Southern Tier Gemini

Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Lakewood, New York USA

Damn solid all around. Pours hazy orange with thick white head that leaves plenty of lacing on the glass. Has a very pleasant citrus aroma, with a sweet malt presence. Drinks very smooth with a sweet biting finish. Would drink again!

Sampled at From The Vine beer tasting Jan 30th, 2009: The beer is a slightly hazy golden-orange color with a medium thin and foamy light beige head that recedes steadily. Stringy lacing on the glass. Lots of grapefuity hops in the nose, plus a bit of grass and malt. Medium body with moderately bitter hops character, with more zesty grapefruit, grass and pepper flavors. Some sweet malt in the background as well. The finish is citrusy hops with a lingering bitterness left over. Solid all around.

Not much else to say about the Gemini but just drink it and love it!!

The smell of hops is way up front. Really nice. Beautiful orange color. Not much of a head, but large bubbles cling to the glass. Slightly spicy feel. This is clearly for those who love a lot of bracing floral, citrus hops in the flavor and aroma. This is an impressive combination of two good beers, and turns out better than either. Less cloying than Unearthly, but maintains its intensity (for lack of a better word).

Very pleased with this marriage of two beers that I already enjoy. The fact that the Hoppe is unfiltered when it goes into this blend is a nice touch, helping alleviate the one complaint I have about Southern Tier, that they filter the life out of their beers to an extent. Aroma is a big shot of hops, very complex, as you would think by the listing on the label (no mention of Simcoe by the way), with lots of pine, spice, earth, and pineapple mixed together over a solid but not overbearing malt backbone that displays whisps of faint caramel and honey. Flavor is a dead on match to the aroma. Highly enjoyable. Perhaps not as "clean" in the mouth as some other ST beers, but I personally enjoyed that. Not rough, despite the 10.5%.

Bottle from Binny’s Lakeview. Pours an attractive, clear gold, fizzy disappearing head. Nose is catty and sharp, obvious Simcoe presence. Mild pineapple and citrus come through as well. Taste is again a bit catty and sharp. Simcoes are overpowering the other clean, fruitier hop flavors. Nice and slippery mouthfeel with the bitterness being smooth. Just wish the sharpness of the Simcoe weren’t all over it. Decent enough, though I had higher expectations.

Bottle into red wine glass. Pours a very hazy gold- orange, with not much of a head at all. Nose has got a lot of citrus in it - grapefruit and oranges with a nice resiny wang in there as well in there as well. Very clean. Taste is dry resiny pine and some citrus on top of a rich, sweet toffee-and-biscuit malt body up front, with a long, dry, resiny finish that echoes of the rich body and piny hops that came before. Malt is almost English Barleywine-esque. Almost no booze, wonderfully hidden. Palate is sticky, full bodied, very lightly carbonated.

Copper color with no head. Strong citrus and tangerine aroma. A little honey, too. Taste is primarily tangerine. Moderately acidic. Caramel malt finish.