Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner

Brewed by Boston Beer Company
Style: European Strong Lager
Boston, Massachusetts USA

24oz 2005 release. Dark amber color, big rocky white head. Big thick aroma of hops. Flavor of strong resiny hops. Nice, but I am missing the pilsner part 7/5/7/3/17.

12oz 2007 release labeled Hallertau Imperial Pilsner. I’d never heard of this beer when it appeared on the beer store shelves. From the label I gather it was made with only hallertau hops which should be in short supply next year due to the storms in Europe. The pour is a bright gold with a minimal head of tight white bubbles that reduce to lace. The aroma is quite nice. It’s creamy in aroma; I mean the hops are obvious but they aren’t biting. The cream aroma, maybe toast? Really a rare thing to smell in a beer. The flavor better demonstrates the character of these hops. The bitterness is very up-front and bracing. the bitter sensation runs down either side of my tongue and remain well into the finish. I think the malt is what smooths out the aroma but its presence is hardly noticed in the flavor. This is a showcase of bitter German hops. 8/3/6/3/16

Pale golden hay color, quite dim and hazed with a small/mediumish capping of off-white froth that slips away quickly leaving a trace skim over the top and some big globby strings of lace. Pleasingly floral and hoppy aroma with a nice twist of lemon rind and lime skin. Bright, clean, fresh, crunchy, and crisp with some small pale malt ascents and biscuity dryness within. Swell nose; I can just picture the commercial where Jim plants his nose into a heaping handful of hops. Classic! Taste is whole bunch of yum! Very well balanced and drawn upon the fair notion of what some of my favorite IPA’s drum up. Dryish, brisk, crunchy hop tones fly aross the palate quickly with floral citric punch and ponder. Uniquely developed layers and subtle tones make this quite an excellent palate pleaser. There’s a nice tender little under pull of sweet malt thats bordering a candy-like presense, yet keeps mostly dryish, especially as it trials into the finish where it deepens greatly with a nice mix of hop texture, tone, and flavor of floral grasses and pithy citric bitterness grow controllable but powered with lasting vibes. Feel is about medium if not a bit beyond. There’s a nice flow and ease to it as its balance with remarkably well nurtured sweet and pale malt tones the whole way through. The pithy bitterness of hops is so in control yet present it nearly screams, if not begs, to be nudged with a bit more everything, but yeilds a great sublte complexity instead of grass and dried floral stuff. Sammy Adams has a winner with this one! Damn solid! Hope to see it stick around for awhile as I know I’ll be pickin’ up more.

Pine and lemon explosion in the aroma. Lasting hop bitterness for minutes on the aftertaste. I like a little more malt sweetness to balance out my hop bombs.

Nice imperial pils!!!! light orange color, nice foamy head, nose is sweet, some pine sol, fresh. tons and tons of hops on the flavor but with a mild malt base. great beer

22oz bottle. pours a light orangey color with a white foamy head. Nose is grassy, hay, though quite sweet for a pilsner. taste is very full, lots of grass and hay, some light fruit notes even. Finishes with a light film on the palate and nice bitterness.

12 oz bottle, 2007. Cloudy yellow brown with a chunky white head. Lacy clouds coat one side. Fresh orange juice and honeysuckle; very nice. Wasn’t expecting the intensity of this one. Sharp gin and grapefruit then lemon custard. Dry, spicy finish slowly fades. Interesting brew.

Deep golden color with some haze and a moderate white head on top. Spicy Hallertau aroma, balanced out fairly well with bready malts. Flavor is malty up front, a bit doughy and followed by some sharp and grassy bnitterness. Nice balance. Medium bodied, alcohol is not noticible, no fusels either. A nice concoction, on of SA’s better beers for sure.

12oz bottle. Hazy orange with a small white head that leaves some lasting foam. Nice, big, fruity hops in the nose with plenty of almost tropical notes. Hops and just more hops in the flavor. Quite strong citrus peel, with supporting malts that dont step on the hops at all, just provide a solid stage for them to stand on. Boston lager times two? medium-full body with medium-soft carbonation. This is quite tasty. Pretty much a DIPA, with a bit cleaner profile. By far the best sam adams that Ive had.