Wild Rose Imperial IPA

Wild Rose Brewery: Imperial IPA 9.4% ABV

Appearance:

Pours a perfect amber colour with a creamy fluffy, two finger of white head. It’s very clear and has a fair amount of carbonation coming up the glass. The lacing coats the walls if the glass and goes all the way to the bottom.

Aroma:

The aroma is not overly complex but my god is it good. It starts with very floral hops up front not to strong citrus wise but just slightly. You get hints of light caramel malts in the finish and a very slight pine note as well. There is no alcohol aroma at all! For a 9.4% beer that is quite an achievement, especially because the rest of the aroma is not over bearing at all. Very well balance and subtle.

Taste:

The taste is just as subdued and balanced as the aroma. The profile is quite different though. Up front you get nice floral hops moving to very pine flavoured hops and pine resin. As the pine resin dies down you finish with an ever so slight caramel malt finish still with the pine resin. There is a little alcohol warmth in the finish but it only enhances the hops and in the back of the pallet giving making the pine flavours feel like they are giving the warmth. It is unusually refreshing for such a high ABV beer even with the warmth.

Mouth Feel:

The beer is medium bodied and coats the top of the mouth pretty well. It has a perfect amount of carbonation that only further enhances the flavours and slightly lightens the mouth feel. A great combination for the style.

Drinkability:

This beer would be incredibly drinkable even if it were a regular IPA. For an Imperial IPA my god it is so easy to get down the Ol’ Gregory. You could really get yourself in some trouble with this beer if you had a lot of it. Between the well balanced and subtle flavours, and complimentary carbonation, it makes a very easy drinking and great beer to drink.

Style: 9.2/10 the marks I take off were for a slight lack of complexity which you look for in an imperial. But even that couldn’t bring this beer down a lot.

Personal Preference: 9.4/10 The only marks I take off are for the pine taste because I’m not a hop head by any sense of the term and it was the only off put to the beer. But it did really work with the slight alcohol warmth.