Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Imperial Pilsner
Produced especially for the OBF, Beer Camp’s golden color and medium bodied sweetness comes from pale, Europils, Munich and acidulated malts. Magnum, Crystal and Pacifica hops provide a distinctly American bittering and hop flavor profile without going over the top. The result is a refreshing, balanced, crisp pilsner, easy to drink on a hot summer festival day - or to take with you to beer camp.
3.5
314 reviews
Chico, United States
Community reviews
Bottle from Slowbeer. Hazy pale golden, small white head quickly disappeared. Piney, slightly dusty with a dry bitter finish. Not your typical pilsener by any measure. Ok, but sightly confusing.
I have a hard time with this one. I really enjoyed it. Looks nice with a solid mouthfeel and fairly complex hopping ... but it’s not really a pilsner if you ask me. Which means I like it ... because I don’t like pilsners.
12 fl oz bottle. Pours cloudy yellow with a small white head. Aroma is mild fruity and light toasted. Bitter, crisp hoppy and light citrusy. Smooth fruity and crisp bitter into a smooth fruity finish.
Bottle 35,5 cl. Courtesy of fonefan. Pours a hazy golden with a white head. Lovely fresh aroma hops in the nose. Medium body, dry and crisp malts with a dry finish. Very clean and quaffable. Nothing Imperial though. 060413
Bottle. Slightly hazy golden with small white head. Aroma is malt, hop, grass and a little citrus. Flavour is malt, fruit, hop, grass, little citrus, little sweet, straw and medium bitter.
Bottle @ fonefan tasting. Nice head with good duration. Color is golden. Aroma and taste are malt, grass, straw and hops. Some flowers too.
Bottle @ fonefan tasting. Clear golden with a white head. Aroma is sweet, malty and moderate hoppy - grass. Flavor is medium sweet and moderate bitter. Dry and moderate bitter finish. 060413
A clean, elegant pilsner with some warming alcohol, but I’m not convinced the style gains much from "imperialisation". It’s very drinkable but for mine doesn’t have enough character to warrant repeat business. Golden body with some chill haze and a stunted head. The aroma is dominated by malts - distinctively pilsner, with no warning of the increased alcoholic content. Perhaps some faint orange marmalade. Good mouthfeel: fuller-bodied than a standard pils and well carbonated. Light, grassy hop character on the tongue with some heat in the swallow. Very dry and resinous finish. As well made as anything else by Sierra Nevada but this won’t displace any of my favourites from the brewer from the beer fridge. (12fl oz bottle from Leura Cellars. 2012 edition.)
Golden color with fleeting white sheen. Spicy earthy hop, pils malt aromas. light body, soft carbonation. Nice crisp earthy hop flavors with some dusty pils maltage; clean crisp finish----good.
355ml bottle from Cotteridge ines.7th march.Poured a yellow golden colour with a medium sized white head.Hop,pine and a little malt aroma.Taste of malt,hop and some citrus.Tasty for a pilsner and would be a good summer afternoon in the garden ale.
Bottle. Fresh citrus in the nose, lemon on pale malt with a little dust, nice and fresh and clean. Pours clear, rich golden with a short soapy white head. Taste lightly sweet with light-medium bitterness, good balance with fresh hoppiness and a crisp, energetic lagery body, medium-full with a dose of florality along with mild alcohol seep. Refreshing and balanced.
Pours golden with thin white head that quickly dissipates. Light bready aroma. Decent crisp flavor for a pilsner, considering they’re definitely not my favorite variety. Decent overall, but I’ll take an IPA any day.
Bottle from Cotteridge; clear yellow/amber pour with firm white head, piney hop aroma, taste is first pine hop then backed up by sweet malts really refreshing really good, I love beer camp want to go there in the summer.
Bottle as shown. Pours a hazey yellow with a medium frothy off white head that diminishes quickly. The aroma is floral hops and wheat grass. Medium mouthfeel with sweet hop and grass with nice crisp finish. Easy to drink a very good pils from Sierra Nevada.
Appearance was clear light gold with rocky whitish 1 finger head spotty at best. Aromas are pils crystal malts, floral noble style hops profile and clean yeast nose. Taste are sweet pils backbone yet subtle. Hops slightly citrus lemon, orange, and hints of dank. Palate was soft smooth CO2 with meduim body, then average length soft American hop kick finish. Good different imperial Pils.
Bottle at Exmouth Arms Finsbury. Clear gold lasting white head. Lager aroma. Thats a pretty solid lager. No puke. Wasy drinking some easy hop sting and hop flower finish. Pretty good. Thats damn good lager. Yep tasty and drinkable. Maybe just a touch too hoppy. Wld prefer the noble hops.
