Imperial IPA
Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois, United States 🇺🇸
IPA - Imperial / Double Rotating Out of Production|
Score
7.93
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Traditionally, there are a lot of rules when it comes to brewing great beer. The fact that American craft brewers have broken those rules to produce some of the world’s finest beers is downright heroic. At Goose Island we live and die by hops, so breaking the rules meant pushing the hop limit to the extreme to create this monster Imperial IPA. We took three of our favorite hops, TETTNANG, SIMCOE, and CASCADE, and balanced their spiciness with tons of malt. Them we went back and dumped in MORE HOPS and more malt until this beer was exploding with flavor...strong enough to wake the dead and filled with more bitterness than a woman scorned. This Imperial IPA is absolutely gigantic, you’ll smell the hops from about a yard away. What will surprise you is how incredibly drinkable it is. Pair it up with the saltiest blue cheese you can find, and go nuts.
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7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
2006 12 ounce bottle from beerbill. Thanks! Pours a very hazy orange color with a small off-white head. Specks of lacing. The aroma is malty but with still an impressive amount of spicy hop notes. Taste is spicy and citrus hops with huge toffeish malt notes. Full bodied.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Dec 2008
at 12:25
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Clear amber with medium biege head. Hoppy aroma with with citric and piney notes. Hoppy flavour with note of grapefruit, pine and malty notes. Dry bitter finish. Nice.
Tried
on 25 Dec 2008
at 05:27
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
2007 bottle - Pours cloudy orange with a superb hop aroma accented with both citrus and pine. The flavor leads with some big, sweet malts that are soon overcome by huge, citrus tinged hops. There’s some earthiness to the malt that I’m not sure is my favorite thing, but it doesn’t really detract either. This beer is big and still quite drinkable. Enjoy the long, bitter finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Jun 2008
at 22:15
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
12oz bottle 2006 Pours out a murky goldish amber topped with a sand head. A nice aroma of sweet caramel and light hops. Tast of more sweetness light hops. I would have to say the couple years this one has been around some of the hops have mellowed out. It is very smooth. I love it.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Apr 2008
at 16:00
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle: Muddy orange in color with a creamy, sandy head. Thick lacing. Scents of malty sweetness, bready, and some dark fruitiness. Graham crackers? Tastes sweet and citrusy. Dry florals and caramel malt show up soon. The crisp florals are backed nicely by this softening bready and caramel maltiness. Nice. Thanks Hopdog!
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Feb 2008
at 19:26
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
12 oz. bottle generously given to me by Gregis. 2007 vintage, best before 041208. Pour is clear cheddar cheese [TM] orange, with a big fluffy orangish white head. Beautiful aromas of citrus fruit - very soft and floral. In the background, can also find some grassiness and bitterness. Taste is a reflection of the nose, sweet orange citrus, some grassiness in the middle and a clean hop bitter finish. After taste has a touch of lingering heat, which was the only indication of the size of this one. The sweetness became a bit cloying as I continued to drink this one. Very nice, though the taste didn’t quite live up to the aroma for me. Good solid IIPA, thanks for giving me this one Greg.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Feb 2008
at 17:03
8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 8
Bouteille 12oz, courtoisie de Hogtownharry. De couleur orange et voilée. Nez de houblon résineux, citrique, légèrement floral et herbeux avec des notes terreuses, malté de caramel sucré (notes de butterscotch et de toffee), fruité (agrumes, léger d’abricots), léger de biscuits et avec des notes de pain et de thé. Ronde en bouche avec un pétillement moyen et une texture riche, crémeuse et légèrement résineuse. Goût amer de houblon résineux, moyennement floral et herbeux (rappelant le thé avec des notes de menthe), légèrement citrique (pamplemousse) et avec des notes terreuses (présent toute la gorgée) accompagné d’un goût assez fruité (orange, mandarine, léger d’abricots sucrés, notes de pêches mûres et traces de pommes) lors de l’entrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût malté de caramel sucré avec un léger goût de biscuits au miel et de toffee ainsi que des notes de pain et de butterscotch puis en finale l’on assiste à un retour en force du houblon plus herbeux (herbes fraîches légèrement assséchantes) ainsi qu’un léger d’alcool réchauffant. Post-goût long et moyennement sec, amer de houblon résineux, herbeux, moyennement floral et légèrement citrique, fruité (zest d’agrumes, pelures de pêche) avec des notes d’alcool et de thé.
Tried
on 18 Jan 2008
at 20:47
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Better than most. Lots of fresh hops in the intense aroma, and there is grapefruit and some pine. Flavor has some sweet malt but mostly bitter hops, and they are very intense. Full of flavor and full bodied.
Tried
on 13 Jan 2008
at 17:01
8.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
Pours an opaque rust and light caramel color with zero head. The commercial description says you smell the hops from a yard away, I don’t know about a yard, but hops certainly dominate the nose even from a distance. Up close the aroma offers even more than just lemons and grapefruits, biscuit aromas are evident, slightl yeast, touches of malt and candy are also lurking. Flavor was amazingly balanced for what is obviously a heavily hopped brew. Flavor is heavy on the sugar, toffee and malt at first. Pine, flowers, and biscuits are also flavors that emerge. It’s very rare you get a hint of a beers finish right off the bat, but the moment it hits your tongue you can just feel a syrupy, sugary, thickness that is more milkshake than beer. Lasting sweetness, some bitterness and a slight alcohol burn on the end. This is very unique for an Imperial IPA and definitely worth checking out.
Tried
from Can
on 18 Sep 2007
at 17:04
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottlerd. Golden colour, mediumsized white head. Aroma is bigtime hops, caramel and a lot of fruits. Flavour is fruity hops, caramel, toffee and some slight hints of alcohol, all mixed in an excellent balance.
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Jul 2007
at 05:57