Samuel Adams Imperial Series Imperial White
Sam Adams Imperial White pushes the boundaries of a witbier. While the brew delivers orange and coriander notes typical of a witbier, it has a bigger mouthfeel and body. It is truly a unique brew.
3.2
760 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 6/1/2013. Pours moderately hazy/cloudy golden orange color with a 2 finger fairly dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of lemon zest, orange peel, pear, apple, wheat, bread, honey, caramel, coriander, clove, pepper, herbal, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of malt, spice, and yeast ester notes; with decent strength. Taste of lemon zest, orange peel, pear, apple, honey, wheat, bread, caramel, coriander, clove, pepper, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Lingering notes of lemon/orange zest, pear, apple, honey, caramel, wheat, bread, coriander, herbal, light clove, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice balance, robustness, and complexity of malt, spice, and yeast ester flavors; with zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a very slick and slightly syrupy mouthfeel that is good. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a small warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very good imperial witbier. Good balance and complexity of malt, spice, and yeast ester flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the big ABV. A nicely enjoyable offering.
Smells of fruits mostly banana and a slight alcohol smell as well. Poured a dark hazy orange color little to no head. Taste keeping in mind its a big boy beer has a hit of alcohol vanilla a bit of sweetness taste like a good rum. Extremely warming good for a cold winter day by the fire. At 10.3 watch out it has a kick. Awesome beer loved it recommend it to people that like the heavy drinks. Solid 9 in my book
Lots of the usual banana and clove belgian yeast flavor. Some decent citrus flavor and a slick mouthfeel.
Nice thick head taffy and hay aroma. Good body on the tongue. Very sweet. Taste is pretty bland with I stickiness of straw and grain.
From a 12 ounce bottle into a Spiegelau tulip.
A: Strong sweet notes with some citrus notes also coming through.
A: Pours a nice dark golden color body with some head that disappears quickly.
T: Bold up front with very sweet flavors and strong banana taste. The spiceness is hidden behind the bold sweetness.
P: Thick bodied and minimal carbonation.
O: A little too sweet and boozy.
January 28th, 2012 - The term “Imperial White" is a confusing at first. The White conjures memories of my first Hoegaarden enjoyed on a hot day, light and delicate, while the Imperial recollects big, burly, almost clumsy flavors. Boston Beer Company’s attempt to reconcile these two conflicting profiles is noble in its pursuit of scientific progress, but sometimes scientific progress goes “Boink!” The pour is a dark bronze, cloudy and filled with carbonation. Immediately an overpowering aroma of overripe bananas, grape, grade school glue, white chocolate, wet cement and chardonnay hits my nose. Granted, the aroma is a study unto itself, but it’s not especially attractive, just thought provoking. The palate is likewise overbearing, tumbling out and down with a heavy, sudsy weight. The noses quirks appear in the palate too, with the squishy, gray-black banana notes turned into a cloying, saccharine aftertaste. The extra booze thrown in at the end is too much too, and is a final, almost comedically sour note at the end of a jumbled mess of instruments trying to play together.
Sampled from a 22oz bottle, summer of 2013. Great aroma with adequate flavors, but probably would not seek out again.
From a bottle into a tulip. This feels like a 10%+ beer. Pours a yellow orange white frothy white head. Smell of alchohole and citrus. Taste is sumwhat sweet with hints of spice. I picked this up at Costco in a variety 4 pack labled as small batch. Would get this again if I could find it by itself.
From a bomber into a tulip. Thanks Kevin... Hazy orange with foamy white head and a bit of lacing. Notes of orange and spice on the nose. Flavor follows the aroma with a sweetness to the finish...
Pours a hazy orange almost earthy brown and leaves the same colored body with a slim half finger of a white foamy head, decent amount of slightly foamy lacing tries to cling to the glass; the aroma has some earthy yet somewhat citrusy fruitiness, light spice and just a tad of vanilla; the taste has the previously mentioned flavors and adds a bit of breadiness with a spicy aftertaste and finish, its pretty easy on the palate and overall this is a good witbier that I would have again
Rated on 5-18-2009 (Bottle) This beer pours a small, creamy, smooth, fizzy off-white head that mostly diminished. The body is mostly transparent/slightly hazy with a golden hue, fair amount of lacing, very fizzy, lively and fast rising carbonation. The Aroma is sweet, spicy, coriander, and orange notes. The Taste is very sweet, boozy, orange notes, coriander and finishes dry. The Palate is sticky, dry and this beer is medium bodied. In conclusion, this beer is just way too sweet tasting for my liking and is a beer that I could not drink in its entirety due to the sweetness factor.
Location/Date:Bottle spit with Dave on October 11th, 2013.
Appearance: Pours an orange yellow opaque.
Aroma: Aroma of wheat, sour orange.
Taste: Similar to the nose, sour orange, wheat, faint coriander.
Palate:Medium body, kinda thick, sweet aftertaste.
Summary: I don’ t know if the bottle I had was old, but this really didn’t appeal to me. Overly thick, flavors were kind of pushing each other around, slightly boozy. Disappointing.
Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a tulip glass.
