Port Brewing Panzer Imperial Pils

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

grapefruit and orange hops, id say pretty moderate on malts, poured small white head... good but nothing too serious.

Draught at TND: Aroma of noble hops, citrus, light Pils malts, and light fruit. Poured yellow/gold in color with a small, loose, white head that lasted throughout. Hazy. Very sparkling. Good to very good lacing. Flavor is medium to heavily bitter. Tastes of noble hops, Pils malts, and a hint of grass. Medium body. Lightly tingly, lightly dry texture. Average to lively carbonation. Noble hop and Pils malt finish is quite bitter. 9.5%ABV is totally hidden.

22 oz bottle via lagunitasfan (big thanks!). Pours a semi hazy amber with an average white head. Nose is mostly alcoholic and grains. Taste is grainy, spicy, peppercorns, with some citrus/spicy hops. Body is medium, carbonation is medium. Astringent finish. A bit hot.

Bottle. Pours gold with a disappointingly small head. Nose had a blast of fresh herbal hops initially, then some residual sugar, alcohol and grain. Flavor is a bit muddy, with a blend of herbal hops, medium sugar sweetness, plastic and alcohol. I just can’t get into this one. The alcohol on the finish is noticeable, and the body has a thickness that ruins the “pilsner” reference. Overall, I suppose this is a decent offering, but it seems overdone and unbalanced, with flavors that clash along the palate until a boozy finish.

Bottle. Pours a clear golden color with a large fluffy white head. Aroma is bready and maybe a little herbal. Flavor is mostly sweet, with pepper and herbal medicinal qualities. Finish is a bit warm and sticky. I took horrible notes on this one, that may indicate it was better than I thought.

Pours a pale gold with a thin, chunky white head that fades to a ring after a pretty short period of time, but holds and leaves a few specs of lacing. Aroma is lemongrass, stale white bread, sweet citrus, salty pastry dough, a bright tangy chili note - habanero maybe?, herbal and toasted grain notes . A little ethanol and mineral come out as it warms. Flavor is spicy grass, floral, sweet and cereal grain, a little toasted grain, limestone, a hint of orange marmalade, sweet floral notes, a berry like sweetness, a little palate smacking brings out some fruity, berry notes, there’s some ethanol and grapefruit near the finish. More cereal and sweet grain notes come out as it warms. Finishes off with light grapefruit, spicy grass, bitter and herbal hops, dandelion green and some mineral and medicinal notes to the fade, the medicinal notes are not too bad and get better as it warms, and appear to continue getting better as it approaches room temperature, but the beer gets pretty hot and sweet by that point. Palate is medium body with a creamy/oily feel and moderate carbonation. Really strange brew with a lot going for it, unfortunately it has a few off notes against it as well. It seems to keep alot of Pilsner like flavors and aromas in its imperial quest but loses much of the subtlety of a good pils with the hot ethanol and odd bitter/medicinal/dandelion notes. All of that being said, I still enjoyed this brew, quite a few quibbles for a decent score I guess. Pouring the dreggs in toward the end of the bottle doesn’t help, but doesn’t make it much worse.

Pour is a sparkling clear, straw-gold color with an average, brilliant white, pillowy head which is somewhat lasting and leaves some sporadic lace. Nose is very faint for a 9.5% beer; notes of cookie, tangerine, floral, white pepper, and faint biscuity notes. Flavor is similar with not much intensity; light honey and faint cookie make up the malt notes, some dusty yeast, and hops which are lemon zest, floral, lightly herbal, and lightly spicy. Palate is lightly warm, crisp, medium, lively, and somewhat round; interesting to be round and crisp. Finishes a bit offputting with some alcohol, light floral, and lingering notes of pepper and herbal hops. It was weird to have a beer with a less than moderate bitterness but so much pepper and herbal hop notes, not really something that I enjoyed. A style that seems to be very inconsistent ranging from very light, crisp strong lager-type beers, to full, very complex beers, almost ale-like due to the high OG, and this one seemed to fit somewhere on the lighter side with a more full body. I think what is really throwing me is the fact that this one is very table-strength-pils-like and I am not a big fan of that style; usually the ESL’s tend to carry more ale characteristics and more bitterness, which I like. One of my favorite breweries but not one of favorites from them. If you like pilsners, this one is literally just a stronger version.

Date: August 20, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: South Bay Drugs, San Diego
Appearance: hazy orange, fine off white head, streaks of lace
Aroma: sweet and spicy aroma, candy sweetness, touch of fruityness, lots of spicyness
Flavor: sweet spicy orange flavor, citrus enhanced by the malt sweetness, lots of peppery spicyness, light bitterness
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **+/4