Entry 88: Southern Tier Un*earthly

Southern Tier Brewing Co.

Lakewood, New York


Un*earthly Imperial India Pale Ale


Style: Imperial/Double India Pale Ale
Availability: Limited Year Round
Format: 22oz
ABV: 11.0%


Bottle text & Info:
Malt: Two-row pale malt, red wheat
Kettle hops: Chinook & Cascade
Hop back: Styrian Golding
Dry hopped: Cascade, Centennial & Chinook
"At the Southern Tier Brewing Company, vigorously hopped beer is our standard and inspiration. We continue a commitment to innovation with our most aggressive offering yet. Unearthly is a manifestation of the brewer’s craft; skillfully balancing art and the forces of nature to produce a divine liquid. Delicately pour a taste into a fluted glass. Smell the enchanting aromas of the hops waft forward as your first sip divulges this beer’s fervent soul. To underestimate Unearthly is to trifle with the mysteries of the universe, so please consume wisely."


Tasting Notes:
Purchased from Triple Crown Liquor in Indianapolis, Indiana and beer bombed back to NC.
Pours a beautiful glowing golden orange with a pour white head, two inches high with superb retention. Smells of some melon like sweet hops dominated by sweet caramel and honey overtones. Taste follows soon. Big syrupy body encasing peach vodka-like flavors intermingling with some apricot, mango and melon before being rounded out with some heavy honey notes. So, the main knock on this is that for a DIPA it is a bit of a malt bomb. A lot of consumers are gonna be left empty handed, searching for the intense high alpha citrus. However, i'd argue that its hard to fault Southern Tier, here. The ABV is 11% which is reaching the peak of DIPA % wise. As rule of thumb, the higher the ABV, the higher the malt bill. has to be. Although sweet, you have to credit Southern Tier with creating an exceptionally drinkable DIPA, reaching an extreme ABV. Think young barleywine and you're on the right track. Still awaiting the day that Southern Tier hits the market here in NC. Shouldn't be long. Rumor has it that its in the works.

Day 76: 03.17.10 Ommegang BPA

Brewery Ommegang
Cooperstown, New York


BPA: Belgian-style Pale Ale


Style: Belgian Pale
Availability: Limited
Format: 750ml
ABV: 6.2%


Bottle text & Info:
"This fine pale ale has citrus and tropical fruit aromatic shared with a well-balanced – yet abundant – hop character. It uses our own Belgian yeast, five malts, two hops, and plenty of patience. Finishing touches include dry-hopping with Cascade hops and warm-cellaring."


Tasting Notes:
I know, I know. Where's the Irish beer. Listen, i had this small production irish micro I was gonna review but..... I accidently left at work. I know. Lame. So instead of doing another "irish beer" that really brewed in Canada were gonna go ahead and settle for the second release in Ommegang's "specialty beer intiative." So for Mar/April we have the BPA! Who needs St. Patty's day. Moving on. Pours a hazy golden orange with billowy suds forming two to three fingers high and then quickly receding. Typical belgian yeast esters on the nose, including a good bit of candi sugars, dried apricots and some subdued clove. Smells quite like a tripel, really. Medium body with a soft and delicate mouthfeel, holding some tangerine, navel orange, banana-like phenols, finishing with the slightest prick of hops. An interesting take on this version. Ommegang sure is one of the best, if not the best, at domestic Belgian replications, and this is a solid offering. Best way I can explain this is that it has the esters of a Tripel and the phenols of a Witte. I would have liked for this to have been a little cleaner. The label boasts that it's been dry hopped with Cascade, yet there's not a whole lot of citrus or pine on the end, which is a bit disappointing. I get brewing in subtleties, I would have just like to seen a bit more bite here. Nonetheless, a refreshing limited offering from some of the pioneers of Belgium brewing in America.