Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pilsner

Poured a orange color with a rocky white head. Malt and spice aroma. Fresh biscuit flavor with a big mouthfeel. For the style I would have liked a spicier hop, but still a nice effort.

(26 oz flip-top white "ceramic" bottle: $11.49 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) I delayed and delayed my purchase of this 2004 bottle because of the cost, so I ended up buying this long after it had been out, and this apparently isn’t a beer that ages well. It’s smells and tastes earthy as all get out! The nose is all earth, and there’s no point in trying to discern any other aromas. In the flavor, there’s at least some hoppiness, a moderate and sweet fruitiness and a bit of citrus in the finish. But the earthy flavor is unmistakeable, and that is ruining the flavor of this Imperial Pilsener. Medium bodied, but it seems like ages since it was remotely crisp. But at least the beer is very pretty; it’s orange-golden in color, fairly cloudy, and topped by a tall and extremely persistent off-white head. It retains a quarter inch of foam for the entire session and leaves dense, thick patches of lace on the glass. Frankly, this tastes about as "old" as a four-year old Stone IPA I tasted recently, and this is nowhere near as old as that beer. A poor ager, so if you find it in a store at this point, you probably should pass.

On Tap @ Rogue/Seattle- Pours a hazy golden color, nice white fluffy head. Aroma is lemon, sweet malt, very enjoyable. Flavor is heavily hopped, lots of citrus pine notes. Nice malt balance. Taste more likes a big IIPA than a "pils"

I don’t know about this. It smells god awful. Like pungent straw or grass. It’s impossible to pour it from the ceramic bottle without getting 3/4 glass of head. The taste ain’t great. A bitter, full-bodied pilsner. The only redeeming value is that it’s 8.8%.

Draught at Tyler’s in Durham, NC. Hazy yellow color with a white head that laced the glass as it drained. Citrusy, hoppy nose with with prominent whiffs of alcohol and yeast. You can really smell the 8.8%. Alcohol, hops, and malt are dominant flavors with champaign undertones. Hop bitterness is much more prominent than than the hop flavor. Moderate carbonation. Very good.

On draft at Tyler’s in Durham NC. Orange color with a nice thick head. Appearance doesn’t tell you much. Immediately struck by the sweet malty aroma. This tastes nothing like a pils. Lots of sweet malts and a good hop backing. Maybe a bit of banana. This is decent beer.

this beer is pretty good. not the best pilsner I’ve had but its real dry finish is very nice. It has a sort of sweet aroma the makes it taste so surprising. 8.8 percent is GOOD

Very intruiging beer... I don’t know that it anyhow fits into the category of a classic pilsner, its more of a style defying beer (the best kind). Amazing aroma because it is different.... champagne candy?.... Appearance is a nice cloudy orange, good lacing, some of the better lacing I’ve seen outside of my homebrew... Taste is sweet yet bitter but in a different way that an IIPA... refreshingly crisp finish yet a little chewy at the same time. Definately unique, a must try.... at least once ’cause I know the price is high: 12 bucks. But hey, if your a home brewer you get a nice ceramic coated, swing-top bottle to use!