Whistler Imperial Pils
Karl Strauss Brewing Company

Whistler Imperial PilsWhistler Imperial Pils
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From:
Karl Strauss Brewing Company
 
California, United States
Style:
Imperial Pilsner
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
83
Avg:
3.6 | pDev: 14.17%
Reviews:
29
Ratings:
38
Status:
Retired
Rated:
May 24, 2015
Added:
Jun 19, 2010
Wants:
  4
Gots:
  1
No description / notes.
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Ratings by Zorro:
Photo of Zorro
Reviewed by Zorro from California

3.28/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Chill hazed dark gold colored beer with a small white head.

Sweet with no identifying malt type, sweet like corn syrup. Flowers and grass hop scent.

Starts out sweet with a wheat cracker and grass flavor. Gets a little spicy as you drink it. One of the milder flavored Imperial Pils I have tasted. The one word that pops in to my head as I drink this is "Soft" this is like a strong beer buffered to prevent anything offensive from hitting my tongue.

Mouthfeel is good.

Overall this is just an OK beer. It;s not bad but I really don't think I will buy another bottle.
Sep 05, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of pat61
Reviewed by pat61 from Minnesota

4/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
L: Pours hazy amber under a 1” fluffy off-white to cream colored foam cap that hugs the sides of the glass.
S: Spicy malt aromas.
T: Complex malt flavors, slightly sweet, kettle sugars with some bread interact with rich, rounded hops.
F: Smooth and creamy with medium carbonation, medium body.
O: A big bold well hopped pilsner.
May 24, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by Devinph from California

Feb 06, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by t0rin0 from California

Oct 17, 2012
Photo of rawfish
Reviewed by rawfish from California

3.16/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Pours very dark for a pilsner, apple juice gold with a substantial chill haze. Dense cap of off white froth that maxes out at 1 inch but stays through the drink depositing curtains of lacing.

Sweet malt, doughy with honey and a white grape and apricot fruitiness. Some grassy Saaz in there too. Had to get my nose in there and those fruit aromas are not typical for a lager.

Pale malt that follows the nose with a steady does of doughy malt and overly sweet with honey, apricot and peach puree and white grape to follow. Hops push back a bit with some pine and straw but just can't over come the sweet malt that sticks around in the after taste, some grain and adjuncts appear as the beer warms. Odd for a lager, but this profile would be great for a blonde ale.

Thick gooey viscous over the palate, perhaps under carbonated and sticky rather than crisp, all completely the opposite of what I look for in a lager. But to say that the beer is not drinkable for a 7.5% abv would be a flat out lie.

Much too sweet and sticky for a lager even if it is an imperial beer. The color alone was telling of how much malt was laid down in this beer. Rather easy to drink once you dismiss this as a lager.
Jun 10, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by JustinQ from California

May 23, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by SheboyganJake from Wisconsin

Apr 16, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by javiernano from California

Mar 06, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by elos from California

Mar 03, 2012
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

3.85/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
fresh bottle from Texas Liquor (in Carsblad, Cal.) Very easy to drink hoppy beer. An understated bitterness that was most pleasant during a long luncheon. Mild hoppy aromas. Some citrus, medium mouthfeel, and one-quarter inch of retained head on cloudy lightly orange body. Satisfying, not heavy, sure not a double IPA and cannot be held up to that sort of hop assault.
Jan 29, 2012
Photo of AWolfAtTheDoor
Reviewed by AWolfAtTheDoor from Washington

3.08/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
This was 50% off at my local supermarket, so I figured why not?

1cm white head on top of a slighty hazy yellow body. Loopy sporadic lacing.

Smells sweet, corn? Little bit of cereal malts too.

Icky, overly sweet on the palate. Alcohol bite sneaks up on you at the end, and is not pleasant. Did this beer ferment out completely?

Carbonation is adequate. Beer hangs around on the palate though. I think a crisper finish would help it out.

