Imperial Red

For me it's hard to not like an Imperial beer, although to be called "Imperial" has changed as time has passed. You see, back in the 1800's the term Imperial actually referred to a beer that was brewed in England and shipped to Russia only for the Russian Imperial court and then for a while it meant that the beer was the cream of the crop, the best offering the brewery had.  And well sure enough it changed again and now it refers to any big beer in flavor and especially in ABV. This is a beer that should wake you up and potentially put you down as well! For me any brewery that can balance a high ABV and the strong hop profiles and forward malts into a drinkable and enjoyable ale has something that deserves attention. While Imperial IPAs and Stouts are seemingly a dime a dozen, to find a really good Imperial Red is, well interesting. 

This week's BOTW is one that I have been sitting on for a while and it hails from Alaskan Brewing Co's Pilot Series of delicious beers. Knocking on the door with it's 8.5% ABV and luscious red hue, this creamy headed beauty was a great balance of hop and malt that make it a wonderful campfire beer. I suspect that that by cellaring this beer I lost some of the hop bitterness, but to be honest it was a nice mellow beer that even if it had lost some of it's bite was still and nice meaty enjoyable ale! I am not sure if Alaskan will brew it again this year, but if they do this is a great beer to enjoy and is usually released right as winter grabs hold. So keep an eye out and drink it down. Oh and I am definitely keeping an eye out for the latest offering from Alaskan.

Cheers!