jcp23 (47), Duluth, Georgia, USA
| 4.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 5/5 | 10/10 | 5/5 | 19/20 |
Jun 28, 2009
Bottle into snifter. Intensely rich, resinous, floral hop nose. Solid hazy perfect glowing golden orange colour with thick off-white head. Lots of splattered lacing on the glass. Flavor is full, rich, citrusy, resiny Hallertaus. These hops deliver a huge punch, while also displaying a smooth, mellow character that coats the tongue in heavenly hoppiness. The huge hoppinesss is supported by a perfectly balanced sweet, sumptuous caramel malt that blends and flows beautifully together. A rich, palate filling symphony of lusciousness. I can’t say enough about this beer. I love it. Absolutely one of my all-time favorites. Best beer I’ve had from Sam Adams(come on Utopias!) I call SAIP "Beer Nirvana". Please make more. Soon.
 tpd975 (256), Riverview, Florida, USA
| 3.4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 6/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 15/20 |
Dec 20, 2009 A: Pours a nice cloudy golden orange color with a nice head. Just a ring hangs around but it does provide some lovely lacing.
S: Very floral and citrusy, smells like an old womens perfume.
T: Very different flavor. I was expecting the overflow of hops, but its the malt taste that floored me. This beer is very malty. There is a great deal of biscuity malty sweetness. Then you are hit by the bitterness of the hops which are very unique in flavor.
M: Very smooth and very crisp.
BigBeer45 (711), Michigan, USA
| 4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 3/5 | 16/20 |
Dec 18, 2009 Hallertau Imperial Pilsner Bottle,
pours a clear orange gold with a white head that recedes (there is some haze from the sediment when the bottom of the bottle is poured), this beer looks viscous in the glass and leaves a decent amount of lacing on the glass,
has a big grass and floral hop aroma along with malt bread, Pilsner and malt sweetness,
herb and grass hops on the tongue along with a malt bread and sweetness flavors, just a faint touch of alcohol felt on the palate but it is way in the background – hidden well, I thought the hop bitterness blended in with the alcohol and tends to hide it, has a hop bitterness that almost gives a burn on the palate, similar to some Double or Imperial IPAs I’ve had, also, this does not have the sometimes overly sweet alcohol taste I get in some ESLs that can be nasty,
medium or more mouth feel, some creaminess on the tongue to,
same aroma of hops found in the SA Boston Lager just much, much more, if you want to know what Hallertau Hops smell and taste like get this beer, such a big hop and sweet malt presence that this reminds me of a Hoppy IPA, a blind test and I would be fooled into thinking this was a IPA, this ESL has IPA written all over it except for that there are no fruit or caramel flavors you found in IPAs, a nice drink.
mcmd (148), Louisville, Kentucky, USA
| 4.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 |
Nov 17, 2009 Pours a cloudy orange with a nice thick head. Aroma is lots of citrus hops - lemon, orange, grapefruit. Sweet malt present as well. Taste is initially sweet malt and caramel ollowed by bitter grapefruit, leaving a huge bitterness in the finish. Very nice imperial IPA essentially.
aboutabeer (10), Indiana, USA
| 4.3 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 18/20 |
Oct 23, 2009 Wow. The aroma is hoppy, fruity. copper color, cloudy. big flavor. malty, some bitter fruit. very nice.
rampmaster (322), Alden, New York, USA
| 4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 |
Oct 21, 2009 Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass. The label reads best before Jan. 09 and it was sampled on 6-24-09.
Appearance: The body has a deep orange amber color with a few random and tiny bubbles of carbonation here and there. Its clarity is very good as well. The head is very thick and creamy with about a two and a half finger thick ness. It is light tan in color and very long lasting which makes for nice sticky rings of lacing on the glass.
Smell: The aroma is really rich and full of leafy/spicy hops and pale bready malt.
Taste/Mouth: The flavor, like its aroma, has an intense spicy/leafy/herbal hop character. It is in you face with hops and bitterness. Under this heavy layer of hops is a simple and very modest pale bready malt flavor. There is just enough malt presence in there to remind you that this is a beer and not just a bottle of hop extract. It finishes with slowly with a strong hop flavor and bitterness that clings to tongue and feels like it is pulling the enamel off of your teeth. The palate has a full, thick body and slick texture with light carbonation.
Notes: This is a big, full hop bomb and I even sampled it a few months passed its freshness date. I love hops and the flavor was very good but I am not the biggest hop head in the world so for me the drinkability was low on this one. A little bit of this goes a long way.
kuphish (161), Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| 2.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 5/10 | 2/5 | 10/20 |
Sep 29, 2009 Bottle. Pours an average, white, dense, creamy head. Honey golden, hazy body. Head is lasting, patchy and clingy. Nice, big (without being overpowering) noble hop (herbal and spicy) nose. Sweet, caramel malt dominates the body. Definitely malt forward. Hallertau is equally strong. Some citrus coming through now. A bit of raisin and bread in the malt profile. Full bodied, sticky and resinous. A little oil slick on the tongue. Malty sweet up front with a big bitter finish. Moderate, warming alcohol lingers on the back of the tongue with the hop bitterness. Average carbonation. Overall a pretty weird beer. I love the concept, but I think the Pilsener would be better served (and would better showcase the Hallertau) if the Imperial nonsense were dropped. Or at least if the beer were less imperialized. As it stands, this tastes like an American Strong Ale and doesn’t resemble a Pilsener in the least. Better attenuation, less crystal and a smaller overall grainbill would make this a more attractive beer for me. As it stands, it gets lost in the shuffle with other imperialized nonsense. Disappointing, because I love Hallertauer Mittelfrüh.
Svesse (2685), Hässelby, Sweden
| 3.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 |
Sep 24, 2009 (Bottle) Hazy, dark golden colour with lasting, frothy, beige head. Fruity, hoppy nose with notes of dried apricots, grapefruit, bread and a touch of alcohol. Fruity, malty, hoppy taste with dried apricots, grapefruit and pine needles. Bready malt with some ryvita. Long, dry, bitter finish with just a touch of alcohol. Slightly above medium body, drier than expected. Very hoppy but still well balanced. Very nice. Impressive!
walrussell (125), , Illinois, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 5/5 | 14/20 |
Sep 23, 2009 Updated: Sep 25, 2009tastes like an ipa - a really freakin good ipa, maybe a little cleaner - tangerine grapefruit caramel is right with the grapefruit aftertaste too - a little grassy - sweetness / hoppiness is in great balance (cuz it is pretty sweet) I wish I could tell the dif between hop varieties better, and really notice the hallertau! After a while, when it gets warmer, it becomes too sweet - oh well
|
Statistics
Find This Beer (Want/Have)