Goose Island Imperial IPA

Brewed by Goose Island Beer Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Chicago, Illinois USA

This tasty bottle was courtesy of Degarth and very much appreciated, thanks again Joe.

12oz bottle with March 31, 2007 re-labeled on the label. It poured a light copper color with off white head. Nice bitter and mostly sweet smelling orange juice aroma with hints of malt in the background. Rich thick mouth feel that helps you realized this is a pretty big beer even though it is a very easy drinking flavor. There is a medley of hops notes ringing in right off the start with grapefruit, sweet orange juice, some pine bitterness and hints of floral hops. All the hop notes work well together creating a continuum from bitter to sweet hoppiness. Near the finish the malts start bubbling through the thick layer of hop goodness. YUM.

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.

Bottle. Orange color with a thin white head. Aroma = citrus. Tons of hops, marmalade, and an awesome tart grassiness followed by a bit of alcohol. Decent flavor, pleasantly bitter and sweet tasting, following the aroma profile well. Nice mouthfeel, refreshing and clean despite the bitterness and ABV. Very nice, balanced in the right ways. Rerate, I bumped this up a bit on the palate and the flavor, I really like this beer. Really smooth and really nice.

Pours an opaque rust and light caramel color with zero head. The commercial description says you smell the hops from a yard away, I don’t know about a yard, but hops certainly dominate the nose even from a distance. Up close the aroma offers even more than just lemons and grapefruits, biscuit aromas are evident, slightl yeast, touches of malt and candy are also lurking. Flavor was amazingly balanced for what is obviously a heavily hopped brew. Flavor is heavy on the sugar, toffee and malt at first. Pine, flowers, and biscuits are also flavors that emerge. It’s very rare you get a hint of a beers finish right off the bat, but the moment it hits your tongue you can just feel a syrupy, sugary, thickness that is more milkshake than beer. Lasting sweetness, some bitterness and a slight alcohol burn on the end. This is very unique for an Imperial IPA and definitely worth checking out.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy orange, with a beautiful tan head. Nose is heavy on the grapefruits, a little pine, and some oranges. Taste very much of the smell, and deliicious!! This is very well balanced, and definetly one of the best IIPA’s ive had.

Very fragrant--strong tangerine and apricot; hazy orange-peach color; a mouthful of really heavy, malty fruit; leaves warming alcohol and residual fruit. I guess if I have to criticize I’d say it’s a bit heavy, but still a beautiful heavy at that, and it well hides the 9.2abv. I’m a fan.

Pours a fire colored orange and leaves some lacing as it is consumed. The smell is extremely enticing grapefruit and citrus, maybe a little piney but mostly grapefruit. The taste is also citrusy bitterness but it is well balanced by a large malt backbone. A little like eating a grapefruit and chewing on the membranes that divides them into sections which I quite enjoy. A fairly good size body on this one due to the large malt presence. Very nice how Goose Island has printed the recommmended glassware on the bottle. The bottle also indicates that the flavor will develop for five years and while there are not many dipa’s I like to cellar I may have to hold one of these back to see. With all the malts and the strong alcohol content who knows. This beer is an extremely well balanced dipa, I can’t wait to try some of GI’s other big beers.

This is a rather different aroma than expected. I thought I was gonna get a big whiff of hops then who knows what but first smell is grapefruit, lemon and hops. Also some pine and other fruits. Appearance, you know its perfect, copper red with a thick white head. So the flavor is hops and citrus blend. The palate is smooth with a bitter and a touch of alcohol finish that goes very well with everything in this beer. Not exploding with hops but was blended and balanced extremely well with malts.