An imperial pilsner. This is a sort of beer I never imagined I would need to concern myself with. Unlike stouts or pale ales with their history of bigness, surely no one would bother upping the game of brewing the steely king of lagers. No one told Dogfish Head from Delaware, however, and they went ahead and did it as they tell you about at no lack of length on their website, including this:
The big breweries are as guilty of any company in any industry of brainwashing the consumer through the sheer oppressive magnitude and breadth of their marketing efforts. They are selling a brand name and an image with such zeal that they have forgotten about the product behind all of this horseshit and hyperbole – the beer itself. Dogfish Head Golden Shower is the beer itself. A true Pilsner brewed with 100% Pilsner Barley, and impressively hopped using our self-developed continuing-hopping method. At 9% abv it’s also nearly twice as strong as the American, wanna-be pilsners made by the big boys.
If you have read my reviews here before you know I have questions about my relationship with pilsners. I respect the fact as much as the next guy that it is a noble and traditional style but then there is that metallic zing…or is it a zang…that fills my mouth as if I was chewing a quarter pound of four penny nails that have been laying around the shed. So I approach this beer with some trepedation. And some of the low rating BAer reviews are backing that up – like this one:
…Not drinkable at all. Really sad for such a great brewery. I dumped the remainder of my $12 bottle in the toilet, where it belongs. Don’t waste your money on this golden shower…
Yikes. I only paid $8.99 for mine but still. Intersting to note, however, that the highest BA raters consider many of the same elements but like them. I don’t know what to expect now.
The beer pours a very attractive bright burnished gold with a white head that resolves to a rim what with the low carbonation. When you shove your nose into the glass there is plenty of sweet apple and pear concentrate. The first thing I think of when I sipped was triple. It is sort of like a Belgian triple – candy-ish sweetness and all – but also with a fall fruit aspect like calvados. It is also thickish and does not have the overly metallic hop profile I feared – the hops are tightly herbal as much as anything. In fact, it is far more pale malty than anything else. And that is a remarkably well hidden 9%. The beer is not hot in the mouth but it certainly does warm otherwise.
Where does this beer fit in? It is a near neighbour to Belgian golden strong ales like Duval or triples like Chimay Cinq Cents with the white label – but without the bubble gum or candy floss notes Belgian candi sugar provides. A beer to contemplate the coming autumn. A beer to eat apple pie and vanilla ice cream along with, oddly enough. It would be interesting to have this beer condition in a wood cask as there is that butter and/or vanilla richness that could be umphed one notch for experimental purposes.
[Original comments…]
Travis – August 13, 2006 10:04 PM
http://http://wyrdbrew.blogspot.com/
Sounds like Sammy screwed the pooch on this one. I love pilsner. I hate gimmicks. Golden Shower? That has to be the least appetizing name I could imagine. What’s next? Snowball Belgian White?
Knut – August 14, 2006 7:41 AM
http://beerblog.motime.com
At 9%, it is certainly not a pilsner. Some of these super strong lagers are fine, others are more the result of trying to pack in the maximum level of alcohol.
Paul – August 14, 2006 10:05 AM
Golden shower?? Man they should have researched that one a it more before sticking it on their label. Last time I heard that term it meant a delivery of warm piss onto one’s head – yummy!?!?
The Beer Witch – August 14, 2006 1:01 PM
http://beerwitch.blogspot.com/
I really dislike pilsners myself, but at the same time, I have liked a lot of the Imperial or Uber pilsners that I’ve had. (In fact, my house went through a keg of Clipper City’s Small Craft Warning last year. =)
It’s not just that they are more intoxicating then their non-Imperial brethren, it’s that they do tend to be worlds sweeter and more complex. The logic behind them is not just, “More alcohol!” but, “More taste!” And, more importantly, “Better taste!”
I think that Dogfish Head knew what Golden Shower means. I think they were trying to be funny, playing on the idea that pilsners are piss-beer. And it really doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I actually think it’s kind of amusing myself.
I sampled this beer at the Beer Expo in State College last month. I really liked it. And I loved the slogan the guys serving it were throwing around, “Fight Pilsner Imperialism!”
Al – August 14, 2006 8:09 PM
http://hop-talk.com/
I agree with Beer Witch on the name. Now, there happens to be a breed of roses also called Golden Shower, but I think it was named long before the current meaning came into usage.
I’ve been on a bit of a pilsner kick lately. I’ll have to give this one a try (even if it’s not a “true” pils). Delaware is local so I should be able to find it.
Donavan – August 15, 2006 3:02 PM
http://beer.donavanhall.net/
I didn’t write the review on BA, but after choking about four ounces of this drain cleaner down in the hopes of getting some material for a beer review, I finally gave up and dumped the bottle in disgust. If you must try this beer, do it with a large group of friends that way you’ll feel less guilty about committing the remainder to the deep. Moving right along…
Justin – August 15, 2006 10:55 PM
http://www.hopmalt.com
I personally am not a big Pilsner fan to begin with so this does not sound all that enticing in the first place, let alone the awful name. I have tried an Imperial Pilsner before – Rogue’s Mori Moto Imperial Pilsner which I found to be undrinkable (is that a word?). I do on the other hand love everything that comes out of the Dogfish Head brewery so I could be convinced to share a bottle with 2-3 others.
Ron Pattinson – August 22, 2006 11:11 AM
http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/
The idea of an Imperial Pilsner is ludicrous. Brewing one demonstrates a lamentable lack of understanding of beer styles and how they relate to one another.
What next – an Imperial Helles? An Imperial Export? An Imperial Maerzen? An Imperial Dunkles? An Imperial Berliner Weisse? Surely pils is a little obvious – why not “imperialise” a less fashinable style?
Or what about doing it the other way around – a Lite Doppelbock?
Alan – August 22, 2006 1:46 PM
Suggesting Dogfish is acting ludicrously due to its denial of the strictures of style kind of misses the point that they have founded their entire success upon denial of the strictures of style.
Bryan – August 23, 2006 9:54 AM
http://www.brewlounge.com
Well stated, Alan. It is often the careful, calculated bending and breaking of certain rules that create the most successful entrepreneurs. Of course, I do understand some of the more sacrosanct rules of brewing. But, in this case, I do not believe that a “little extra” something (hops, barley, etc.) makes for something to ridicule….unless, of course, the end product really does not present an appealing beer. I have two bottles still waiting for me in my cooler, so I’m not ready to render my opinion on this particular brew.
Donavan Hall – August 26, 2006 12:40 AM
http://beer.donavanhall.net/
Two bottles? Ouch. I hope they were given to you. (Then again, maybe not.)