Hawks Imperial Gold Malt Liquor

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 8

Man, I donno what to say. 2/3 of the way through this, though, and I'm pretty plastered. I just looked in the mirror and I'm all splotchy. I was told that Hawks had to put the paper label on this bottle because the officals didn't like what they had on the bottles. That may have been true, but from what I can see, there's nothing else on the bottle. And this is my first Malt Liquor in 20 years (Schlitz back then), so it's a new style to me and nothing like what I remember. So, the beer: Pours a really cloudy amber with an amazing head that lasted forever and left a very nice lace. Aroma actually reminds me of a Belgian' very fruity with a hint of hops. Flavor definately improves at it warms. Kinda hard to discribe, though, but I'm definatly sensing corn. It's sweet yet balanced. Palate is smooth and quite full. Overall, and keep in mind I'm trying to rate to style, this is excellent! I thought it was mislabeled and Malt Liquor wasn't a style, but I've no idea what else this would be. Definately worth seeking out.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Light orange gold color, rather hazy. Medium white foamy head. Aroma is fruit, honey and a hint of corn. If it weren’t so sweet, I wouldn’t have known this beer was a malt liquor.. I would have thought it was a thinner bodied barley wine. Some corn and corn sugar in the taste, but this stuff is very smooth and nicely balanced. Sweet malts and slightly bitter hops. The alcohol is somewhat masked. It’s nice to know that someone CAN make a decent tasting malt liquor. Thumbs up Hawks. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and sweet. Aftertaste is sweet.