Goose Island Imperial IPA

On tap at Village Tap in Chicago. dark yellow/orange color almost like copper. you can taste that alcohol up fort, but it has a nice smooth finish. full flavor all the way. I would love to have this again.

Quite simply the best Imperial IPA I’ve ever had. My previous favorites were the offerings from Russian River (Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger). Just taking aroma into account, the Pliny’s have a slight edge, however when flavor/overall impression are thrown in the mix, this latest draught version of the GI Imperial IPA is much better!

Growler. Aroma a tantalizing mix of citrusy hops (some grapefruit but more noticeably limey for me), a light, semi-spicy woodsiness that also seems to be coming from the hops, and a boatload of sweet, toffee malt. The malt makes this a mother of a DIPA, and I really can’t decide whether the malt or the hops are the showcase. Huge, juicy hop bitterness, huge, sticky malt sweetness. Simply bold.

Growler. Pours a deep ruby brown, slightly cloudy, with a small white head. Aroma of citrus hops, some garlicky hops, and lots of sweet malt. Flavor is quite malty and sweet, a touch of acetone perhaps. Just a malt overload for me, very sticky and sweet. 7/4/7/3/14 (3.5/5)

Bottle at home ... Thanks to BDR for this ... copper coloured with a very thin lacing ... big spicy pine resins nose ... again big hops ...juicy ... syrupy ... quite sweet ... bitter linger ... some toffee malt characterisitcs ... little grassy hop ... its ok but not my thing.

On tap at the Grumpy Bulldog in Naperville (poured a little too cold, so it needed some time to warm up). A ton of citrus hop in the aroma, grapefruit and mango are the main players with minor orange lemon, some goose island toffee caramel scents as well, very powerful, very nice aroma. It was poured into standard pint glass with a light froth white head, minimal lacing, very murky and heavy looking, bright burnt orange in color. Very full bodied, not overly heavy though the beer packs a punch, very smooth and solid feel on the tongue and palate throughout. There seems to be waves of bitter coming through with each drink, alot of similar notes in both the aroma and taste, with more herbal spice bitterness and sweet melon notes coming through. Even with all the hops, this beer is also very nicely balanced with a ton of that standard goose island malt concoction that seems to be a mainstay in pretty much all the GI selections. The finish is very sticky and heavy, and lingers for a good while. A fantastic beer that is right up there with the best there is out there and in my hop loving opinion, probably the best beer that goose island has to offer.

When I get a chance, I’ll go back (I hope!) to the brewpub and try this again. I had a glass on tap during the Night of the Living Ales real ale fest held at GI in 2008. I was so amazed that this beer I got at the bar was as good as the beers that I rated highest inside the fest! I’ll give more detail when I get to have some more.

2006 12 ounce bottle from beerbill. Thanks! Pours a very hazy orange color with a small off-white head. Specks of lacing. The aroma is malty but with still an impressive amount of spicy hop notes. Taste is spicy and citrus hops with huge toffeish malt notes. Full bodied.