Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pilsner

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

Hazy amber with a deceny white head. Nice spicy herbal, grain bread malt aroma. Smooth, medium bodied with a flavor that mirrors the smell, bready cracker malts with spicy, herbal lager flavors. Pretty good beer here. 5177

A little confusing, this beer reminds in many ways of an IPA just much lighter and with less body. Pours a hazy amber with thick white head. Floral hop aroma with something else, maybe honey. Alcohol was hidden very well and if this came in a sixer I could crush it without batting an eye but the price is too much for a beer that is not very substantial. Still, it’s a must try once type of thing.

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.

On tap.
Pours a slightly cloudy light amber that’s pretty dark for a pilsner. Big PNW hop aroma much like a West-Coast-style IPA; grapefruit, pine, herbal and spicy. Flavor is similar, with great big bitter hops dominating, their floral and fruity notes playing bit parts only. About the only thing that makes this remotely like a pilsner is that the hop bitterness overwhelms the malt support (appropriate for a pilsner) and the fruity notes are more background noise than prominant features (also appropriate for a pilsner). Unusually thick palate for a pilsner with long bitter finish. Not at all what I expected based on the description as a pilsner (imperial or otherwise), this beer actually tastes more like an American IPA than many beers purporting themselves to be American IPAs.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN IMPERIAL PILSNER. It is slight hazy golden yellow with good solid white head. Lot’s of hops and hint’s of malt, hay and a touch of yeast. Beautiful beer, but actually it is a 2IPA.

Had to buy it just casue of the bottle; I’ve never seen a bottle that looks even remotely like this one. Pours an ultra-hazy gold with a large, sudsy white head. Aroma is of floral hops, lager yeast and sweet grain, pear/apple and a bit of must with some alcohol coming through. The flavour is hoppy, sweet and slightly vinous. The finish is bitter hopps that come across as slightly metalic. I also taste an earthy citrus, like lemon grass, which probably comes from the hops used. The palate is very full for the slyle and is oily and slick.

On tap at Grinders in Kansas City, MO. Pours a hazy straw with a small, creamy, white head that leaves behind decent lace. The nose displays solid pilsner malt with nice, fruity and grassy hops. Medium-bodied with tons of fine carbonation and a lightly dry finish. It really struck me as amazing just how "big" the carbonation was in this beer. Until my tongue acclimated itself, the carbonation was actually a detractor to the experience. The flavor features tons of pilsner malt flavor up front (very sweet) with yeasty, grassy supporting notes coming in behind and concluding in a lightly dry, lingering finish (unlike a tradition pilsner’s quick, crisp finish). A very sweet and very "big" beer. A couple pints of this and you’re set for the evening.

Pours medium golden with a thin white head. Nose and flavor are yeast and spicy with some malt breadiness as well.