Bottle pour to pint. Part of a Beer Camp 12-pack that I enjoyed in deer camp. Bready and slightly sweet. Nice finish. Holds it own with the others in the assortment pack.
Aroma: something citrusy and a crisp, appetizing hop boquet; Appearance: light golden w/ sediment (unless my glass was unclean; I got the glass as a Christmas present this year and didn’t wash it before I used it...), a slightly off-white head that quickly dissipates after the pour; Taste: malt actually slightly predominates the hops, very well balanced between the two though, some booze, and a bit sweet, all you’d expect in something that calls itself "imperial"; Palate: hops might linger a little longer than desired, my wife mentioned that its a little heavier than she expected for a pilsner; Overall: very enjoyable overall, my wife and I both really like it, and its always nice to find a beer that we can both really enjoy, I’d recommend it to any pilsner fan, way to go SN
Aromas of bread and herbal, earthy hops. Pale gold, white head, decent retention. Tastes dry, with faint hints of honey-like sweetness, bitterness is well balanced with the malts. Light-medium bodied, moderate carbonation, and finishes clean with biscuity and floral flavors. A very nice pilsner, just not very Imperial.
355ml bottle. Pours a clear medium gold, with a smallish white head, which lasts well and leaves reasonable lacing. Floral, resin and spice hops plus some white bread malt notes make up the aroma. Spicy sap and bitter herbal hops notes dominate up front, with some more approachable floral notes soon coming through. White bread and faint caramel make up an incredibly light malt body, with more resin hops coming through in the finish. This is one of the better imperial pilseners I have had. Whilst, like every beer of its style, it lacks any real body to back up its hops kick, it does have some very enjoyable hops flavours, and is certainly an extremely refreshing beer.
Crisp golden coloured body with a thin, one centimetre tall white head. Aroma of pale malt, a bunch of german and very light alpha acid hops, some cardboard and a bit of yeast. Light to Medium-bodied; Pungent and assertive hoppiness with some grass, herbs and resin noticeable, all with a potent malt backbone, some light sugars and a good fresh, dry flavour. Aftertaste shows a lot of herbal and grassy notes with a solid hop bitterness, some light alcohol and a hint of earth. Overall, a very nice pils with slightly more body and flavours than a typical pils, but not enough to make it difficult to drink - very well done and definitely worth trying, if you can find it! I sampled this stubby twelve ounce bottle purchased from Westover Market in Arlington, Virginia on 23-November-2012 for US$2.69 sampled at home in Washington on 16-January-2013.
Bottle from the new Eastchase Specs. Light pour with a big white head. Aroma is spicy, grainy, and pleasant. Taste is almost citrus, bitter, grassy, and a little more grain.
One of the best bottled American made pilsners you will find, particularly with wide distribution. Appropriate gold cold and carbonation with a tall white head. Good hop aroma, saaz for sure, and a malt balance. They really nailed the pilsner flavor.
From a 355ml bottle (2012 edition) on 10/1/2013. Pours a clear light golden with a medium head. Has a light fruity aroma with some honey notes. The flavour is sweet fruit (apple and grape) and honey set off against a light bread and biscuit malts. Finishes with slightly vinous medium hop bitterness. The palate is slightly sticky. A very enjoyable beer, albeit a little more subdued that most SN offerings.
Not sure why this is called Imperial Pilsner. It’s not stronger than normal for the style, which is usually what this means. That being said, this is a good enough regular pils that I’d by it again. Perhaps not quite in the class of Victory Prima Pils, but not at outside that group.
The beer pours a clear yellow color with a white head. The aroma is full of biscuit malt with some grass and pilsner malt. The flavor is more of the same. I get a lot of pilsner malt, as well as some grass and a low amount of bitterness. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.
Cheers bro JoeMcPhee. Golden colour with a thin head and clinging lace. Fresh fruit hop aroma. Malty flavour with a fruitg hop finish. Crisp with a syrup texture in the finish. Little sticky yet quite refreshing.
Bottle. Pours a golden straw with dense white head. Aromas of biscuity malt and floral hops. Flavours show the same malt with a very eurpoean like clean bitter finish. Thin to medium mouthfeel. Noce very easy drinking beer.
One of the fw pils I can tolerate. Classic clear-golden in color with sudsy white head. Earthy-straw like aroma. Earthy hop edge on a clean pils beer.
Hot hot day here in Oz, unfortunately chose the wrong beer today. Not a great beer, has some good flavours but not enough.