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Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner 3.72 960

Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner

Percentile
96
overall

bottled
common

on tap
unknown

Broad Distribution
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RatingsAverageScoreSeasonalABVStyle PctlServe in
9603.73/5.03.72/5.0Special8.8%99.2Lager glass
Commercial Description:
2005 info:This lager is made with fresh Bavarian hops, straight off the vines from the 2005 harvest in Germany, and packs an 8.8 percent alcohol content that's twice as strong as most popular beers.
Boston Beer Co. is brewing only 60,000 24-oz. bottles, which are due to begin arriving in stores in November.

2007 release info:
Yes, we're a little obsessed with hops. Every autumn for over twenty years, Jim Koch has traveled to one of the oldest hop-growing regions in the world, the Hallertau region of Bavaria in Germany, to hand-select Noble Bavarian hops, including the Hallertau Mittelfrueh variety. This special variety is considered to be one of the best in the world, prized for its unique taste and aroma. Samuel Adams® Hallertau Imperial Pilsner is a celebration of these extraordinary hops. This beer is one of the hoppiest in the world, without being overly bitter. With the first sip, you will experience an explosion of some of the world's finest hops. And we mean “explosion” in a good way. Brewed as a showcase for the hops, this bold brew highlights the spicy, citrus flavors and aromas of the Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops that are abundant in the recipe. The intense hops flavor is balanced with the slight sweetness from the malt. The brew remains pleasantly well-balanced from beginning to end, due to the quality of the hops, and continues to always be, well, "hoppy," providing hop lovers with an amazing beer drinking experience.
Available in 12oz. bottles.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 waolsen (1224), Littleton, Colorado, USA
3.8 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/57/103/516/20
Feb 19, 2006  
Hazy Amber pour with thick foamy head. Hops and citrus aroma. Dry and hoppy with a nice bite in the aftertaste. Very nice Pilsner.


 luckygirl (1221), Boulder, Colorado, USA
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/104/514/20
Oct 6, 2007  
Bottled. Beer is slightly cloudy, light amber. Head is small, off-white, frothy. Diminishes mostly and quickly, but lasts.<P>Malty with light notes of toasted grain, biscuit; Hoppy with moderate notes of tangerine and lemon zest, resinous herb and a light note of honeysuckle.<P>The flavor is moderately sweet, light/moderately acidic, lightly bitter with a long, lightly acidic, light-building-to-moderately bitter, lightly sweet finish.<P>The body is medium, the texture is velvety and the carbonation is lively.<P>Nice hop profile, frilly for Pils, though.


 jimmack (1221), Nutley, New Jersey, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/104/514/20
Dec 15, 2005    Updated: Dec 16, 2005
Bottle. Dark, hazy orange color with a small off white head. Aroma of citrus hops, sweet malt, hay and pine resin. Taste starts off malty sweet before turning extremely bitter with piney/citrus hops. Flavor was a little too sweet for my tastes, but the bitter hop finish and the mild alcohol bite at the end help make this an enjoyable beer.


 footbalm (1219), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
3.6 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/56/104/515/20
Dec 19, 2005  
Thanks to Wawood for this. Deep amber with a massive head. Some hops for sure in the nose,pretty impressive actually for a pseudo macro. some maltiness but I gotta say it is the hops that really stand out. Some hop bitterness but I think that the malts were there so as to mellow out the bitterness.Pretty good brew from the Boston Beer Co.


 markwise (1216), 15 Minutes from Kuhnhenn in, Florida, USA
3.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/56/103/511/20
Jan 1, 2008  
I love hoppy beer, and I was very excited that Sam Adams got in on the action, but I was very disappointed in this beer. The 2007 crop poured a nice dark golden color and began with a very clean and hoppy taste, but it finished like gasoline. The beer was good until swallowed.


 BuckNaked (1211), Tempe, Arizona, USA
4.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/105/58/105/516/20
Dec 15, 2005  
Bottle: Pours to a beautiful mostly opaque/cloudy orange-amber body with a huge, eggshell head that lasts. If you’re not giving this a 5 on appearance, you’re crazy. I’m not really sure why we continue to classify this as a European Strong Lager, but that will probably change. Aroma is a lightly fruit/earthy spicy hops, with hints of citrus, light grapefruit (different from cascade), peppered lemon rind, green tea, toasted dough, and light bready malt. Very aromatic. Taste is wow, very different from many other "imperial pilsners" I’ve tried. There’s much more body to this and lots more bitterness, though it’s not at all like drinking a west-coast IIPA. The hops dominate with earthy, fruity, sweaty, grassy, spicy notes. Then there’s bread dough, sweet malt, orange, toasted malt, light pepper, and more spicy/earthy hops. Full bodied, though not quite that of a stout, medium natural soft carbonation, finishing with spicy, earthy, bitter hops and just a hint of citrus later on. This is really good, well above what I was expecting. The hops have just a fantastic and unique character and the palate and mouthfeel are just flawless. Yeah, I didn’t see myself getting that excited about this either, but there it is.


 OldMrCrow (1206), Seattle, Washington, USA
3.2 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/56/103/513/20
Dec 29, 2007  
2007 bottle.

I usually laugh at Sam Adams; I passed up the 2005 version of this beer as a stupid marketing gimmick the one time that I saw it, and after reading the ratings on here, I’ve been kicking myself in the ass for doing so for the last two years. I was glad to see the 2007 release, and picked up the bottle that I’m drinking now.

It pours a hazy orange amber with a big white head that fades, leaving behind a bubbly lacing. Despite pouring it at refrigerator temperatures, the aroma is lively and all hop-bomb, lots of citrus and not as grassy as I had expected. Flavor is intense hop oils and not all that much else. A little bit of cookie dough malt, a little bit of spice from the yeast, some alcohol, but it’s really all about the lemon and grapefruit-pith hops. In the mouth it’s both sticky and quite abundantly carbonated, falling just short of prickly, with a bit of alcohol heat coming through even when cold. The problem is that as this one warms, all of the flaws come to the fore. Approaching room temperature, the hops are still there of course, but I keep getting caught up in the fact that it’s sticky, unbalanced, chemical, grainy.

When I’m in the mood for a hop bomb, I think I’d rather drink a good IPA; when I’m not in the mood for a hop bomb, this beer is out of the question. But this really ain’t bad.


 SDalkoholic (1198), Chula Vista, California, USA
4.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
8/104/58/104/517/20
Dec 23, 2005  
Appears a gloomy burnt orange hue with a fat topping of foam. Aroma is delightful with hop character and smells fresh and organic. The drink is heavy with large hop flavoring that doesnt over take the beer completely. A notice of malt and bread also round the flavor out some. Aftertaste is organic and earth while also bitter. More impressing than i thought this would be.



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