Southern Tier Gemini

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

THOUGHTS: Where UnEarthly is a little harsh, this has a lot of the great flavor with less of the harshness. It is a smoother, easier to drink DIPA. I hope to try Hoppe one day. It also went surprisingly well with dark chocolate. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured slightly hazy, medium orange with an average-sized, foamy, slightly off-white head that mostly diminished, but left good lacing. The aroma was light to moderate malt and moderate to heavy citrus (grapefruit and orange) hops. The initial flavor was lightly sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, and moderately bitter; while the finish was moderately sweet, lightly acidic, and heavily bitter with a fairly long duration. The flavor was some malt then all citrus hops. mostly orange, but also some grapefruit. The medium body was dry with fizzy carbonation and a metallic and light alcoholic finish.

Amber pour with nice lacing. Very rich, slightly sweet bready aroma with a great, fruity hop character. Flavor is on the sweet side with the fruity, piney hops on the finish. Grapefruit and quince. Nice.

Glass: tulip Purchased at: Canals discount liquors, Burlington, NJ (Thanks, Mike!) Price: $5.69 Size: 22 fl oz ABV: 10.5% IBU: n/a Estimated Calories: 400C RateBeer Rating: 98 Aural: quiet opening, average carbonation, uneventful pour Aroma 10 out of 10 Intensity: strong Balance: sweet Impression: nice Malt Aroma: barley wheat bread sugar cinnamon toast peanuts Hops Aroma: pine resin grapefruit and lime Other Aroma: woody Notes: Impressive strong IPA style aroma Appearance 4 out of 5 Color: copper Clarity: brilliant Head Retention: persistent Lace: intricate Notes: beautiful head and lace on an average clear body. Flavor 10 out of 10 Intensity: strong Balance: very bitter Impression: very nice Malt Flavor: barley wheat bread syrup toasted walnut Hops Flavor: coriander pine tar grapefruit zest Other: woody Notes: An absolutely wonderful taste Palate 4 out of 5 Mouthfeel Sensation: creamy slick warming Body: medium Carbonation: medium Finish Length: long Intensity: strong Balance: bitter Notes: a very good body, palate, and finish. General Impression: 18 out of 20 Craftmanship: excellent Freshness: fresh Personal Taste: liked very much Notes: Like many other great IPAs: very hoppy, sweet, bitter, and luxurious. Address : <http://beercritic.wordpress.com/>

Bottle. Not sure what was up with the wax/plastic, as no other ST beers (as far as I know) have this...anyway. Pours a light clear amber with a thick white head that leaves nice lacing. Aroma of piney hops and grapefruit. Initial flavor of sharp hops, not super malty. But gradually, the beer becomes quite flavorful. Less bitter hops than I’d expect for a DIPA, but this is a plus for me. The sweetness of the malt comes out as the beer warms, along with a bready flavor. This beer is very drinkable, mellow, and quite light for a beer that is 10.5%! Awesome! 7/4/8/5/16

Update 1/5/09: Pours a clear orange with a small white head. Aroma of grassy, garlicky hops, and orange peel. Flavor of lots of sour grapefruit notes. Seems unbalanced, I don’t really get much malt. Harsh palate. Definitely not as good as the previous batch. 7/4/7/4/14 (3.6/5)

Bottle. Stupid gold stuff on the cap. Whatever, the beer’s good enough once you get to it. Aroma piney, resinous, background citrus and sweet malt. Flavor starts out with sharply bitter hops that wake up the tastebuds. Then the pine and citrus come in, with an increasing mintiness/spiciness toward the finish. At first this mintiness was a bit oppressive, but it relaxed itself after a few sips. After that, just a lot of resinous goodness and background sweetness. While not a beer that wows you with its aroma or flavor profile, one that is just damn good to the last sip. 7-4-8-4-17/4.0. Rerate 1/5/09 Aroma of mango, grapefruit, maybe some lemon or banana, mix of fruity flavors coming from all directions. Flavor sweet and bready but hoppy, developing a resinous character as it makes its way to the back of the throat and down the hatch. A nice DIPA, though neither the hops nor the malts are terribly wowing. Still an interesting concoction that I thought I was going to downgrade more than I did when I finally re-numbered it. How fascinating.

22oz bottle. The cap, which I thought was covered in wax, was actually coated with some sort of indestructible space-age polymer. It actually took a fair amount of effort to get the lid off. A hack saw would have come in handy. Poured a slightly hazy orange color. Head was thick and white with good retention. A delicate sheet of lace was left behind on the glass. Attractive aroma of orange, lime, and sugar cookie. The flavor was hop dominated with lots of citrus and less pine. Delicately sweet on the tongue with mild to moderate hop bitterness. At 10.5%, there wasn’t any overbearing alcohol warmth or flavor, but it was definitely there. The body was a bit lighter than the heavier IIPA’s, and the hop flavor and bitterness were not over the top, which was nice. Very good stuff.

22 oz. bottle - pours bright apricot with slight haze and thin white head; huge aromas of sweet, pine hops; drinks with a very bitter first sip, but sweetness starts to even it out after a bit; dry finish and a top notch bitter imperial IPA; just missing a little more maltiness to smooth it out

Deep orange color with a moderate to large white head. Aroma contains some pine, orange, alcohol, and lemons. The flavor is rather bitter with a good malt presence. I taste oranges, lemons, pine needles, whipped cream,.....update I didnt finish the damn rating. The finish was rather bitter with some alcohol showing through. Overall a good beer.