Port Brewing Panzer Imperial Pils

Brewed by Port Brewing/Lost Abbey
Style: European Strong Lager
San Marcos, California USA

Bomber. Poured clear golden with a short, looser-bubbled white head. The aroma picked up toasty pale malts and honey topped by spicy white pepper, floral hoppage, and a pinch of corn.. warm overall and inviting. The flavor found honey, corn, and lesser bready malts at the core.. heavy floral character around as well as peppery alcohol warmth.. the hops really took over and left the most memorable impression (which I enjoyed). Medium-bodied with low carbonation on the palate.. very bitter, especially as it warmed up.. dry, warm, spicy, and enjoyable. I’d have another.

draft: pours clear amber, hoppy aroma, slightly buttery taste, mildly hoppy, bitter finish, a very nice pils...best imperial pils I’ve had

22oz bomber. Pours a clear, but somewhat viscous looking, rich golden with a thin fine dense fizzy white froth. Interesting play of the citrus hops, piney hops and the spicy nobles, slightly biscuity malts, some sweetness and a light touch of alcohol as it warms, floral and fragrant. First taste follows aroma, interesting and new play of citrus, pine and noble, just slightly cheesy, actually seemingly balanced between the the flavors which seems almost like it was mixed rather than brewed that way, malts are biscuity, sugary sweet but finishing dryer, fairly clean finish, very very bitter, love the bitterness, SUPER BITTER. Alcohol blends well with flavor, not noticeable unless one looks for it. Lively sizzling carbonation that doesn’t allow one to focus on the typical Port syrupy viscousness, makes it crisp but soft overall. I have a feeling some of the biscuitiness is partly due to slight oxidation, maybe would be a bit better if the PNW hops were toned down a tad and a little less residual sugar... of course I’m really just drawing comparisons to Sam Adams Imp Pils... =p I applaud any brewer who decides to try and pull this style off... we really need more of these ultra bitter pils.

Bottle from jessup plaza. Poured a hazey yellow gold color with a small off white head that didnt last long. Aroma is light hop aromas of grapefruit and pine. Taste is fresh and strong with hops up front and a strong alcohol finish. Very dry at the end. Quite bitter.

Thanks to Josh for this! Hazy amber pour. Pine and grapefruit on the nose. Biscuit malts, pine, grapefruit and a bitter dry finish. Very resinous

22. Pours a cloudy medium toffeeish amber. Loose sudsy platinum blonde foam knocking around, with bubbly, foamy lace sheeting down the sides of the glass. Attractive but not quite a cover girl. Nice mix of pine and grapefruit on the nose, very sugary and fragrant hops. Super inviting, and very much in SD IPA territory. Creamy medium body, very tight carb, a little bit of carbonic bite. Not unpleasant at all, and understated. Biscuits, pine, and grapefruit on the mid palate. Very bitter resiny finish. Nothing newsworthy by beer geek standards, but on the high side and rather sharp with that carbonic bite under it. Long dry resiny finish with maybe a little twang creeping in on it. Surprisingly refreshing for 9.5, that’s for sure, and the booze is well hidden except for that seeming twang in the finish (long after the beer leaves the mouth).

650 ml bottle
I was hoping that coming from Lost Abbey/Port Brewing this would be a nice amped up pilsener in the vein of what New Glarus released a while ago. Instead it was a bit too much; the alcohol or something else detracts from what would otherwise be a solid pils.

Aroma / Appearance - Carbonated rose gold liquid starts promisingly. A radiant white head glowed like the morning sun. Crisp warm multigrain bread fresh from the oven was not quite what I expected but still good enough. Lemon pledge gave it a hoppy background.

Flavor / Palate - Hoppy with a wheat bite the alcohol takes this one over the top. A honeylike finish is acceptable but this could be so much more. Overall it is drinkable and I have no major complaints for a $7.99 release. However if you are used to Port only releasing gems temper your expectations somewhat before opening it.

Bottle in the VIP tent at WBF Durham. I was expecting a bit more from this. Golden bodied with a tall white head. Aroma is Euro hops, grass, melon, and other fruit notes. Some biscuity malts as well. Taste is herbal and grassy with more Euro hops, straw, fruit notes and more toasted, biscuity malts. Body is medium-full with a softer prickly carbonation. Ends with more grass, Euro hops, herbal notes, lemon, and biscuity malts. Not bad but this was a bit of a disappointment for our group. We jumped all over this when we saw it and had our hearts a bit broken since we love Pizza Port/Lost Abbey. I would love to try this again since there’s a chance this could have been an off bottle.