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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?  
 nolankowal (850), Columbus, Ohio, USA
4.3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/103/59/103/519/20
May 17, 2006  
Bottle courtesy of JHop,many thanks Jeremy! Pours a hazy orange with a off white head that fades to a fine film over the top. Lots of citrus coming through the nose with some light caramel malt...perhaps some lemon zest. The flavor has elements of grapefruit and more caramel malt along with some alcohol and apricot. Sweet and malty up front with the hop bite coming in torwards the back...the finish is bittersweet. Oily over the tounge and the finish seems to stick around for a bit.


 jayme9874 (756), Hamburg, New York, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/518/20
May 16, 2006  
Light amber, thin lasting creamy foam throughout. Aroma of sappy hops, caramel, lemon and others. Almost full bodied, bit oily. Lots of spicy, sappy, piney hop flavor and sharp bitterness. Malts are well defined, caramel, sugar and sap covered apricots. Great stuff, hoppy as hell, they strip the enamel from your teeth but who cares. BIG ipa.


 TheBeerLover (1019), DC Metro Area, USA
4.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/59/105/520/20
May 15, 2006  
12 oz bottle coutesy of The_Enemy. Pours to a hazy, deep golden color, with a tight, white head that fades, and a moderate carbonation. The nose on this beer is fantastic with pungent and zesty aromas of lemon peel, grape fruit, pine, and hints of peppery alcohol. The palate is a very firm malt base of sweet and pale malt flavor paired with a very pleasing candied lemon peel hop flavor. GI Imperial IPA finishes with more great pale malt and citrus hop flavor up front, then ends with a very bitter, lemon peel hop bite, and some light warming alcohol that lingers with the bitterness. This is an outstanding example of Imperial IPA. Lots of great hop character, good malt character, and good alcohol. The ultimate apertif beer, or after work cocktail. Blue cheese pairing like the brewery suggests? A bottle of this, some Maytag Blue, and some fresh fruit? Heaven.


 KingpinIPA (842), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/104/59/104/518/20
May 12, 2006  
Golden, orange color. High carbonation. Can smell a lot of sweet hops when pouring it out into the glass. Smell of alcohol, sweet fruits and again, tons of hops. Taste of grapefruit, spiced pine and hops. Body was warmed up with every sip. Great Imperial IPA.


 FoolishMortal (965), San Diego, California, USA
3.7 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/103/57/103/516/20
May 12, 2006  
12oz. bottle. Dark orange with a small white head. Earthy herbal and deep piney citrus hop aromatics. Tinges of sharp medicinal bitterness interlace with an almost syrupy malt flavor with heavy pine and citrus hop components. Somewhat alcoholic finish with a heavy residual sweetness and some piney hoppiness. Mouthfeel is medium heavy, somewhat thick and somewhat dry.


 ElGaucho (1730), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
4.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
9/105/59/105/518/20
May 8, 2006  
Wonderful, rich hop aroma; very balanced in the nose. Cloudy orange with good-sized yellow to off-white head. Chalky mouthfeel; yummy, good, good. Creamy and more IPAish than Imperial IPAis. Wonderful!


 fidemaster (172), USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/103/58/103/514/20
May 7, 2006  
Veyr tangy IPA. Best part would be the aroma, pour a galss and let it sit in a room for an hour or so and the room will soon be smelling like this beer. A little too pine/evergreen taste for me. besides that not bad


Dhrjericho (66), Boise, Idaho, USA
4.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
10/104/58/104/518/20
Apr 27, 2006  
Pours a hazy amber color. Aroma is a sugar sweet hop delight. Best aroma i’ve encountered. Flavor is an almost perfect blend of hops, citrus (orange rine) some pine with a blast of bitterness at the end. Outstanding beer despite it’s high price tag.



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