Goose Island Imperial IPA

12oz bottle via trade with bu11zeye. 2006. Aroma: Bigtime hop aroma. Grapefruit, orange, pineapple. Pine and light resin. Floral and spice. A nice malt character with a touch of caramel behind all the hops. Appearance: Medium amber in color and hazed. Off-white head was full and foamy with great retention. Good lacing. Flavor: Lots of maltiness up front with notes of brown sugar, bread, and a slight raisiny flavor. Hops kick in nicely with some grapefruit and orange, pine, floral, and a slight grassiness into the finish. Slight alcohol flavor into the finish. Bitterness was high, but didn’t linger too long. Slight lingering sweetness. Palate: Medium-full bodied. Moderate carbonation. Light alcohol warming in back of mouth. Overall: Very drinkable IIPA. Malt and hops were well balanced. Could have used a touch more bitterness. Great beer.

Upon pouring the beer a parade of fresh hops is on display, a scent that grows richer as you take the first sip. Pine, orange/coriander taste combines with solid maltiness toward the end.

12 oz. bottle. Poured a deep copper color color with no head. Roused for aroma produced a thin white head. Pine and citrus hop aromas dominate but a sweet maltiness lies beneath. Palate moderate, perhaps thin for the style. Sharp bite begins the taste and the finish is a nice, long lingering hopiness that isn’t caustic, allowing me to bask in the bitter hop glow of this tasty brew.

2005 and 2006 bottles shared with Hogtown Harry, his bottles (thanks for sharing!). 2006 first: Medium orange, small white head. Lots of alcohol and of course hops, in aroma. Taste is well balanced, very bitter, but becomes almost too much in terms of alcohol by the middle/end. A very solid double IPA that is very drinkable, save for the burn. Score 7/3/8/4/15. 2005 Bottle - wow, there is a difference here. First, it looks different - cloudy/hazy orange, big orange tinted head. That goes from 3-4 in my books. Aroma from a 7-8 as well - stronger, hops feature more orange citrus and even a little sour character (in a good way). Taste - wow, did they use different hops? It is still quite bitter, but there is an awesome underlying spruce character here, and a ton of sweetness that was not present in the 2006. Lovely thick malt backbone. Better, more complex, and just darn more tasty - really neat to try these side by side. A great Double IPA, score will reflect 2005 version.

Great citrus hops in the aroma.Pours a murky light copper with amedium white head.Great balance of sweet malts and citrus hops.Medium mouthfeel with a very good malt hop balanced finish.

Bottle sent to me by Monger.. THX! Quite an eye opener of a beer for me. Poured a thick, very cloudy lite copper color with hardly any head. A very noticeable aroma that at first struck me as oranges! No overwhelming sense of alcohol to distract from the various tastes that were swirling around on the palate. A little bitter aftertaste, but not too distracting. A very good beer indeed.

Bottle courtesy of Monger: Poured a cloudy yellowish/copper color ale with a nice foamy pure white head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of sweet floral malt with a nice mix of hops with some citrus notes but nothing overwhelming. Taste is a complex mix between some sweet malt with a nice mix between floral and citrusy hops which provide medium bitterness at the end. Body is above average with some medium carbonation and no alcohol could be detected.

Bottle. A amber beer with a small off-white head. Well ballanced round beer with a aroma of grape, pine and malt, and a taste of sweet malt, grape, pine hops. Medium to full body with a dry hop, smooth finish.