Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner 2005 Harvest
Disclaimer: I have limited experience with the Double Pilsner style and there appears to be no specific style description defined by the Brewers Association. So, this one will be hard to rate into a style given the lack of standard comparison. Pours a cloudy coppery orange hue and makes a rich creamy offwhite head, makes some really impressive thick lacing down my glass. Aroma provides a earthy hop attack to the sinuses, wow, this is not very pilsner like by any means. Flavor starts on the really bitter end and I start to feel the enamel being ripped off my teeth. This is a hop bomb! Earthy, resinous, piney hop goodness all over my taste buds. Chewy caramel flavors try so hard to balance this one out, but those hops are over the top. Full bodied and a bit sticky on the palate, slightly cloying... this is the chewy, knife and fork version of a pils I suppose? And all of this comes from Sam Adams? I must say I am impressed... it feels like a double IPA to me and could stand up against some of the best. I thoroughly enjoyed this brew.