This beer would probably be at the head of any true fan of unique beer, if only for creating a brewing oxymoron - a style known for it's piquantless perfection that has been imperialized. (Yes, i realize i just partook in the art of pseudowordism in order to feed my own pseudo-intellectual ego. What of it!) Alright, promptly dispensing with the douchery in order to get to the beer review. Port Brewing makes one of my top 5 IPAs, so in this not-so-humble beer reviewer's opinion, they can do no wrong. Unless of course this beer sucks.
Before launching into this I think I should momentarily explain the "imperial" tag , where it comes from, why you as a beer drinker should care, and why that makes this beer so unique. (This paragraph is going to be paraphrased editorializing from second-hand knowledge from the Beer Genius as well as my own research, which is mostly anecdotal home-brew forums and Wikipedia. So...there you go.) The history of Imperial beers starts back in England when the royal family would have Russian royalty visit. England is of course known for their beer, and so to create a beer that was truly worthy of the Russian court, they would double up the grain and hop bill in order to create a more substantial beer for the Russian court - hence, the style "Russian Imperial Stout." Since then the "Imperial" tag has essentially been grafted to any brew that has had their respected ingredients doubled to provide a more intense version of the beer.Why does doubling the ingredients matter? More hops = more bitterness = more joy for hopheads. More malt = more food for yeast = more alcohol byproduct for you drunks...er, malt-heads.
Now why is making an imperial pilsner such an oxymoron? Well, first you have to realize the most popular pilsners - that would be Coors, Bud and all the various macro-breweries of America - are notoriously light beers. The style is known among brewers by the mantra "flawless and flavorless" - the amount of work for a brewer to churn out such a trite and characterless beer such as those brewed by American beers is truly a feat of brewing. Odd that this is one of the most popular beers in the world.
Now that I've taken you kids to school, on with the review. Poured into a Widmer pilsner glass (of course). First thing is this beer heads up like a college freshman-pumped keg - beautiful two inches of foam which does not recede one bit. Looks like whipped egg whites. Eventually after thirty seconds the head dissolves, leaving a lacey residue down the sides of the glass. The color is just gorgeous - a perfectly gradiented yellow to orange hue. Slight bubbles come up from the bottom to show you the little yeasts working to make this beer awesome for your mouth. Shall we deny them the pleasure any longer? (Creepy!)
The nose smells just like a Sierra Nevada - light Cascade hops reaching out and tickling your nostrils with a solid citrusy aroma. As my nose looks for malt I note the latent presence of Munich malts which, given the German origins of pilsners, should be of no surprise. Onto the taste!
Well, it's certainly the best pilsner I've ever had. Hops dominate the palate (unfortunately for the style), along with the light malts and the strong presence of alcohol creating a solid body to this beer. The malt presence is there, but you'd only know it by the alcohol which is very prevalent. I'm reaching for the Munich malt in this, but this is essentially a very boozey Sierra Nevada.
All in all, I appreciate what Port seemed to look to do here - create a more intense boozey version of an American pilsner, but the result (flavorwise) was a pale ale and I'm afraid it's not going to win many style points among the more stodgy of brewers. Nevertheless the beer is a really good beer and if you are an experienced beer-drinker, want a beer you can nurse the whole night and still tap a beer buzz, this is the beer for you, no question.
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