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Legend Imperial Brown Ale

Percentile
89
overall

bottling
unknown

on tap
unknown

distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
593.61/5.03.58/5.0Special8%54.7Snifter, Trappist glass
Commercial Description:
Legend Brown Ale has been our most popular beer for eleven years running, so you might ask why we would feel compelled to make a different interpretation of the style. Our answer to that would be that Imperial Brown Ale is a different style altogether. “Imperial” in the beer world describes a beer that is simply BIGGER than the traditional style … Imperial Stout, Imperial IPA (ours will be out late Summer). These are ramped-up versions of the original style containing more malt, more hops, more alcohol, more flavor. Legend Imperial Brown has an intense malt background including seven types of malt for a huge, rich backbone. Look for flavors of caramel, chocolate and coffee, backed up by dark fruit (raisin, currant). Overall undercurrents of bready, biscuit flavors last from start to finish. Malt is nothing without hops and this beer offers a pretty serious hop balance in flavor and aroma. The bittering hop is Perle, a solid, British style. This is accompanied by Ahtanum for the mid to late boil hop for a little floral-citrus character. The whole thing is then dry hopped on Fuggles (30 days) for a nice combination of British and American hop influence. In short, expect a big, brown, chewy beer. 45 IBU, Fermented on Legend house ale yeast, sipped on randomly by the brewers for quality control.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 Hazmatt (363), Virginia, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/105/518/20
Nov 19, 2007  
Bottle. Dark brown color, smallish head, dissipates down to a thin foam ring that lingers. Strong malt aroma with hints of coffee and to a lesser degree, chocolate. Also has an aroma reminiscnent of a barleywine. Flavor is also similar to a light but hoppy barleywine. Good hop flavor, citrus and pine. Roasty dark malts, slight fruitiness emerges as it warms slightly; nutty, touch of smoke. Full bodied. While Legend’s brown ale is very tasty, it’s on the lighter side as browns go, this is more heavy, robust and an entirely different beer-very good.


 obguthr (1028), Poquoson, Virginia, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/104/59/104/517/20
Jul 21, 2007  
Draft at Legend brewery: Lemon peel, moss, and thistle aroma. Brown color with a medium yellow head, great glass coating. Taste is tangy lemon, orange and bark. Subdued moss finish that assumes a hoppier character as the glass warms. The higher alcohol content isn’t the least bit noticeable. Quite a hoppy brown ale and I love it!


 crzybob77 (528), Richmond, Virginia, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/104/518/20
May 17, 2006  
I really like this beer. Tastes like their brown ale, just super hopped up. The rich chocolatey malts go very nicely with the bitter finish.


 theacelatrain (262), Washington DC, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/59/105/517/20
May 30, 2006  
Bottle. Nose of fruity chocolate and caramel, and some dark fruits. Nearly opaque brown with foamy tan head: good lacing. Sweet-bread malty backbone, almost a tad grainy, with sweet date and raisin flavors. Just enough hops in the end. Touch of warmth, but not too big for 8%. But still, this beer is full in mouthfeel and flavor, and complex. Great.


 radagast83 (1302), Fairfax, Virginia, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Aug 12, 2007  
22 oz bottle. Dark brown pour with a nice creamy head. This beer is very smooth and creamy! The alcohol content is pretty well masked within this brew. Every well balanced. I could see myself drinking this one often (if only it wasn’t a special brew!).


 DocLock (4648), Lower Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/105/517/20
Aug 13, 2007  
Thanks to Secret Santa for this one, which has eluded me for a long time. The pour is deep brown with a 2-finger khaki head. Aroma of roasty dark malt, almonds, toffee, some funky yeast notes, hops, and a tad of cabernet. Tastes roasty malty, with brown sugar, nuts, molasses, hops, with some late tart cherry and cabernet notes. Palate heft is on the dense side, and is very well balanced and complex, making this one a true classic for brown ale or Impy style ale fans.


 scraff (1942), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/58/104/516/20
Apr 24, 2006  
22oz bottle - Clear dark brown, thin tan creamy head. Rich nose of chocolate malt, nuts, and butterscotch. Flavor was similar with nutty chocolate malt tones, light caramel, and more tones of butterscotch coming through loud and clear. A light bitterness late pulls it all together. Medium bodied, soft carbonation, drying nutty finish. Really nice, very drinkable...


 Braudog (3762), Dayton, Ohio, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/105/58/105/516/20
Aug 14, 2006    Updated: Aug 1, 2007
Poured from my $6 bottle (my wife loves me). Dark brown with a bright red sheen reflecting off the bottom and a foamy tan head on top. The aroma reminds me of caramel-covered apples. The flavor is sweeter than I had expected ... tart even ... big caramel malt and a pinch of toffee. And then there’s a surprisingly tangy hoppy finish. Good.



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