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Goose Island Imperial IPA

Goose Island Imperial IPA - Imperial/Double IPA

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

Chicago, Illinois USA

bottled
available

on tap
common

Regional Distribution
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 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?  
 Jabswitch (206), Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/58/104/518/20
Nov 15, 2006  
Oh my goodness! What a bottle of ale. The aroma is "knock your socks off" freshly cut Christmas Tree!! Fantastic! Amber and fairly clear. I love this one because they don’t try to hide the alcohol with malt. This relies on the hops, and they are extraordinary. A nice pleasant bitter aftertaste. Powerful taste. At $18 a 4pak this should be special. And it is.


 muenster (339), Sevierville, Tennessee, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/58/104/518/20
Nov 13, 2006  
Bottle. (Thanks for the awesome bonus bottle Emily!) Bottled in November 05, according to the label. Pours a very hazy, cloudy orange/rusty amber color. The aroma, wow, very nice! Lots of citrus hops, grapefruit, mild malts, in a perfect blend. I must have sniffed at this for 10 minutes before actually tasting it. Flavor is very nice as well, loads of grapefruit, citrus, apricot, floral hops and touches of caramel, finishes sweet, and the alcohol is hidden very well. Very nice mouthfeel as well.


 marchcow (664), Coralville, Iowa, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/59/104/518/20
Nov 11, 2006  
Bottle, strong grapefruit aroma with other citus notes. Orang amber color with off white head. Strong malt/hops flavor. Well balanced and thick. For the strong alcohol content there was no noticable alcoholic presence. Light sweetness moves across a citrusy sourness and into a bitter finish. Very good thick creamy mouthfeel. Very good overall.


 holdenn (1432), Chicago, Illinois, USA
4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/58/104/516/20
Nov 8, 2006  
12 oz bottle pours a ruby orange with a small beige head. Nice hop aroma (I thought specifically summit or simcoe): floral, piney, spicy, citrus, and malty. Smooth medium bodied mouthfeel rolled around on the tongue very nicely. Carmel, apricot, citrus, hop flavors that are balanced really well, not too bitter and very drinkable.


 undsioux7 (553), Cologne, Minnesota, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/57/104/516/20
Nov 4, 2006    Updated: Mar 2, 2007
Pours orange/yellow with a white head. At first drink it reminds me of DFH 90 minute. It is sickly sweet. Aroma of orange, grapefruit, floral with a bit of malt. Taste hits you up with the sweet orange, then pummels you with sweet grapefruit, pine and malt. Thick mouthfeel.


drmatt (51), THE LOU, Missouri, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/104/516/20
Oct 27, 2006  
Smells a little malty. The taste is very malty and I love hoppy and malty beers. The hops are not really there. It does not have the hops to really say that it is a DIPA or Impy India. A good beer, but a little underwhelmed.


 xmarcnolanx (789), Kirkwood, Missouri, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/103/517/20
Oct 27, 2006  
A very good beer. Not overwhelmingly hoppy, more sweet and syrupy than it is anything else. Tastes fantastic, do not get me wrong, but I would like a more bitter front or back end. It has a good hop flavor, but it is buried right in the middle of the beer and dissapates quickly.


 hophead75 (1945), Boonton, New Jersey, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/518/20
Oct 22, 2006  
brewtopia 10/21/06 Light amber/orange. Aroma is a huge amount of citrus hops. Taste is also huge, with tons of citrus, bitterness, and malt. Light alcohol in the finish, as well as a lingering bitterness. Alcohol hidden well.



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