New Glarus Imperial Weizen Review

My apologies for the half empty beer stein, I realized I forgot the photo about halfway through the glass.

Name: New Glarus Thumbprint Imperial Weizen 
Style: Weizen Bock
ABV: 9.25%

A couple weeks ago, I made the trip across the bridge to Superior to get my New Glarus fix. While I was deciding what to get, I noticed a new addition to the Thumbprint Series lineup called Imperial Weizen so I decided to grab it my own. Plus I always enjoy wrapping the red-foil off the top of any Thumbprint Series beer, it's like opening a Christmas gift!

This is a Weizen Bock style beer, which simply means that it's a strong wheat beer beer but not quite like wheat-wine.This will also be my second Weizenbock from New Glarus, the first being Dancing Man Wheat (which I mistakenly referred to as a Hefeweizen in my review.

It pours a dark hazy golden color with a very high voluminous head, perhaps one of the highest I have ever seen which brings up a really good point: When you pour this, DO NOT POUR AGGRESSIVELY!!!! The first time I had this, I found out the hard way and had a foamy mess on my kitchen table. Be smart and slooooooooooooooooowly pour it in, you may have to stop a couple of times but it'll save you the hassle of cleaning.

In the nose, I'm getting some cloves, wheat, yeasts, spices, citrus hops, malts and bananas. It does have a similar smell to Dancing Man but with more spice and maltiness.

The flavor has some strong wheat and citra hop notes which are followed by cloves, pale malts and cinnamon. It's like Dancing Man but quite strong flavor at that and does come off as a little boozy.

The body is surprisingly light and the carbonation is pretty much not there but that allows you to savor the flavors that this beer has to offer.

The flavor is a little boozy but everything else works out remarkably well. It's got a good look, an even better smell, and an excellent flavor to boot despite the slight booziness. Those who are looking for a strong and flavorful beer will find something to love here as well as those who are looking for something a bit different.

New Glarus Thumbprint Imperial Weizen - 9/10