Imperial IPA
King Street Brewing Company

 

 

Amber color and hazy. Excellent head which lasts throughout the tasting. Beautiful blanket of lace on the glass.

Mildly sweet with a flowery hop nose. Good caramel as well.

Creamy, a bit oily from the alcohol which warms the swallow. The malt is diminutive but present. The hop is strong but not dominating. The alcohol is strongest and the main story here.

 

Poured into a tulip, the appearance was a copper to bronze sort of glossiness. Some stringy sliding lace. The aroma had some orange, peach, pineapple and pinesol scents. Interesting, but alright, sure, let’s proceed. The flavor brings those hop scents in to brush against a light caramel malt base. Long malty aftertaste and finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fair sessionability about it. Fairly low carbonation. ABV felt fine. Overall, it’s alright as is, but not one to seek out.

this is fresh and flavorful, bigger in stature and intensity than it seems like it should be considering its relatively mild alcohol strength in the style. its great beer, but given the choice, i would take their base ipa over this one by a considerable margin. there is a lot of leftover grain sweetness to this, and the hops seem to influence the feel as much as the flavor, oily and sticky, but also incredibly bitter on the swallow, its like fighting fire with fire in terms of balance, and its definitely a bomber to share. we may not have given this one its best context either admittedly, drinking it in the middle of the afternoon on a really hot day, this isnt exactly refreshing stuff. some pine to it, bitter grapefruit rind, light brown sugar, warming alcohol, and overall a very wintery complexion to me, short of barleywine, but moving in that direction. i could see it being a lot more appealing in a cold weather situation, but i was impressed with both hoppy beers i had from king street, and owe a huge thank you to my friend for bringing them down from alaska for us! cheers man, loved these beers!

New batch on tap at GABBF

 

 

 

 

Out of a 25.4-ounce bottle into my tulip. This one just appeared very recently. King Street has gone... imperial.

While looks are superficial, this stuff has a look worth noting. Some beers look somewhat generic in their perfect clarity, but not this one. It is a positively radiant orange. As I gaze into its tangerine glow, I see a haze, yet can make out no particles. It's kind of magical. Also, it has about three cm of a bone white head with nice staying power, impressive poof, and light lacing.

Tropical fruits are central in the aroma, with orange, lemon, grapefruit, mango, and pineapple all detectable. A bit of fragrant, floral pine is there, too. Modestly dank.

The flavor brings heaps of something I quite admire in the pale ales of India. I speak of dank zestiness (or zesty dankness, if you prefer): that burst of flavor which is rooted equally in the worlds of spicy, pungent, potency and of herbal, fruity tang. Astringent it is. Juicy, it is. Balanced... it is.

The carbonation is quite animated, and I feel that this jives with the hops. Yep. Jives. With the hops.

An ale of respectable dankness.