beer_name: Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner
text: poured from 12 oz bottle release, into a brooklyn flute, a nice irish cream white head sits fluffed above a very pale slightly orange tinged brew, very hazy. aromas of lemon zest, hints of pilsner malt, uncooked bread dough, sublt peppery and earthly notes taste is bitter citrus on the front of the tongue to a sharp mix of pungent grapefruit and dry pine/evergreen in the middle to finish, a lingering deep bitter puckering, alcohol is fairly prevelant and provides an additional depth to the hop bitterness. Some notes of bread and biscuity malt pops in occassionally. Some hints of diacetyl or butterscotch, hints of ale yeast over lager strain? mouthfeel is big for lager style beer, with a lot going on but as much as I love hops it is just too overwhelming for this style, even at an "imperial" level the balance is not even close to were it should really be, but certainly brewers perogative, but I do wonder if this was even brewed to be in the lager family, perhaps it is just coincidence but at the bottom of the bottle label rests a tiny "ale" marker. this is a beer worth trying, and I am going to sit on a few of the bottles to see if and how they mellow and progress, as always Cheers to Jim Koch and his crew, this is not a bad beer just not strictly to the mark for style.