XS Imperial India Pale Ale
Rogue Ales

XS Imperial India Pale AleXS Imperial India Pale Ale
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From:
Rogue Ales
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
9.5%
Score:
92
Avg:
4.12 | pDev: 11.41%
Reviews:
773
Ratings:
1,265
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jul 27, 2020
Added:
Sep 18, 2001
Wants:
  118
Gots:
  97
Alias: "I²PA"

6 Ingredients:
Malts: Two-row Pipkin Pale.
Hops: Saaz, Cascade & Northwest Golding.
Yeast & Water: Rogue's Pacman Yeast & Free Range Coastal Water.

20º PLATO
74 IBU
75 AA
13º Lovibond
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by hustlesworth:
Photo of hustlesworth
Reviewed by hustlesworth from Ohio

4.72/5  rDev +14.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
poured from the super-cool looking 750ml black ceramic swing-top, this bottle looks even more menacing than arrogant bastard, i feel like i'm on the dark side of the force...

A- cloudy translucent apricot orange unfiltered body sent beams of color everywhere, the shadow directly under the 2in of rich dense white foam created a fading effect that went from dark at the top to vibrant color at the bottom. head settled quickly to 1/8in but left cake icing tiers of lace sliding down my glass, i think it even spelled out my name at one point...let's not forget the typical rogue bubble constellations. darth imperius, the dark side beckons you to smell...

S- burnt citrus (orange, lemon, grapefruit) with spicy tropical fruit undertones like mango, passionfruit, and guava. imagine your favorite tropical punch packed in a jar with hops and left to steep for like a month. after it warmed a bit, there was alcohol, pine resin, cherrywood, wine cask, toasty wheat bread, high grade reefer, and more HOPS...

T- right off the rip ridiculously fierce intense hops almost knocked me out my chair. they were all at once herbal woodsy aromatic like witch hazel, wormwood, or some crazy *bitter tropical vine, chocolate *bitter like m&m's until a *bitter coffee flavor takes over along with *bitter spiced citrus, block rosin like they use to lubricate violin bows, and *bitter orange flavored holiday chocolate with a bready yeasty chocolaty malt finish that gently tapers off the brutality of the hops over the course of a minute or two.

(editors note: the asterisk [*] denotes superb awesome hoppiness)

MF- this sticky syrupy hop elixir goes down smooth n easy despite its monstrous resinous character. i feel like there could be remnants of hop leaves stuck in my throat, without that urge to swallow a few more times after it's already in the belly, meaning it's dry but not tooo dry.

D- u better know what you're doin before steppin up to this beast. i realize now that it's called imperial for a reason. this beer screams "don't hate me cuz u ain't me" to every other american ipa i've had so far, the only one that comes close is mojo, though they are quite different from one another. i had absolutely no problem finishing one pint, but as for the other 300ml... let's just say i'll enjoy it tomorrow. price ($12/750ml), high abv, and intense complex flavor, would inhibit me from drinkin this in session.
Aug 09, 2007
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by Samnem from Pennsylvania

Jul 27, 2020
 
Rated: 5 by 2000SlowStang from Colorado

Nov 11, 2019
 
Rated: 4.06 by craigbelly from Iowa

Sep 13, 2019
 
Rated: 3.61 by Futbolmanby from Michigan

Sep 09, 2019
Photo of GuyFawkes
Reviewed by GuyFawkes from Illinois

4/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottled, 2010; drank early 2013.

Cloudy bright orange.

Minimal white head; thick lace.

HUGE mango, pineapple & orange nose. This smells great!

Medium thick mouthfeel.

The flavor follows the nose, with a strong, almost over-the-top bitter finish.

This was bottled 3 years ago, but tastes fresh as a daisy. I'm blown away; wish I had a bigger bottle!
Sep 02, 2019
 
Rated: 3.54 by brandoneast from Texas

Aug 05, 2019
 
Rated: 4.6 by beerN3RD from Colorado

Mar 24, 2019
 
Rated: 4.25 by dafla67 from Pennsylvania

Dec 10, 2018
 
Rated: 4.46 by zotzot from Vermont

Nov 06, 2018
Photo of iguanodon
Reviewed by iguanodon from Utah

4.05/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
[Original rating 2013-06-18] Draft at the PDX bar. Served in a big heavy goblet. Pours clear dark gold.with almost no head. Aroma is citrus, spice, apple, sweet malt. Taste is similar, bitter hops up front, then sweet, then back to bitter for the finish. I’m glad the wife encouraged me to get one more before the flight.
Oct 24, 2018
 
Rated: 4.06 by dwiech from Texas

Sep 26, 2018
 
Rated: 3 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Jan 03, 2018
 
Rated: 3.83 by Walnut from Missouri

Sep 24, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by Casey_L from Texas

Jul 04, 2017
Photo of stcules
Reviewed by stcules from Italy

3.6/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Beautiful clean copper apperance, one finger of not so beautiful off-white foam.
Smell. Well. Hop.
Malt, caramel, hop. Challenging. American hops, with a lot of resinous.
In the taste a lot of malt and caramel, then an intense hop, grapefruit and piney.
A lot of piney in the aftertaste too.
Then tangerine, citric, and floral notes (some geraniol).
Long, long hoppy aftertaste. Pine, tangerine.
Good easy beer...
Apr 10, 2017
 
Rated: 3.25 by sweemzander from Illinois

Dec 21, 2016
 
Rated: 4.06 by PugsandBeer from Florida

Sep 16, 2016
Photo of Pete_Vatistas
Reviewed by Pete_Vatistas from New Hampshire

4.94/5  rDev +19.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
My absolute favorite imperial IPA. This is NOT a beer to have with your meal, as it should be savored all by itself. I was fortunate to have it served on tap at The Strange Brew in Manchester NH, but alas, it is only distributed in bottles now. If you like full bodied, medium malt, heavily hopped and complex big bears, this should be on your bucket list. Cheers!
Aug 01, 2016
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

3.57/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Mixture of gold and amber in the appearance, small 1/3" white head. Aroma is lots of pine and citrus, orange.

Big bitter c hops all up in the taste, its one of those 100+ ibu type of ipas. The alcohol is big but not overpowering, you just gotta show it some respect. Really comes out as it warms.

Its a sticky resinous, kind of viscous kind of ipa, the mixture of Cascades with some Saaz type of hops is interesting, but ultimately seems like they just went big without any fine touches on this one.
Aug 01, 2016
XS Imperial India Pale Ale from Rogue Ales
Beer rating: 92 out of 100 with 1265 ratings