Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pilsner

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: European Strong Lager
Newport, Oregon USA

The incredible bottle wins appearance points on its own, and the beautiful golden, bubbly liquid that pours forth seals the deal. This is certainly an aromatic lager, with a strong, bitter hop nose, covering all but a hint of malt. Flavor is a massive hop hit, bitter but with plenty of citrusy/piney flavors. Well-carbonated, and thick in the mouth for a pilsner. Not what I expected at all from the word pilsner, this beer felt almost like a light-bodied IPA, with its bitter, hop-dominated flavor and aroma. Nevertheless, an excellent brew.

I really enjoyed this (thanks for sharing rudolf). Odd citrusy aroma. Light orange pour. Very active mouthfeel. A good dose of hops in the taste, this tasted exactly as described - a pilsner kicked up a few notches. I found it very drinkable and enjoyable. A unique style to be sure.

I little hard to rate as a pils or euro strong lager so I won’t. it’s really its own style as far as I’ve tried.

hazy gold, huge foamy white head. aroma of orange and pear with fresh bready malt and lots of herbal and citrusy hops. the flavour is quie intense with lots of the hops dancing arond but big malt there too. chocolate? middle is bicuity malt, finishes grassy and bitter. very nice. thnaks fattyre and bunnyhop!

I’m torn on this. It was good but a small part of the aroma reminded me of gasoline. I really enjoyed it but I can’t get past the thought of gasoline. Odd stuff.

Bottle courtesy of Rudolf. Poured a nice golden color. Big malt and hop in the nose. Somewhat fruity aromas. Very dry, spicy flavors. Medium bodied.

The beer came in a beautiful (and expensive), porcelain bottle with a cap, and a swing top. The packaging evoked a Japanese influence quite nicely. When poured, the beer had a bright golden color and a smallish short lived head. The carbonation was at a medium strength. The aroma was quite faint, with slightly grassy noble hops and honey like pale malt. The taste was more Maibock than Pilsner, with fruity and sweet malt and only a afterthought to the hops. The mouthfeel was very creamy and buttery-slick, and reminded me a little of movie theatre popcorn. The aftertaste was a bit dry, and was the only place where the alcohol content was evident in a peppery sort of way. There was almost no alcohol induced burning, so the beer was very drinkable. As good as this beer was, if Rogue had put in more hops to make it more in line with the Pilsner heritage, then it would have been a truly spectacular drink. P.S.: This is an unfiltered Pilsner, and the last pour was much more foamy, with a hazy yeasty body. The taste however did not change much. Either that, or by now the alcohol has gotten to my head.

A very deep, golden color (more of the color of a pale ale, happens though with beer of this concentration). Aroma is very spicy, perfumy, and floral in its hops. Malt aroma is bready and honeyish. Higher alcohols are apparent in the aroma and flavor and create a fruity/ester presence. As the beer warms the alcohol overbalances the malt and body making the beer taste thinner than it should. There is a soild, well balancing bitterness throughout. Overall a little too fruity in character, but my favorite so far between Dominion(cleaner but slightly more unidimensional) and Dogfish(too sweet and almost raisiny).

12 bucks for the fancy 26oz bottle.... OUCH. It will look nice on my bar or something hopefully. Anyway, on to the beer. This stuff was better than I anticipated. Pours hazy golden with a white head. Nice hop aroma. Tastes almost like a dortmunder with more hops. As the beer warms you can taste the alcohol more. If Rogue put this stuff in a glass bottle and charged 5 bucks for it, I would buy it again.