Port Brewing Panzer Imperial Pils

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: European Strong Lager
San Marcos, California USA

From a 22oz Bottle. Mostly transparent, honey gold colored pour with a thin layer of tight bubbled, fizzy white head. Aromas of resinous, piney hops. Some sweet, sugary malt sweetness is also present, along with some moderately high alcohol levels. The hop aroma smells nice at first, but when combined with the alcohol and malt sweetness, it creates somewhat of a harsh, abrasive sensation. Medium bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel with a moderate sweetness. The malt flavors aren’t heavy enough to qualify as sticky, but are too sweet to reveal a clean, pilsner malt breadiness. Hop flavors are bold and resinous, but the crispness of the hop bitterness is disguised by the underlying malt sweetness. A moderately high level of alcohol comes in on the back end, creating a somewhat harsh finish. This seems to disrupt the bold hop flavors, as they transition into a brash alcohol finish rather than simply enhance the dryness on the back end. Enough potential to look forward to future batches.

One extra point in Appearance simply for the bottle. Awesome. Pours a clear golden color with plenty of active carbonation, chunky white head that sticks around forever and leaves plenty of lacing. Aromas of earthy bread and smooth doughy sweetness. Flavor starts with a tamed toasty malt sweetness balanced by the rather apparent alcohol warming. Some spicy and mildy citric hops make an appearance in the middle of the palate without playing too much of a part. Clean on the palate, though some of the grainy sweetness does remain for too long.

22oz bottle courtesy of a generous BA. Pours a clear golden amber with a big fluffy white head that recedes slowly to a ring, leaving very little lacing. The aroma is very sweet with malts and plenty of herbal and citrus hops on top, mainly oranges and lemons. There actually a little bit of alcohol burn in the nostrils as well. The taste is a bit more complex than the aroma with more herbal hop kick and booze in the finish. The bready malts form a solid backbone with some citrus hops kick up front and a sweetness that builds between sips. The mouthfeel is sticky with good soft carbonation and a body on the heavier side of things. The alcohol isn’t completely hidden, but doesn’t dominate. This is a pretty hefty beer for the style with a strong herbal presence as well as a noticeable alcohol kick. It’s not the most drinkable brew but it’s tasty.

Bottle and served in my NB Worthy glass: Deep golden hue with a small but lasting frothy with head. The aroma has notes of pineapple, apricot, Saaz, Tettnanger, bready pale malts, some alcohol phenols and a touch of grains of paradise. The flavor profile is part sweet malt and part aggressive hop bitterness. Well balanced and enjoyable with a nice hop spice kick on the finish. A hint of marzipan and over ripened tomatoes as well. Like HopheadHans said, this is GREAT Pizza beer fitting the Pizza Port tradition. The mouth feel is aggressive and lively with a hint of metallic finish. Surprisingly really, I expected a boozy mess but instead got a nice strong lager, The Euros should learn something from this.

Bottle. Just realized that I never rated this. This beer pours with an orange color. It has aromas of honey and dried fruit. Flavors are more of caramel, toffee and molasses with a bit of apricot and peach. Very faint graininess that hints at a lager. A bit boozy initially. I found that this beer works well if a meaty pizza.

Bottle from City Beer. The sparkling, honey-colored body is hazy and orange-hued. This mildly effervescent body is topped with a moderate, if not small head of ivory that sticks in rounded splotches and rings on the walls of my pils glass. The weight of the beer is masked by ample carbonation and has a soft, semi-dry finish. I smell the sweet aroma of pils yeast, sugared bread dough, citrus, caramel, and notes of pine. A nice mixture of malts and hops confront you immediately: pine, citrus, sugar, caramel; then the pils yeast steps in, followed by a bitter finish of pine, citrus, wood, some unknown spice, and a touch of roasted-caramel malt. Notable alcoholic warmth on the finish as it sits a while, which simply enhances the sweet citrus finish (carries a lot of orange and grapefruit rind) and the pils yeast with roasted caramel. Take a strong ale composed of the pils yeast and the malts of a bock with a touch of roasted malt, but replace the noble hops with something you might expect in a big West Coast IPA and you have the Panzer. The Panzer is mellow, but well-hopped, and overly drinkable for it’s ABV...which is really no problem at all.

Bottle from City Beer Store in San Fran. I am really starting to love this style, hopefully I’ll find more good examples soon. Hazy dark yellow pour with a big white head. Smells of grapefruit, lemon, pine and caramel. Big piney hop taste up front with a solid amount of spice (clove, cardamom) and a bit of lemon. Finishes with a nice mix of hop bitterness and malty sweetness. Satisfying brew.

1st off.............man i love american version of euro strong lagers!!!! Great hazy orange pour with a wicked nose of hops, sweet caramel, caramelized apples, and sweet malt. Flavour is very sweet, but super satisfying. Lots of nice hops, and more of the wicked caramel apples, and malt. Such a chewy tasty beer. I love it!