Old Dominion Spring Brew (Imperial Pilsener)

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

12 oz brown longneck. Specialty lager, different each spring. In 2006: Impy Pilsner aka Chief's Elixir. 45 IBUs and 7.5% abv. Pours hazy gold, with a lasting frothy head and great lace. Forty lbs of Saaz, Tettnang, Hersbrucker, Hallertau and Spalt hops are used in every 25 bbl batch. Dry hopped with whole leaf Saaz. NOTE: Rating is for a fresh sample. Does not age well. Tried a 15-month old bottle and it was undrinkable hop soup. Get it while it's fresh!

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

Imperial Pilsners are my friend, this is above and beyond what I had expected. Aroma is malty sweet with an abundance of floral hops. Pours a golden slighlty orange color very rich and deep. There is a minimal white head and very little lacing. Rich and somewhat full there is a pretty decent feel to this beer. Flavor is extremely hoppy, more floral but I do detect slight citrus and piney flavors. The malts seem to be more on the sweet side. Completely unexpected I am impressed.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

OD increased their hoppiness from 2004 to 2005 and the latter was dry hopped. Poured a dark golden color with very little head and minimal lacing. The pilsner base was sweet with some grassy undertones, very typical of your average pilsner. The extra floral hoppiness made this one pretty close to the milder IPA's I've had. That combined with the high alcohol content made this one an undesirable choice for Spring / Summer time. Worth a shot if you're a hop head. (7/6/6/6/6) Re-rate, Apr. 06: Hard to believe this is a lager with all of the citrus hopping going on in here, especially for a Pilsner. Sure, it's an Impy Pilsner and the thicker body and extra bitterness were to be expected. But the pilsner qualities got drowned out with citrus and orange rind hopping which are fairly typical for an IPA. If told this was an ale, I'd believe you. Needs more Saaz / grass. Not crisp, a little sloppy. Hard to distinguish in quality from what I recall of the Samuel Adams Impy Pilsner, but a distant way behind Rogue's Morimoto Imp. Pilsner, which was world class. Nice persistent white head (w/ decent lacing) and a pretty golden body.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

I definatly love this style of beer. Pours golden with a smallish white head, lots of bubbly frothy goodness! ALthough I enjoyed the flavor and aroma, I felt it was a little weaker than several in the area that I tend to enjoy more (i.e., from Clipper CIty), but enjoyable nonetheless.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

WOW! A lager I actually like! Pours light golden yellow with a bright white pervasive head. Very active carbonation, this one is packing malt and hops, with a hoppy smokey aftertaste. Very surprising with how light in color it appears - this is an all around terrific brew.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

A very light yellow appearance with a moderate head. A big floral malty aroma. This may be the best lager Ive ever had and thats a big statement! Nice Saaz hops flavor. Lots of grass, some citrus, and a big ol punch of malt. The aftertaste is somewhat bitter with an alcohol warming effect. Great!