Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pilsner

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: European Strong Lager
Newport, Oregon USA

26oz bottle, no date. Chef Morimoto is totally cool, so this rating may be skewed. I’ll update at the end. Pours a cleargolden with a tiny white head--I couldn’t pour it well enough with the way the stoneware bottle was shaped--it just glugged a buttload. Anyway, the aroma was some grassy and spicy hops, vanilla and brown sugar, alcohol, and some stale biscuits. The taste is much the same, with some moderate bitterness coming in, offsetting the candy sugar and caramel. Full bodied, light-moderate carbonation. No, I didn’t end up skewing this rating. As far as Imperial Pilseners go, Golden Shower wins. This is still pretty good though.

on tap at speakeasy (carrboro, NC). sweet with caramel, vanilla, butter, sugar...malty backbone floats around it...well balanced once a night beer. dont really love this style, but this hits the spot sometimes.

750, courtesy BitBucket Jr. Big orangey amber body with a comically massive diminishing white head. Looks like spider eggs all clustered together, bubbles on top of bubbles. Big floral hop nose and creamy flowery hop goodness throughout the palate, especially on the finish. Delicious beer, though not extraordinarily distnctive--yummy on a hot day, great with spicy food, not super-distinguished as a sipping/drinking beer. Good stuff but not transcendent.

I just don’t see it as being any permutation of the pilsner style. It seems more like a DIPA that is a little light on the hops for a DIPA. That being said, this is a great beer. It’s big without being syrupy, hoppy without being one-dimensional. It’s nice to the front and back of your tongue. Yee haw is right!

A beautiful beer worthy of an Iron Chef. For a relatively strong beer, the flavor isn’t bitter at all, just a delicious beer. Highly recommended.

Hazy peach color with a small fast fading white head. Aroma is sweet and fruity and lightly grassy. Flavor starts rich and barleywine sweet with lots of fruit (apricot, ripe orange, peach) and finishes orange rind bitter, long and dry. Rich bodied and creamy with moderate carbonation. Pretty ceramic bottle, but kinda pricey.

Bottle. Poured a golden color with a white head. Aroma is a hoppy floral one. Very nice smell which definitely made me look forward to tasting it. Flavor is just as great as the aroma. A very hoppy taste which creates a great bitterness that is not even close to being overly bitter. An enjoyable beer that I shared with friends back in TN. They enjoyed it too!

750ml ceramic bottle: Poured a golden sheen with an oddly watery head that them firmed up, like drying glue or something. If I describe the aroma as a musty moldiness, it sounds bad, but it’s good, so I don’t know how to describe it ... very earthy and grassy. This starts down your throat like an innocent little European lager, but then POW the alcohol and oily hoppiness hits at the back of the tongue. But while you get that sugary bite, it comes without the heft of most "big" beers ... it’s quite light and swigable. Very good.