Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner - Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

Kallessin

Massachusetts

2.55/5  rDev -37.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 4 | overall: 2

A very cloudy/hazy golden beer with a slight orange tint. It had a small head that dissipated quickly.

A very hoppy/grassy aroma with a slight hint of fruitiness.

I can only taste the hops. It's has a very bitter flavor. I was expecting the hops to be the main flavor in the beer, but I was hoping it wasn't going to be too overpowering. I'm a little disappointed. No alcohol flavor at all, however, which was surprising.

The mouthfeel is really not that bad. It's very dry, but overall the best quality of this beer.

I couldn't drink more than one of these. This beer was a fun experiment, but I don't think I'll have it again.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2008 00:29:12 | More by Kallessin

webbcreative

Oklahoma

2.45/5  rDev -39.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5

uhg! this is not good for me! TOO BITTER! my word! i will admit that i prefer malt to hops but good lord this is too extreme for me to even try to enjoy! and that bitterness just lingers the whole time on the side of my mouth. I will definitely not be having this one ever again. well balanced? seriously, holy cow I cant taste anything but bitter.

Serving type: bottle

02-11-2009 05:16:56 | More by webbcreative

cosmicdebris

Connecticut

2.4/5  rDev -40.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

I was really looking forward to trying this beer. Poured great looked great and the smell was out of this world. But the taste blew it for me. The bottles have drink by January 2008 and it is now almost April 2008 so I do not know how much the date was a factor but this beer was way too salty tasting for me. I tried a second sip and then just poured the rest the down the drain. Has anyone tasted this when it first came out and again more recently? Did it change at all?

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2008 23:06:33 | More by cosmicdebris

JDV

Texas

2.38/5  rDev -41.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Cloudy dark orange pour in a lager glass. Big white nice head, with big hop aroma. Kind of grassy hops flavor with a thick gritty mouthfeel and an intense tree bark/chewed up aspirin tablet like bitterness. Too medicinal of a bitterness to be truly pleasant for me and killed an otherwise nice, unique beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2008 18:29:02 | More by JDV

hooligan

Florida

2.35/5  rDev -42.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 4 | overall: 2

Very old bottle picked up at Universal Liquors in Holiday, FL.

Best by January 2008? I was in so much shock after seeing this on the label that I asked my wife "Are you sure it's already been January 2008?". 3 months past it's prime... oh well.

Beer pours to a very cloudy, rich honey-colored beer with a thick heavy foam - settling quickly to a soapy lace that barely clings to the glass.

Smell is aggressively hoppy upfront with a cloying caramel and rum raisin sweet odor and a sharp alcoholic nose.

Tasting: Thick and powerful noble hops come out immediately with a thick, rich caramel and toasted bready malt character... heavy laden with strong phenolic notes, lots of "plum and rum". Hint of burnt caramel at the end, finished with the everlasting nasal alcoholic burn.

The thickness of this beer would be perfect, if the beer wasn't so cloying and alcoholic.

I need a fresher bottle - I can tell that this beer could potentially be a favorite if it weren't so "hot". I've seen similar reviews down the line, leaving me to wonder "What the hell is wrong with the distributors? How long have we been getting stale beers?"

Next time I'll have the wife check for "best by" dates.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2008 00:07:23 | More by hooligan

Maudite

Texas

2.25/5  rDev -44.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

I had this last year, and quite enjoyed it. THis year is a different story...

It had a ncie appearance, deep golden, hazy-blonde with a reddish tint, topped with a soapy white head due to the high level of hops.

The aroma was overtly pungent, displeasing, and somewhat solvent-like. My initial reaction was an over-use of hops.

Upon tasting, I got a similar flavor as I did in the nose: solvent, fusel-alcohol taste. I now wager it is from either over-sparging, or an over use of hops (too much alpah extraction), or a combination of the two. This was a great beer last year, but this time something happened in the brewing process to cause these off flavors.

The mouthfeel was killed by this, leaving the mouth feeling like I had just licked a 9-volt. The "hop" flavor that lingered on the edges of my tongue had a faint hint of how it should have tasted, but all was covered by the fusel-alcohol/solvent-like tastes.

I do not reccommend drinking this beer, unless you want to taste a common off-flavor for homebrew trouble-shooting or competition judging purposes.

Serving type: bottle

10-22-2008 17:40:36 | More by Maudite

wvmi

Michigan

2.17/5  rDev -46.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 1

Poured a 12 oz. bottle in a pilsner glass (appropriate, no?). Very nice amber to peach color, quite hazy. One finger of foam, nice lacing.

Smelled pleasant. citrus with a bit of pine, maybe a bit grassy.

Unfortunately the HEAVY bottom hops overpowered the top hopping, making this the most bitter beer I have ever tried. I know it's "intensely hoppy" but I was hoping for more aroma and flavor, not just the bitterness.

Couldn't tell the feel of it. (see above)

Sorry to the purists, but I could not drink this. This beer may be true to style, but I couldn't drink it. Dumped 10 oz., and I consider that alcohol abuse.

Serving type: bottle

07-14-2008 01:56:55 | More by wvmi