Imperial Amber Ale
Triangle Brewing Company

Imperial Amber AleImperial Amber Ale
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From:
Triangle Brewing Company
 
North Carolina, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
8.2%
Score:
90
Avg:
4.06 | pDev: 10.84%
Reviews:
8
Ratings:
19
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 16, 2015
Added:
Nov 27, 2007
Wants:
  6
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
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Ratings by McAndrew:
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Rated by McAndrew from North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +4.7%

May 10, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.12 by Morockm from North Carolina

Mar 16, 2015
 
Rated: 3.67 by NolanWilliamson from Georgia

Jan 16, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by eulerthegrape from California

Aug 25, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Mantooth from North Carolina

Apr 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by RyanAU from North Carolina

Mar 14, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by jaydoc from Kansas

Jan 28, 2014
Photo of Axnjxn
Reviewed by Axnjxn from North Carolina

4.44/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Draft at Triangle's new taproom on Main in Durham. Into a snifter

Pours a dark amber color with a very appropriate head. Smell is pine and hops and malts..smells extremely balanced... Taste is oh my god amazing and honestly surprising that its so good. Lots of hop character but a ton of malty complexity too.. i get a lot of pine and floral notes...Medium bodied with medium carbonation.. superbly easy to drink.

Overall in the upper echelon right here. I will be returning to this pub just to drink this on multiple occasions.
Nov 24, 2013
 
Rated: 4.5 by KevinGordon from North Carolina

Nov 23, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by jak from North Carolina

Oct 20, 2013
 
Rated: 3.25 by Lob from North Carolina

Jul 15, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by Jason_Quad from Kentucky

Jul 16, 2012
Photo of VncentLIFE
Reviewed by VncentLIFE from North Carolina

4.82/5  rDev +18.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Growler bought on Monday, drank on Friday. Last time I used this growler, I had seal problems. But not this time! Liquid is cloudy and an orange color.

Smell is amazing. As soon as a I poured from the giant 2L growler, I was hit in the face with citrus fruits. Crisp oranges, sweet grapefruit, and lemon are amazing. Sticky sweet malt backbone comes through in the nose.

I figured why I love this beer so much. It reminds me of Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster. Like scarily so. Ripe citrous fruits are rampant. Even the grain/malt bill is reminiscent of LEM. Juicy lemons, sweetened grapefruit, and orange zest. Bitering hops come in for just enough balance.

The malt bill feels a touch slick and light, but that might be the growler treatment.
Jan 06, 2012
Photo of tdm168
Reviewed by tdm168 from Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
On tap at the brewery

Pours a deep amber with a very thick layer of head that lingers for a little while. The nose reveals rich malts and hops. Taste brings caramel and pine, a very nice balance of sweet and bitter. Mouthfeel is crisp, well carbonated, and very refreshing. By far the best that TBC has to offer.
Jul 19, 2011
Photo of atsprings
Reviewed by atsprings from North Carolina

4.35/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Got blessed with the opportunity to have this beer on cask tonight at Broad St. Cafe in Durham, this one was dry hopped with Simcoe and Palisade hops. Served in a standard pint glass a murky dark copper topped with a decent light khaki head that diminishes to a ring and leaves just the slightest trace of lacing. The aroma is pine hops in front of burnt caramel malts. The taste was a great amount of citrus and pine hops balanced nicely by caramel malts. The beer was quite crisp and smooth with very well hidden alcohol. I must say, this is the kind of beer that should be showcased on cask more often, very special and enjoyable.
Aug 08, 2010
Photo of Proteus93
Reviewed by Proteus93 from Virginia

4.02/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Had this one from dkachur... one of the selections he brought back from the WBF. Thanks!

A: Thick, orange-brown. Some amber qualities, but pretty thick. A nice forming head, a creamy finger tall.

S: Quite a huge maltiness... Sweet bread, caramel, fruitiness, and a spicy alcohol.

T: Wow... Big, boozy. More like abarleywine than anything - rather hot. A sticky caramel ... Kinda like candy apple.

M + D: Sticky, fuller body... A little slippery on the way down. Quite a full alcohol fest. Drinkability goes down a touch with the heat, but it's a rather decent brew.
Oct 11, 2008
Photo of cvstrickland
Reviewed by cvstrickland from North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
22-ounce bottle poured into a half-liter willi glass yields a hazy reddish-chestnut body capped with a finger of extremely dense, fine-bubbled pale ecru foam that retains at a broken sheet and leaves wispy rings of lacing scattered on the glass.

Smell is syrupy sweet with brown sugary malts, dark Karo syrup, mild cheddar cheese toast, and just a touch of alcohol.

Taste is sweetly malty with a fat roasty, toasty bitter note that morphs itself into silky dark chocolate as I chew on it. There is a hint of caramel, blasted by a dense dry malt note that holds sway upon the drink, making itself felt more than tasted, keeping the copious sweetness in check. A little grapefruit rind with powdery unsweetened cocoa emerges as the drink warms a bit, as does the faintest bit of licorice and bitter instant coffee.

Beyond the initial little boozy whiff in the nose and the warming I already feel in the ol' tum, the alcohol in the drink is well-hidden. The drink is smooth and delicious with soft, excellent carbonation. I don't know what else to say... ambers are generally so mild and nuanced, it seems... and this beer isn't AT ALL like that! Big, thick, bold and kickass, Triangle's Imperial is far-and-away the best 'amber ale' I ever had. So there!
Jul 27, 2008
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

3.7/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Appearance: Very dark amber in color with a light beige head that leaves some lace

Smell: Citrus and bitter aspirin aromas waft above the caramel base

Taste: While the caramel flavors provide the preamble here, it doesn't take long for the citrus and aspirin to take over; a lot more grainy aspirin flavor after the swallow (it is 90 IBUs, after all) with considerable depth from the malt as well

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation; some warmth

Drinkability: I would like to see a bit more balance in the hop profile to bring out the fruit; as it stands, there is way too much aspirin flavor for me to want to reach for another
Jul 19, 2008
Photo of NCSUdo
Reviewed by NCSUdo from Massachusetts

4.74/5  rDev +16.7%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Had 3 glasses of this beauty on cask at the Flying Saucer in Raleigh (11/30).

A: A slightly murky but perfect hued red/amber under a decent creamy head. Good retention but minimal lacing.

S: Wow. The malt backbone makes a sweet and caramel apperance but the hops are absolutely amazing in this one. Huge, huge, huge grapefruit. Excellent smell.

T: Again, a sweet malt creeps in up front, but the finish is packed with hops. Grapefruit dominates with a splash of orange followed up with a nice dash of black pepper. The finish is ultimately bitter.

M/D: This is where the brew shines, which is saying something after the aroma. The mouthfeel is perfect. The body is medium and the carbonation is spot on, producing an excellent creaminess and smoothness. This baby is 8.2% and I had 3 glasses. I could had easily had 3 more before I fell over, where I would had insisted it be poured into my mouth. This is easily one of the top IIPAs I have every tasted.

It's a shame that this baby is only going to see casks due to the hop shortage. Andy from the brewery indicated to me that they had planned on releasing this for full production until the hop shortage finally hit them in the face. He said they still could, but charging $8 a pint was just not an option. Pesonally, I would pay the $8 for this beer, but we will still see it in casks around the Triangle for some time to come.
Dec 01, 2007
Imperial Amber Ale from Triangle Brewing Company
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 19 ratings