Saturday, December 31, 2011

Prosit: Imperial Octoberfest Lager

Tasted Saturday evening after a day spent in Galena at my mothers house. Following a large dinner of gourmet organic pizzas I decided to take out a beer I purchased this afternoon from the Galena River Wine and Cheese place. This is the first bomber I've seen from this brewery.

Appearance: Rich amber color with a tint of red. Head is lofty standing at 2" and of soapy texture with a lot of large bubbles.  Carbonation bubbles cling to the edges of the glass as others rocket to the surface from the depths of the glass.
Aroma: There is a bit of a sanitizer and soapy scent (somewhat like pinesol...lemon fresh) at the front of the beer. To follow, there is a faint biscuit/caramel malt bill complemented by a subtle lager/marzen character.
Taste: At the front I get a robust worty flavor in conjunction with a bready base malt. Caramel is another prominent flavor in the foretaste of the beer leaving a rich sweetness to be balanced through the rest of the beer. The finish is lagered with while remaining very clean. I don't pick up on any fruit flavors, or anything really off. Big on the grain malt with a mild hint of husk at the finish. as the beer warms, even a burnt rice-crispy flavor emerges, with notes of chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and still relatively drinkable. I find that a lot of the sugar was attenuated to reach that alcohol, leaving some body and sweetness. Carbonation erupts on the tongue at first and then mellows out.
Overall Impression: I get where the octoberfest flavors come through, but this is certainly a grain forward beer. Fermented with a clean yeast, leaving nothing opposed in the flavor, but still preserving the wort flavors during the mash. Was there really a point to making high octane octoberfest (drinking) beer?


79/100

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