Review: Sleeping Giant Imminent Summer Laziness ISL

Thanks Sue for the beer! Every time you see me reviewing a Sleeping Giant beer, it's always thanks to Sue!

Today I'm checking out their Imminent Summer Lager India Session Lager (ISL for both), since it's not summer, I can't pretend that it is but I can still enjoy it anyways! Imminent Summer Lager tops out at 4.4% ABV. Session lagers and ales were all the rage half a decade ago but have quickly and quietly fizzled out just like many, many other trends - but as we see here, many breweries are still doing sessionable beers in this day and age.

Appearance: This is a gusher! Once I'm able to get some into the glass and not all over me, it has a lightly cloudy golden straw lager body to it. The head is pretty massive.. but not surprising seeing that it was a gusher. It diminishes pretty quickly to leave behind only a sprinkling of lacing on the glass and 3/4 of a finger's worth of head on top of the beer.

Aroma: Notes of lemon, pine, a hint of pineapple and I think guava? This isn't your typical boring lager as the hops definitely help out for this beer. There's a tad graininess to it, fairly crisp, not bad so far.

Taste: The hops are the showcase for this beer - Again, I get lemon, pine and some pineapple. It's decently sweet yet crisp and very easy to drink. It's definitely pretty light but as I said, the hops are the showcase so it makes the beer a lot stronger than your typical Molbatts lager. The grain profile comes off smooth and not gritty or grainy and the aftertaste is light with a touch of pine presence lingering.

Overall Thoughts: I would likely drink lagers more if they were hopped more like this. For your typical lager drinker, this may be a bit too strong for them if they are looking for no-to-minimal hop bite in their beer as this definitely has a bit of a bitterness that I know a lot of people dislike. Easy to drink and definitely a lazy summer time beer. Pair this with a long weekend and 0% chance of rain and this will go down smooth.

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