Dogfish Head Golden Era (Shower)

Very strong hop flavor. Really thick mouthfeel. A lingering taste. Some grapefruit citrus flavors. Most of the flavors are mute but the palate is nice. Dry. A little much, but still good.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, tupalev & Dave B. -- courtesy of Dave B. Pours a clear golden-orange with a large lasting fluffy white head and nice lacing -- looks pretty good. Nice aroma of resin hops, fruit, sweet malt and alcohol. Flavour is delicious! -- resiny hops, fruit and sweet malt. It hides the 9% alcohol surprisingly well in my opinion. Medium to full bodied. If I had to nitpick I did find it got a tad too sweet as it warms but it’s still one of the best ’Pilsners’ I’ve ever had.

Big gold pour...equally big fluffy white head. This won’t go down as my favorite, but we enjoyed it. Yep, fruity malts, certainly sweet, definitely spicy. Nice mouthfeel too....didn’t expect much, but this is good. Light hop aroma, candy-ish malts...interesting. Quite good.

Bottled 3/22/06 E. Brilliant, clear gold. Large, dense, spongey, off white head. Nose of cotton candy, grassy and flowery hops, rich yet crisp malt, light fruits, subtle alcohol. Same flavor with the unmistakable DFH branding. A little warm in the finish. Full, smooth body. Excellent.

Bottle (750ml). Shared with blankboy, tupalev and Dave B - Dave B’s bottle. Clear amber with a decent white head. Redolent with resin hops, hints of tropical fruits, enough roast malt, and a hint of lactose to give it a tang - I love this. Taste is surprisingly sweet - still tons of resiny hops, but quite fruity sweet, almost like raw sugar cane, somewhat yeasty, a long finish where the alcohol emerges - nice, but I like the aroma a little more. Decent body, astringent, very lively, good complexity - serve it fairly cold and share it, this is a bit of a beast. Thanks for sharing, Dave!

Bottle [it appears that the date says 3-22-05, now it might say 06, but it really looks like a 5] Very fruity aroma. deep golden color. Thin white head that thins out. not the hops i was expecting. The Sam Adams Imperial was much more on target.

Bottled 3/21/2006, picked up at Julio’s. Poured a golden bronze body with a huge pillowy head. Decent lacing on the glass. Aroma was European hops, buttery, hint of fruits, bread, some alcohol. Very clean aroma, it said ’drink me now dammit.’ So I did. Like a regular pils, this had that smooth buttery mouthfeel. However, this also packed quite a bit more punch with the alcohol. Because it’s DFH, it’s also a little bit excessive, which left a sweet burn in the finish. While this was a great ’pilsner’ or whatever you wanna call it, there was a bit too much alcohol in the finish for my liking. I’d drink it again if it was cheaper.

Deep rich golden color with a taller ecru head. Light caramel, drenched in fresh saaz and hallertau hops. Quite simple, but not overpowering as many strong lager. Flavors are quite strong and pronounced. Alcohol does seem to hit from the start. Malt and sweet alcohol mix with orange zest, white pepper and white raisins. Quite clean and crisp, even with the heft. Mild return to hops in the finish. A vanilla and malt mix in the finish. This does transcend most imperial pilsners that I have had in that it does not come across as a malt liquor. It really does seem to be a strong pils. Not that I really think there is a real place for the style, but a change of pace, or just something different is sometimes OK.