RateBeer
   Home Sign Up or Login Advanced Search
   People Ratings Events Places Forums Shop Magazine
      Top By Category  RateBeer Best  Latest Ratings  Top 50    

Goose Island Imperial IPA

Goose Island Imperial IPA - Imperial/Double IPA

* picture credits
copyright may apply

 Percentile 
99
overall
Brewed by Goose Island Beer Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA

Chicago, Illinois USA

bottled
available

on tap
common

Regional Distribution
Find this beer

Add Distribution Data
send corrections | shelftag |

 Ratings  Average  Score  Seasonal  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in 
5854.01/5.04/5.0Winter9.2%97.2Snifter, Tulip
View Statistics  P 

Commercial Description:
Traditionally, there are a lot of rules when it comes to brewing great beer. The fact that American craft brewers have broken those rules to produce some of the world’s finest beers is downright heroic. At Goose Island we live and die by hops, so breaking the rules meant pushing the hop limit to the extreme to create this monster Imperial IPA. We took three of our favorite hops, TETTNANG, SIMCOE, and CASCADE, and balanced their spiciness with tons of malt. Them we went back and dumped in MORE HOPS and more malt until this beer was exploding with flavor...strong enough to wake the dead and filled with more bitterness than a woman scorned. This Imperial IPA is absolutely gigantic, you’ll smell the hops from about a yard away. What will surprise you is how incredibly drinkable it is. Pair it up with the saltiest blue cheese you can find, and go nuts.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
NoBud4Me (3), Augusta, Georgia, USA
does not count click to see why this rating of Goose Island Imperial IPA does not count
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/104/510/105/511/20
Apr 25, 2008  
Draught at a Goose Island Brewery in Chicago. This beer has a very fruity/floral bouqet, yet it maintains an earthy bite that lets you know it’s beer. Excellent just hard to get your hands on in Georgia.


 restless7 (104), Lenexa, Kansas, USA
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/57/103/513/20
Apr 18, 2008  
BOTTLE: 2006. Hazy copper color with some floaters, probably because it’s 2 years old? Beautiful thick foamy beige/white head. Aroma is strong with hops as well as perhaps caramel and umm.. flavor is complex with fruit and hops. Palate is just alright, probably because the age of the beer in this bottle. Medium finish with a barley-wine type ending.


 RPillsbury (112), Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/59/104/519/20
Apr 15, 2008  
Bottled. Increadibly flavourful and complex. Mango, malt and hops dominated while the lovely rich palate complimented these flavours nicely. The aroma was of grass and pine, rather outdoorsy. All-around excellent.


 albertane (376), Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/104/518/20
Apr 11, 2008  
Draught at the Goose Island Tavern, Wrigleyville, Chicago. This was probably the best keg beer I’ve ever had. Rich and fruity, bitter with lots of sweet biscuit malt and complex citrus hop, this beer is absolutely lovely. I’ll have to get some bottles to take back to Britain as souvenirs.


 Sparky27 (1559), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/516/20
Apr 9, 2008  
Another bottle courtesy of GMCC2181. Pours a cloudy amber color with a one finger head and great lacing. Nose is sweet citrus and malt. Palate is sweet citrus – ripe tangerine, orange and pink grapefruit with just a touch of piney hop bite in the finish. Not as hoppy as I expected, but a pleasant and smooth drinker nonetheless. Perhaps it’s an older bottle and lost a bit of its bite. Nice creamy medium mouth feel. I liked it a lot.


 jarspag (593), Los Angeles, California, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/104/515/20
Apr 9, 2008  
2006 bottle drank in April 2008. This may have been an unfair sampling...but regardless, it was still enjoyable. While I assume it used to have a sharper, big hop character, these have died...leaving a more barleywine type ale complimented by a nice accent of green apple, orange and pear. Interesting and a tad reminiscent of Dorado. I touch too malty, but expected. For what it was worth, it was pretty good.


 AmEricanbrew (1747), Louisiana, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/58/104/516/20
Apr 9, 2008  
2007 bottling enjoyed on Nov-14-2007. Clear amber with a biege head. Big aroma is floral leafy green hops. Medium body and smooth. Good taste is very smooth pale malts then a massive floral spicy hop attack on your tongue. More balanced flavor here than in most west coast iipa’s.


 mkgrenwel (420), Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/104/58/104/518/20
Apr 8, 2008  
Thanks to Tytoanderso. Biggest impression is that there is a huge dense, smooth palate on this. Good malt and hop balance. Nice lighter hop flavors of peach, mango and passionfruit. Virtually no bitterness, but a balanced profile and not too sweet at all. Alcohol is a very muted flavor. Manages to be a pretty different, interesting beer. Very light, bright flavors. Could be even lighter if the malt was taken down a notch, but i like it right where it is. Not light and refreshing at all, but drinks extremely fast.



CONSIDER FREE RATEBEER MEMBERSHIP



Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings. Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!

SIGN UP NOW »

View Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59

What's Your Opinion?
Tell us what you think of this beer. Start your free RateBeer account now.
» Click here.

More Imperial/Double IPAs

Russian River Pliny the Younger (4.26)

Three Floyds Dreadnaught Imperial IPA (4.25)

Russian River Pliny the Elder (4.22)

Bells Hopslam (4.16)

AleSmith YuleSmith (Summer) India Pale Ale (4.12)

Valley Brew Uberhoppy Imperial IPA (4.1)

Alpine Beer Company Exponential Hoppiness (4.06)

Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA (4.06)

Stone Ruination IPA (4.05)

Bells The Oracle DIPA Ale (4.02)

Great Divide Hercules Double IPA (4.02)

Pizza Port Hop 15 (4.01)

Goose Island Imperial IPA (4)

Pizza Port Lou P. Lin (3.97)

Marin Eldridge Grade White Knuckle Double IPA (3.96)


About RateBeer | Add A Beer | Add A Brewer | Edit Personal Info | 100 Beer Club | FAQ | Log out | Feedback? | Copyright 2000-2009, RateBeer LLC