Imperial Hazy Blues
Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

Oskar Blues Brewery, LLC "Imperial Hazy Blues Juicy IPA"
19.2 fl. oz. can, "CANNED 10/22/24", and sampled on 01 February 2025
$2.99 @ Total Wine & More, Claymont, DE

Look: A hazy golden and slightly orange body is capped by a short head of white foam that holds fairly well and leaves some nice lacing about the glass.
Smell: Malty with minty, resinous, and citrusy hops.
Taste: Not surprisingly the flavor follows the aroma. It's quite malty but not really sweet, and well threaded through with minty, herbal, woody, resinous, and citrusy and tropical hops (orange, grapefruit, mango, berries, and pineapple. There's a spritz of alcohol which gives it a bit of a peppery spiciness, and a solid bitterness keeps it in check. It finishes with some sweetish and bready malt and herbal, woody, and fruity hops left lingering.
Feel: Full bodied and gently crisp and then smooth across the palate.
Overall: I wasn't sure about this at first but it does seem like just a bigger versions of their Hazy Blues Juicy IPA. I don't need the extra alcohol but I can appreciate that it's there for those who like it, and let's face it, beers like these are now being marketed in the same way that higher gravity malt liquors used to be.
Review #9,173

 

Poured from a can into a pint glass
Appearance -The beer pours hazed golden orange color with a big puffy head of white foam. The head has a great level of retention, fading over time and leaving tons of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is strong of a tropical fruit smell of passionfruit and papaya, mixed with some lychee and orange. Along with these smells comes notes of a musty hay mixed with some smells of wheat bread and oat with a bit of herbal and earthiness rounds it all out.
Taste – The taste begins with mix of tropical fruits and maltiness with the tropical fruits being strong of a papaya, mango, and passionfruit and the malt being of a wheat, oatmeal, and biscuit malt flavor. There is a pretty decent showing of citrus upfront, with a grapefruit hop and some orange juice being rather strong. The sweet citrus gets even stronger, all while a bit of lemon and some earthiness joins in. Toward the end of the taste transition comes notes of white pepper and a rather big surge of the sweet fruits that were present throughout, leaving one with a sweet and juicy, and well alcohol hidden, taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is chewier with a carbonation level that is medium in nature. For the big sweet fruit flavors and moderately thick malt tastes, the feel is right on, making for a nice sipper.
Overall – A rather tasty and quite fruit juicy brew that is dangerously easy to drink at 9.5% abv. Good, but beware!

Pours a hazy light orange with a 1F head and moderate lacing.

Smells of floral grassy hops with slightly dank sweet fruit and citrus.

Tastes of lightly tart grapefruit, tangy wheat , orange, lemon and marshmallow with a slightly bitter alcohol warm finish.

Medium body with light prickly carbonation. Oaty smooth mouthfeel.

This is a very tasty , strong, well balanced brew. Happy to have found this in a tallboy.

Canned on: 11-23-23

A - A very hazy dark medium orange gold color with a healthy layer of bright white foam swimming on top.

S - Tropical fruit dominates the nose: Pineapple, citrus, peach, passion fruit, and some tangerine.

T - Follows the nose but with more intensity. Tropical fruit and citrus dominate from start to finish with dank peach and tangerine standing out along with some passion fruit. FInishes with a lingering tropical fruit that starts to build on the bitterness.

M - Big medium body that's slightly chewy and pillowy soft.

O - Held up for being two months old, bet with was really dank at the time of canning.

19.2oz can. Poured out a cloudy, golden yellow color with a small, off-white head of foam. It left sudsy trails of lace. It smelled of guava, mango, orange and sweet caramel. Great tropical fruit taste with toasted caramel and a piney, sharp bitterness.