantially thick white puffy head. The cap stays intact for a good duration. Lace plastered all over the glass in thick spongey set curtains. Aroma is quite nice. Oily yet dry with pine sap sitting among a toasted floral citrusy backing. Clean, reserved, fresh, and juicy. It has a nicely twisted realm of fragrent hop oil. Flower pollen of citrus trees is what really sets it off. Flavors are smooth and hoppy. No big bitterness...yet. Tangerine and peach skins lead the way with a nicely handled juicy sugared oilyness. Flowers, pine cones, and dulled lemony hints slip in. Light caramel malt makes a sweet note here and there. Smooth and even as it fades off towards the finish. But wait...oh there it is. Hello, oily hop heat. Wow, it has a big late return of hop heated citrus and build back of bite. Pine and citrus oils almost burn, but not very harshly, as it transends into a warmer ending. Feel is medium creamy with a slight dustyness in some areas bringing a hop dust or refined leafyness to it. Super finely grated citrus peels and sticky pine sap syrup seem to coat the texture too as the hops indeed bring the overall character to an oily perfection. A good drinker, as the creamy oilness favors its hop heft and warmth. Goes down swiftly and more then just one 10oz glass will be needed to find its true potential and complexities.