Buckhead Emperor Penguin Ale

Date: 12/22/2004
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

dark amber, frothy tan head, big earthy citrus aroma with a hint of sweetness, lots of dry hop flavor and a long bitter finish, big malt backbone to keep it balanced, called an imperial ipa but bigger and better than a lot of barley wines,

Aroma: 9/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Score: ***/4
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The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

On tap at the (closed) Alpharetta location. Aroma of citrus hops with some sweet malt. This beer carries its 9.5%abv with grace between the hops and the malt. I’d like a little more carbonation.

Cask from the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting. Poured a brownish copper. Hoppy citrus aroma with caramel and a definite alcohol nose. Malty flavor interwoven with with hop flavor and bitterness. Light to medium body with a long hop finish. Very warming effect. Out of the 12 or so beers for the night this one seemed to have the least amount of carbonation of the night.

This one is well into the Brown Ale category in color with a smallish head (of course, I had my sample on cask) but it had great head retention. The aroma is almost barleywine like with it’s strained yeast old fruit and sweetish malt. The flavor is dominated up front by the yeast and malt flavor, but that quickly shifts to an intense hop bitterness in the finish. They may call it a Double Pale Ale, but this would be right at home with any other Imperial IPA and even some of the smaller barley wines.

Pours with a moderate head, atop a surprisingly clear and surpesingly dark body. The aroma is "C-hopped", yet slightly mild. The body is medium in fullness, but malted strangely. This is where the style seems to shift from APA/IPA to English mild. The high-alpha hop finish reminds me that this is in fact a Double APA/IPA.