Hopworks Galactic Imperial Red

Brewed by Hopworks Urban Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Bottled. Amber colour with a small slightly off-white head. Aroma is alcohol, some slight wood, mild herbs, toffee and mild ripe fruityness. Flavour is ripe fruits, wooden notes, mild resiny and grassy notes as well as quite strong alcoholic sweetness.

Bottled at Stockholm Beer Festival. Hazy nut brown, small head. Floral nose with a caramelly syrupy mess underneath. Very sweet, sticky and heavy. Loads of of syrupy bread. Long resiny bitterness. Unbalanced.

Bottle @ SBWF2011. Pours a clear pale amber color with a small off-whit ehead. Has a fruity malty piney hoppy aroma. Sweetish malty piney hoppy flavor. Has a sweetish malt hoppy bitter finish.

Bottle from Brewery Creek, Vancouver
Dark amber color, hazy, with compact head. The aroma is very nice: caramel, hops, oranges, a hint of orange flowers, some sweat from the hop. Lean body, very good caramel flavor, with moderate residual sweetness, and a delicious touch of fudge; also some vanilla oak; perfect bitterness level; the hop provides a lot of soft resins and bitter orange character; long final.
Wonderful balance.

Bomber from Malt & Vine. Pours a very dark ruddy copper/amber with a bubbly off-white head. Aroma is warm cooked light fruits and roasted caramel. Near full bodied. Flavor is roast malt, very smooth, and a lot of hop. I’m calling a mix of citrus/floral/resin. It has no harsh character. The hop is not excessively bitter - but it is extremely strong. 100 IBU is believable. There’s a lot of malt sugar, but the hop is so strongly present that sweet does not seem to be in it. The edges of my tongue are curling up in luxurious bitter, but the palate is balanced. I call complexity and brilliance on this ale.

Draft at BikeBar. I’m not usually a fan of red ales, but this one was more than a cut above the rest. Pine aroma, and a spicy caramel taste with a dry and bitter finish.

A: The beer pours a very clear amber with a thin off-white head. Pretty standard. S: Starts off with some fruity citrus hops (including some citrus peel). There is a light floral note to go along with toffee and bread. A strong candy sweetness that sort of ruins it for me. A little bit of pine on back end. T: Same sort of story here. Very sweet with an almost candy/sugar flavor. Hints of tropical fruits as well as citrus peel and pine. A moderate bitterness along with grass and chalk; perhaps a slight booze note. M: Medium to full in body with a medium level of carbonation. O: Really a let down for me. I had hoped for a nice hoppy red ale, but that’s not what I got. Overly sweet and just not very good.

Bottle. Reddish amber beer with a cream colored head. Pine and floral aroma with grapefruit, summer fruit, and caramel. Caramel and pine flavor with grapefruit. Medium-plus bodied. Caramel and pine lingers with earth and grapefruit.

Initially nose is very fruity - tropical with hints of citrus, caramel, toast, and nice malty sweetness. Earthy notes appear as does a hint of my favorite hop in the whole world - summits.... Pours copper with a short lived head, nice clarity. Tropical fruit, caramel malts, earth, summit hops, softer citrus and pine as well . Big and hoppy, malty but not too sweet, almost dry and seemingly lighter bodied for such a high abv beer. Lingering summits and piney hops. Alcohol becomes noticeable towards the end. A nice big hoppy beer.

UPDATED: JUL 8, 2011 22. Pours a cloudy dark ruddied amber with golden-brown edges. Loose drippy lace and a little film on top. Bright fruity nose, lots of nice oily hop presence with pineapple and mango featured. Lots of residual caramelly malt there as well. Also a bit of butterscotch--wouldn’t expect that from HUB. Creamy medium body, lively carbonation but, alas, a bit slick. Mango, pineapple, caramel, and other sweet delights--plenty of malt sugar here, and nice brightly sweet hop flavors dancing. Mildly citric and acidic pithy grapefruit finish. Very appealing beer. Remind me to try another batch and see about that slick butterscotch thing. Doesn’t seem like an all the time thing with them.