Definitely won't be trying this beer again.
Jan 22, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by LKFH from California

Dec 20, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by jheezee from Texas

Dec 08, 2011
 
Rated: 3 by nmann08 from Virginia

Nov 18, 2011
Photo of mdfb79
Reviewed by mdfb79 from New York

2.69/5  rDev -25.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5
From 10/28/11 notes. Thanks to nmann08 for sharing this one. Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a tulip.

a - Pours a clear straw yellow color with two inches of fluffy white head and mdoerate carbonation evident. Some spotty lacing left on the glass.

s - Smells of sweet corn, biscuity malts, and bready malts. A little bit adjunct-lager-like and bland, not the best.

t - Tastes of corn, grain, biscuit malts, wheat, lightly sweet. A slight step up from the nose, but again, not that great.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. Pretty easy to drink but the sweet corn takes a little bit away from it.

o - Overall a below average pilsner. Somewhat bland and reminded me a little bit of an American Adjunct Lager, wouldn't really seek it out again.
Nov 02, 2011
Photo of Offa
Reviewed by Offa from California

4.27/5  rDev +18.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This is absolutely wonderful and to date the best Karl Strauss beer I have had. It is a great example of why I love this so-called style even if to me "American Imperial Pilsner" really seems to be another unnecessary, nitpicking division of styles into increasingly specific, hard-to-differentiate categories. In any case, I love Maibocks, too, and some of each style really seem to me to be just as at homein the other cartegory.

Anyway, it's dark gold, faintly hazy, with smallish-medium off-white head slowly shrinking to rich foamy ring, some nice lace.

Aroma is great - a nice, full grain, hay, fermented apples, wildflowers. It's firm, aromatic, and subtly complex.

Taste is nice, spicy flowery citrusy hop bitterness with sweetish bread, honey, apple, along with mineral. It has a lot of well-rounded, balanced character, nice malt and hop presence, lively and zesty.
Oct 23, 2011
Photo of lacqueredmouse
Reviewed by lacqueredmouse from Australia

3.47/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Fizzes quite heavily on the pour, leaving a rather flat looking brew, deep golden in colour, with a lot of weight to the body and a lot of haze. Really looks disappointingly flat when held to critical appraisal, but the colour looks fine and the heft is appropriate; it looks chewy enough, but still flows smoothly.

Nose is deep and slightly sweet, with more heft and more booze than I expected. In some senses, it gets this slightly sweet-acidic orange note, which reminds me of an IPA, but the thickness and sweetness suggests something more like a dessert wine. There's certainly minimal crispness, which I'd like to see in an pilsener, even an imperial one.

Taste taste has a little more bitterness, but again, lacks crispness. Instead, the big body gives it a slick, gooey sweetness that only subsides when the onrush of boozy heat comes through on the back. This, in its way, is a type of crispness, in that it startles the palate in to wakefulness, but it's still not ideal.

I'll admit I've still never found an Imperial Pilsener that matches up with what I think the style should be like, and unfortunately, this follows the trend. I'd love more crispness, more directness, and sharper, brighter palate, but still bursting with enormous flavours

Some day....
Oct 13, 2011
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

3.53/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Appearance: Pours a clear golden color with a respectable head; the retention wasn't great but the lacing was above average

Smell: Biscuity malt with a vaguely grassy hops

Taste: Biscuity malt, up front, with an understated grassy hop flavor developing by mid-palate; rather malty on the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: I have never been thrilled by the Imperial Pilsner style, more because I dislike the malt character of so many of them; in this case, I really like the malts but the hops aren't up to the task; still, it is easy to drink
Sep 24, 2011
Photo of NickRivers
Reviewed by NickRivers from California

4.26/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
A&S - Pours a gorgeous sunburst gold with a foamy off white head. Not much aroma getting through the pilsner malt, some floral notes as well as some herbal hops. Very floral like a beachside garden.

T&M - Spectacularly smooth. Goes down super easy. Nice fresh malt character with some honey and fermented alcohol, a earthy hop bitterness, with a finish as crisp as potato chips. Great yeast character in this as well, absolutely welcoming, no off notes at all.

O - An amazing beer! Liked this more than I originally thought I would. I had this in my fridge for quite a while and now wish I would have drank it sooner, as we all do with unknowingly amazing brews. Super excited to find this randomly while shopping at certain markets. Although availability here in SoCal should be a little better for this, considering I live 2 or 3 counties away, look for it at your bottle shop. Its a must for SDagans.
Sep 14, 2011
Photo of glid02
Reviewed by glid02 from Georgia

4/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bottle shared by Nathan – much obliged!

Pours a slightly hazy deep golden color with a white head that leaves decent lacing.

Smells of crisp and mildly sweet pilsner malts with good amounts of sticky citrus and light herbal hops.

Tastes very similar to how it smells. Smooth pilsner malts up front are joined quickly by moderate amounts of citrus and herbal hops. Midway through slightly grassy hop flavors come into play, fading out into a moderately bitter ending. Mouthfeel is good, with solid carbonation.

Overall this is a good benchmark for the style, not good and not bad and worth a shot.
Aug 25, 2011
Whistler Imperial Pils from Karl Strauss Brewing Company
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 38 ratings