Goose Island Imperial IPA

12oz bottle.
Pours a clear auburn-amber with a big poofy head that soon gives way, leaving a layer of bubbles on top and moderate lacing. Aroma -- they’re not kidding in the commercial description when they say you can smell this stuff from a yard away. Hops. BIG-TIME hops. Piney, resiny, then piney, then resiny, and finally a bit of citrus bullies its way through the forest of pines. It’s not until you actually stick your probiscus over the glass and take a whiff that you notice, oh yeah, there’s a bunch of malt in there too. Flavor is much the same -- piney resiny hops, some grapefruit, nice malt backbone. Not as much floral & citrus notes as I’d expect from a Cascade-hopped IPA, and usually PNW-hopped ales with low floral & citrus attributes end up tasting soapy and astringent. Not so in this case, and consequently this beer ends up folding flavor attributes of an English IPA into the mix. Reconciling English and American IPAs in the same botlle is tricky business, and Goose does it here very well, whether by design or accident. In either case I like the net result, which is high praise from a non-hophead like myself.

Pours a bright, hazy, orangey amber color with a one finger head that settles slowly to a soapy head that leaves behind sheets of lacing. Smell; wow, this has a very floral piney smell, with lots of citric aromas. Grapefruit and oranges stand out along with some malts, as well as bit of a spicy background. This beer smells great. Taste; the grapefuit and oranges show up first trailed by a bitter pine flavor. The bitterness is nice, and is perfect for this beer. The finish has a good spiciness, and is full of sweet malts. Mouthfeel is medium to slightly full bodied, and way to easy to drink. Another great "reserve" beer from Goose Island.

Thanks to Illinismitty
12oz. Bottled on 11/03/05
Where do you start. Aroma of hops was great. Got citrus and Ppine aromas. Cloudy copper body with real good head. Lacing was good. Got a good infusion of tangy citrus orange flavor at first. Full bodied beer with the zest and syrpy texure. Alcohol was present but not much a factor here. An enjoyable beer to have.

01.25.06 12oz, bottled on 110305. Thanks to Captain Cougar for this beauty. The beer is massive and absolutely floored me...I darn near fell asleep halfway through drinking it. Gorgeous to look at, it’s a lightly hazed golden sunrise below a thick and sticky cloud of amber fluff, lacing madly all over the tulip. This is one of those beers that makes me want to put down the pen and just enjoy the ride, but I’ll tough out a few lines. The aroma is an arboritum in late spring, overflowing with fresh and vibrant ferns and other greens, myriad flowers, citrus grove, everygreen understory, and touches of a woody dirt path. It’s an early morning, rousing from my tent in the Smokies. Throughout, there is a brilliant earthiness to the solid malt spine; it’s chewy and sticky. There’s no escaping the onslaught of fantastic hops. It’s insanely drinkable, resisting all efforts to sip. Wow. Thanks Tom!

Goose Island reaches their potential with this one. A bit pricey, perhaps, but great malt; resiny / pinecone hops and the 9.2% abv make this ale one to enjoy at the end of the night.

Thanks to JCW and Ughsmash for the bottles. brilliant copper color, slightly hazy, white head fades to nothing, not even a ring of film. Looks very oily/syruppy, grows legs in the glass. Aroma is everywhere, citrus zest, mostly orange with a hint of grapefruit, floral and a big pine resin and malt sweetness to it. Flavor is sweet malt and citrus up front, fading to a nice pine resin bitterness towards the middle. Finishes with a nice lingering spicy bitterness. Very creamy/oily mouthfeel. Although I don’t get a huge malt kick, this seems pretty well balanced. Definately doesn’t taste like 9% either. Very easy drink. One of the better IIPAs I ’ve had in awhile.

12 oz bottle, via illinismitty. Pours a bright clear copper with a finger sized beige head. Low visible carbonation. Big resiny and citric hop aroma, with a caramel malt background. Lots of grapefruit and lime zest. Aggressive and biting citric hop flavor up front that transitions to a hearty caramel malt middle. More lingering bitter citric hops in the finish. Amazing to think that this is over 9% ABV, as I can hardly pick up any alcohol in the flavor. Medium bodied with low carbonation yields a mouthfeel that is more syrupy than creamy. A great drinkable IIPA, not over the top in biting hops or alcohol, just packed with flavor.

Pours with an orange-amber body topped by a thin head with some lacing. It’s slighlty sweet but mostly bitter with notes of mint and pine. Medium to full bodied and slighlty dry.