Bottle from jah noth. Hazy yellow-orange body, medium off-white head. Aroma reminds me of Oberon- heavy on fruity wheat and esters, grassy (wet hay), with hints of banana. Fruity, spicy body with wet hay and banana. The alcohol is a bit prickly considering the lack of any roasted or bitter dark malts to mask its presence. That’s really my only complaint, though.

2006 bomber drunk on 1/6/06
True to the description, there is a nice layer of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Leaving it behind (mostly), the body is a dull brass with light blonde and hay tints. Tiny bubbles provide a large, dense, white head that slowly works its way down to cover, but is more or less retained there. Moderate lacing in large patches.
Medium dry nose is full of zesty clove and white pepper notes. Well-attenuated honeyish malts push from behind, while wheat is dry and almost nutty smelling. Moderate amounts of bananas begin to collect on the nose, but are washed away by light hop grassiness and citrus notes (lemon, orange peel). Bits of lime-like notes with strong white pepper, sit on the finish and continually challenge the malt balance. But if it ends a bit too dry and phenolic/estery, it never gets astringent as the malt is certainly there in support, if not in such quite overt aromatics. Alcohol, even by the end of the bottle, is contained and only seems to gently mix in with the esters, adding some zestiness of its own, but never being singularly apparent. Maybe some German or Belgian pils malt would help ameliorate the slightly lacking malt aroma.
Warm, white breadiness with moderate sweetness opens up the flavor, but strong phenolic spiciness is quick to assert itself, drying things to the point where a smooth almost creamy texture is all but necessary. Fortunately, the unfiltered nature comes through in the body, allowing a comforting malt, yeast and wheat supportiveness to provide something for the spiciness to sink in to. Peaches and bananas make their way in to the mix, and even some citrus tanginess. Malt seems to reassert itself, surprisingly, on the end, as the beer picks up a strong sweetness of vanilla and sweet dough. This only seems to last while the beer is chilled, as with warming and breathing, the beer grows increasingly spicy, dry and lightly sharp on the finish. Controlled, appropriate carbonation and not out of control on clove or banana (white pepperiness is high, but to me that is more manageable). Hops arent overdone, so right away that’s a big plus here. I just think it badly needs some pils malt to give it that extra elegant honey sweetness. Whatever malt they used just seems too ho-hum. Good stuff, though. It dosent abuse its "Imperial" nature.

Soft malty nose with a hint of banana...beautiful cloudy light orange color with yellow highlights..texture is creamy and light...definite cloves mingled with bananas...finish is tart apple with bananas on the very end...bitter sweet ending a little candy-like..easy to drink for an 8% brew