Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pilsner

Draught Hazy golden-yellow beer; small white head, some lace. Hops, but less then I’d thought (feared?). American, of course, some honey-ish malts. In the taste, the hops kick in slightly metallic and I get again some honey. Imagine a Bock without the bread taste and loads of hops. Medium bodied, grist slickness. If this is typical, Imperial pils is drier Bockbeer on steroids.

Well, I wish Rogue would not use these expensive bottles. Anyway, What a cool beer. Pours and looks just like a solid German lager, Dortmunder perhaps?? No, closer to a good Helles, or maybe even a lighter Alt bier. This beer smells of fresh hops and light malt, no alcohol or acetone. Smooth and refreshing. A nice dry maltiness is matched by a very balanced hop element. I cannot for the life of me find the 8.8 abv. Entirely too refreshing in fact. This will be the death of the ale drinker when summer’s heat swells. Maybe it’s a good thing this beer is pricey. Cheers to Rogue.

Bottle. Pours hazy golden with a 2 1/2 finger thick white head. Aroma of hops, sweet malts, fruit, and citrus. Flavor is fruity,smooth for almost 9%, sweet up front, with a bitter finish. Good body, good brew.

Rogue is a rather good brewer. This one came in a funky 26 oz flip top ceramic bottle. Rather cool really. The beer poured a cloudy medium golden color with a huge soapy white head. The aroma is tangy sweet sugar with hints of ripe fruit. The flavor is very sweet and sugary with light ripe fruits. There is a fairly strong alcohol burn. Not bad but a bit too one dimensional.

On tap at Mister Goodbar in Buffalo. Cloudy golden color, medium white head, longer lasting. For supposedly having such a strong hop character the aroma sure was pretty mild. Nice floral hops and pale malts in balance. Flavor starts out with some fatter pale malts followed by a fair amount of herbal bitterness. A little fruity. Medium to full bodied. Pretty nice beer, enjoyable if not a touch underwhelming for what it’s supposed to be.

Pours a thick, rockie, lather with golden honey colors and tan robe. Long hangtime on the lather with ample residual effers. The nose is on the nutty malt side. Flavors of bright malt, citrus, caramel. Well ballanced. Complex and multilayered. Full nectar going in and then it seperates and goes doen light and a little watery. Kind of annoying. I wanted it to stay full. Alcohol is well hidden.

Ceramic bottle. Cloudy orangish gold w/ very active carbonation, medium off while/yellow head. Sweet hoppy nose, bready and citrusy with a hint of bananas. Good aroma, but somewhat weak. Not as bitter as I expected, comes off as more sweet than bitter, but finishes bitter and floral. Balance is outstanding however, and the result in a highly drinkable beer that I am almost positive I will try again, even at the steep price of $12/bottle.

Tastes like a highly hopped traditional pilsner. Has the characteristic golden color of a pilsner, also fairly carbonated. Taste has a crisp hoppy bite at the end. Worth a try, but too expensive for what you get.