Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pilsner

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

On tap at Stone. Hizy, bright yellow in the glass. The fluffy white head drops to aemoba oil slick lace. Sticky fingers cling to the inside of the glass. Spicy white pepper and cream on the nose. Hoppy pop of bitter in the mouth. Pepper again. Crisp with a HINT of lemon. Crunchy at the end. Yummy.

Had some trouble finding this one. Finally found one in San Francisco. A bit of a disappointment after all that. Lets see, citrus, grass, caramel. Has a citrus aftertaste. Not dry enough for a pilsner in my opinion. Still, quite drinkable.

Pours deep gold into a shaker. Bright white meringue head recedes leaving spider lacing to coat surface. Deep caramel and malt aromas. Creamy and full with upfront caramel and a lasting, dry resin and grapefruit finish.

750ml white ceramic bottle. Pours hazy gold. Small, short lasting white head. Aroma is composed of fruity and honey malt, some alcohol in the nose. Flavour is sweet malt, juicy citrus and some grass. Ends grassy with grapefruit bitterness. Medium body, tight carbonation. Better than I expected from a Euro strong, the hopping kept it interesting.

In short: A boosted Pilsner that maintains the characteristics of the style. Unfortunately a little too sugary sweet.
How: Bottle 750ml (ceramic flip-top). Consumed relatively fresh a few months after purchase
The look: Cloudy dark yellow body topped by a medium white head
In long: Nose blends sweet fruits and noble hops. Taste is crunchy crystal malts, sugary sweetness with a sensation of old honey turning sugary, light fruity note of apricots, a little alcohol bite, a good amount of dry grassy hops but not quite enough to properly balance the sugary nature of the beer. Lacks the crispness and dryness of a good real Pilsner but as far as Imperial Pilsners are concerned (a bastard style that shouldn’t exist) I guess this is a good one. A bigger-is-better American pilsner with a Japanese name usually synonymous with smaller-is-better. Like if Toyota called their Yaris the “John Smith Sedan”.

This is one of my favorites in the ceramic bottle series. Pours a cloudy golden color, and looks oh so unassuming. Plenty of frothy head and tons of lace. The aroma is dougy and mildly spicy. The flavor is very fruity spicy and doughy. The pilsner malt really gets a chance to show it’s stuff here. Very good.

750 ml. Clear, orange-topaz with a sticky head that lasts and cottons up the glass. Big aroma of grapefruit, orange, honey and resin. Flavor is similar, but has more hoppy resin-grapefruit and less malt-honey. Medium body is smoothly carbonated, hop-tingly and resiny-dry. Good, but won’t revisit anytime soon due to the $15 price tag.

Bright golden orange in color and cloudy with a moderate whit head. Aroma is of oranges, hops, and peaches. Flavor is of citrus with a moderate hop bitterness.