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Goose Island Imperial IPA

Percentile
99
overall

bottled
available

on tap
common

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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
5854.01/5.04/5.0Winter9.2%97.2Snifter, Tulip
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?  
 Ernest (4483), Boulder, Colorado, USA
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/104/514/20
Aug 6, 2006  
Head is initially small, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is light amber. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (cookie, toasted grain), lightly to moderately hoppy (flowers, apricot, grapefruit), with a note of peach. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic. Pleasant, but nothing particular special to my senses.


 luckygirl (1221), Boulder, Colorado, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/514/20
Aug 6, 2006  
Bottled. Beer is hazy medium orange without any head. The aroma is malty with light-to-moderate notes of toasted grain, caramel; Hoppy with moderate notes of dried apricot, light resin/pine, chamomile, floral; Yeasty with light notes of cellar: Light miscellaneous note of orange zest. The flavor is moderately-to-heavily bitter/grippy, moderately sweet, lightly acidic with a long, moderately bittersweet/grippy, warm finish. Lots of apricoty retros. The body is light, the texture is watery and the carbonation is lively.


 Murphy (1759), Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
3.9 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/104/516/20
Aug 6, 2006  
Blonde, thin head. Aroma is all resiny hops, alcohol. Taste begins with big fruity, sweet hops accompanied by a malty backbone. Hops totally change in the finish to a gritty, bitter and earthy variety. Quite long. Quite a unique beer with the two different hop attacks presented. Good stuff.


 eboats (887), Omaha, Nebraska, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/104/516/20
Aug 6, 2006  
Deep orange with a white head. Aroma is malt, hops, orange peels, and grapefruit. Not overly sweet or suculant in the aroma. Very smooth with a dry somewhat bitter finish. Flavor is citrus hops and a big malty body. Didn’t have the flavor of the stock IPA which I prefer over this one. Alcohol wasn’t noticable.


 Oakes (8080), gone rambling, Vietnam
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Aug 5, 2006  
Cloudy vibrant amber colour. Big fresh grassy, citrusy, slightly woody hop nose. Well-rounded flavours, lots of fruity, citrusy hops and clean pale malts. Certainly not one to blow minds, but very well-made and of universal appeal.


 Magjayran (1379), Durham, North Carolina, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/105/517/20
Aug 4, 2006  
I love pouring a double IPA and being able to smell all the wonderful hops without even lifting the glass to my nose. Pours a dark and orange color with a thin white head and wonderful lacing. Big orange peel aroma and even bigger citrusy taste. As suggested on the bottle I paired this with a nice blue cheese and it’s ability to cut through the funk of the cheese is fascinatng. Bitter, citrusy, thirst quenching, buzz inducing, wonderful wonderful beer.


 bgburdman9 (823), Columbus, Ohio, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/58/105/517/20
Jul 30, 2006  
Columbus gathering beer#2. Brought by Sliffy. Poured a cloudy orange color with a medium head. Had an orangish citrus aroma. The flavor was similar and actually finished pretty smooth for being such a hoppy beer.


 Darkover (1311), Columbus, Ohio, USA
4.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/59/105/518/20
Jul 29, 2006  
Opaque orange color with a small beige head. Aroma of citrus hops and sweet malt. Flavor of citrus hops, oranges, tropical fruits and a hint of alcohol. Tangy finish. Really drinkable for a 2IPA.



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