Manchester Censored Imperial Blonde

Brewed by Manchester Brewing
Style: European Strong Lager
Concord, New Hampshire USA

Deep blonde-golden pour with a thin white head. Lots and lots of suspended yeast in here. Sweet and honeyish with loads of pale malt character. A little bit doughy without much in the way of balancing hops. Meh – can’t say I’m a fan of this one.

22oz bomber bottle from Charles Street Liquors, Boston MA. Hazy gold colour. No head to speak of. Mainly bready malt aroma. Reasonable balance of grainy malt and spicy hops on the palate. Quite fat and slick mouthfeel. Some residual sweetness make the texture feel a touch syrupy. Don’t know what the ABV but I definitely found a bit of a burn in the afterglow. In fact the alcohol heat lingers quite a while. I would have liked a bit more depth of flavour and complexity to carry and counterbalance the alcohol. Not really my type of beer but OK for what it is.

22oz bomber purchased at Barb’s Beer Emporium in Concord. Pours a just slightly hazy light yellow body with a thin film of white-ish head. Smells bready with hints at lemon and grassy hops. Tastes sweet and bready, with lemon, pine, pith, and a slight graininess. Clean finish. Light in body with ample effervescent carbonation. While American Blonde isn’t anywhere near the top of my list of favorite styles, I can honestly say that I cannot remember having tried a better example of the style - tasty, balanced, drinkable, and refreshing, with no perceivable flaws, I think I just found my new go-to summer beer.

Pours deep amber into a shaker. Bright white head with excellent retention. Alcohol and toasted malt aromas. Sweet caramel upfront turning to alcohol soaked marshmallows and coconut.

My Bottom Line:
Sweet, toasted bread flavors create a portly mouthfeel that is almost balanced out by herbal hops in the finish, building a cohesive, but perhaps malt-heavy lager.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the cloudy honeyed blond.
-The sweet bread is very much reminiscent of French toast.
-A light alcohol presence adds body and complexity.
-The hops could have been helpful in the aroma, but they’re mostly present in the end.
-This is rather drinkable, yet you know it’s far from 5% abv.

Bottle.

Original review date 5/13/2009... Purchased at Jasper’s in Nashua a few weeks ago. Into a Smutty pint glass it goes... Pours a wheaty, light honeyish blonde color with ample carbonation. A fair amount of viscosity is noted after a vigorous pour yields only about 1/2 finger of bubbly head. It goes quickly and yields some gelationous yeasty wisps. Definite viscosity going down here. Carbonation is plentiful and powers its way up this thick pint. I’m getting a lot of hop silage on here. Maybe a little raw grain but the silage could be a little Saaz or maybe a blast of Hallertau. Slight skunk here and maybe a touch of honey. Huh. Well, this is interesting. Slight honey-thick booze. A bit of the skunk and said silage. Underpinning this, however is a pleasant raw stewy grain texture. Unpleasantness fortunately dissipates quickly. The booze and honey sweetness mask a few imperfections here, but it’s still enjoyable for a style I really don’t frequent too much. Palate feel has a decent amount of that Saaz-ish hoppiness and stewiness. Copious sweetness and a kick of booze add to the very light malty heft. Finish is ummm...burp-inducing. Not so much from carbonation but from the nice kick of hops and extra amount of booze and sweetness. This one’ll play. I enjoy seeing new local outfits put out a solid product. Maybe not spectacular and not something I’ll seek out constantly, but when I’m getting my sled maintained up in Nashua every couple of months I’ll stop into Jasper’s, pick up some brewing stuff and also a bomber from these dudes. A little clean-up to be done but this is a hefty late spring/early summer offering.

golden pour with a nice frothy white head that slowly dissipates. Aroma is a bit of citrus and some floral hops along with some light sweet malt and a bit of graininess and honey. Flavor is sweet and light, mouthfeel is medium bodied. Hop tones are a bit earthy and grassy with some lemon honey in the finish. A decent brew, Manchester brewing makes some nice stuff.

Deep golden pour with vivacious white head that refuses to dissipate. Bubble cells are medium to small with an excellent tight froth forming on the surface. Lacing is very thick and coating at first, subsiding and slipping into a veneer. Aroma is sweet citrus lemon malt, with a backbone of hoppy floral notes. Some grain and sweet malt culminate with the ever so slight toastyness. Flavor has a great deal of sweet malt, some bittering with a mild hop profile. Grapefruit, lemon, and a predominantly malty body prevail. Palate is smooth with medium carbonation and a medium to light body. Finish is semi-dry with a crisp citrus like finish. Quite interesting and tasty- I’d have this again.