Appearance: From the pour I got a bright orange body with lighter yellow hues at the sides of the glass. (This is much darker than a standard White or Witt beer.) On top was tall creamy off white head with fairly good staying power for a 10+% beer. It slowly fades to a wisp thin layer that makes some slick lacing.
Smell: The aroma has notes of spicy yeast, coriander, and orange peel back up by a mild boozy maltiness.
Taste/Palate: It has a warm and sweet overall character. There is a solid bready and wheat malt base with hints of spice, yeast, and bitter orange peel. Hops are light and blend into the background and the big abv adds warmth. The palate is full, smooth and slightly slick.
Notes: It’s much heavier and less drinkable than a normal Witt beer. This is interesting but way out of style.
The beer pours nicely with a decent blood orange, amber color to it. It presents a nice off white one finger creamy head and minimal lacing on the glass. The smell is great a with a sweet fruit explosion, I got oranges, sweet caramel, corriander, some spicey notes (maybe nutmeg) and mild malts. The taste is much of the same where you get the sweetness right away and heavy with orange and sweet caramel flavors that gives away to a spiciness of corriander and nutmeg on the back end. The mouth feel is okay with a the beer decently carbonated but leaving you with a mild bitterness and a touch of sweetness on the back of the tongue. Overall, this is a good imperial white that almost has a barrel aged effect on you...nice for a summer night.
Tropical Fruity really nice but not very strong aroma. Cloudy thick honey gold with a thick off white head. Smooth slick mouthfeel. Relatively full bodied. Citrus and spice. Doesn't show its ABV until the absolute finish with some warmth in the throat. Hints of bitterness on the finish. Very nice.
Dark dull gold pour. No head really just a cloudy cap. aroma is booze, orange, sweet malt and spices. Flavor is booze, sweet malt and spices. good silky mouthfeel.
Amber, cloudy
Medium body, rather flat mouthfeel, despite yoghurty sourness at the back end.
Sweet more than sour, alcoholic taste, no hops.
Pours clear orange with a large off-white head. Smells of coriander and subtle orange citrus. Taste is boozy, Belgian, and a little spiced. Full-bodied with a slick texture and soft mouth-carbonation, Samuel Adams Imperial White finishes with a boozy, slightly herbal note.
Great flavor lots of spices, smooth taste, velvet mouth feel, full bodied, great after taste sort of sweet.
A: Smells like orange, apple. Some grape
A: Pours a hazy orange brown color. good head.
T: Taste’s intense.... very very sweet. The first couple sips kick you in the face but after you get into it it isn’t bad. Orange. yeasty, wheaty. Lemon. heavy.... very heavy. and boozy.
P: Super intense. good flavor notes but overpowered by the heavy body and alcohol.
Overall this is an ok beer. Lots of good flavors but too intense overall.
Dark orange pour some white head. Aroma of apples & cinnamon. Tastes like a malt bomb, doppelbock or barleywine. Way too sweet. caramel flavors. Alcohol is at least hidden behind a wall of sugar.
Bottle. Viscous beer with little head. Aroma is Belgian yeast with cloves and pepper. Thick mouthfeel with a creamy texture. Taste is sweet with bananas, milk and white chocolate.
Golden color with white head. Aroma is very slight toffee with notes of hay. Flavor is a little sweet with banana and an almost wine like mouthfeel. A little heavy in the finish, and mildly cloying but not bad.
Wife: 3.5
Hazy dim-copper body with a little foamy head. Aroma of heavy oxidation (Not surprising as the beer was almost a year expired) some orange and coriander. Taste of heavy oxidation, over-ripe orange, marmalade, honey. Every time I drink this beer I’m amazed by how far off the mark it is. Maybe the folks at Sam Adams don’t get the idea that a witbeer is something light, fruity, and drinkable? Cause they’ve managed to create the exact opposite.. And putting "Imperial" in front of it doesn’t excuse the basic bad idea.
(Bottle) Burnt orange body with a huge off white head. Aroma of grain and spice. Medium to heavy sweet, and spicy flavor; banana, alcohol, burnt sugar, roasted notes. Full bodied. Not very delicate or subtle, but tasty.
Bottle @ Malmö Brygghus Hamnmästaren. Clear amber with a lasting off-white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel, spicy and alcohol. Flavor is quite sweet and rather bitter. Dry and moderate bitter finish with warming alcohol. This has nothing to do with a Wit. 310713
At Epic Beer Fest 2013. Clear brilliant gold under a foamy white head. Aroma is wheaty and boozy with a pale malt backbone and some doughy ester. Flavor is quite doughy and wheaty, totally lacking coriander, with a slight orange bitterness. Not what I had hoped for, un-nuanced, and overly doughy/boozy.
Bottle from Liberty of the seas. Hazy orange/amber color, offwhite head. Malty wheat aroma, bready and with yeasty notes. Malty, oily alcohol flavor, wheat, bread and some hops.
12oz bottle. Pours a murky orange color with a finger of fluffy white head. Aroma has a slight malty breadyness, with some citrus, spices, and lots of alcohol. Taste is very boozy, with some spices and maltyness.
Bottle. Taste is a little coriander but way too much of the alcohol taste is there. Aroma, alcohol. Hazy golden color good head.