Samuel Adams Imperial White
Purchased from Beertopia in Omaha, NE. Poured into a tulip glass. A somewhat hard pour produces a 2cm high head of light tan, dense, fairly small bubbles. This fades fairly quickly, leaving some lacing along the glass. Body is a brownish-orange-gold, as others have noted, this makes one do a double-take. A bit different than my expectations, but that doesn't make this a bad pour. Scent is fairly tame, I'm mostly picking up coriander, watery orange and apricot, and the malt base. As it warms up, the ethanol becomes present. Somewhat disappointing. Taste features some fairly intense sweetness, distinct wheat malt, watery orange, and faint coriander. As the beer warms, ethanol becomes more noticeable, though it's never objectionably large. Something about this brew just doesn't come together for me. None of the tastes are particularly compelling or merge into something better than their parts. Again, somewhat disappointing. Mouthfeel is fairly heavy, carbonation a bit too light for a beer this big. Finish is fairly dry and a bit sticky from the sweetness. Overall, this drinks like an attempt that didn't really work out. For an "imperial," the flavors are too mellow, not enhanced by the extra ethanol presence or heaviness, and don't come together well. Ditto the scent. I don't see myself revisiting this one.