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Southern Tier Gemini

Contribute your own beer reviews and ratings of beers that are made or available in Ontario.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

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pootz
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Post by pootz »

A very fruity blend of IPA and EXpa. I'm sure this is the result of some ST customers telling the brewer about their blending of the the ST imperial pales and the brewer decided to bottle the blend.

It''s really quite a pleasant drink. Full of citrus, apricot, peach, mango with a little earthy sweetness. I downed 2 of these quite easily watching HNIC last night. The strength of this blend is eclipsed by its rich fruit flavor.
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PeenSteen
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Post by PeenSteen »

This was really good, this has been my favorite of the spring release hands down.

Lukie
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Post by Lukie »

It's similar to their regular IPA with quite a bit more complexity and kick, yet, the alcohol is well masked. I've seen this rated as 10.5 on other sites, however, the bottle states 9.1 ABV. I wonder which one is true? Whatever the case, this is yet another beer from ST that kicks ass. I wish we had a brewery in Ontario following their model of "out of this world" delicious and unique beers. Surely, its a recipe for success.

mintjellie
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Post by mintjellie »

I would trust the 9.1, Ontario mandates lab testing for this kind of stuff. A lot of brewery figures in the US are really just best estimates.

PeenSteen
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Post by PeenSteen »

Ontario's ABV testing method is considered to be the most accurate around. Other provinces and certain US states use the LCBO's lab to test their products as well.

bufordsbest
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Post by bufordsbest »

i don't often drop $9 on a bomber but this was well worth it and i'll definitely pick it up again.

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RayOhm
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Post by RayOhm »

I'm surprised how many people like this. We had this a few months back and it was terrible. I hardly got any of that amazing Unearthy flavour and the remaining flavour was harsh and the bitterness was strong in a bad way. I've had many ST beers and this one is by far the worse. Maybe I just had a bad bottle but I don't really want to spend $9 to find out.
I don’t care what the U.N. says, I don’t recognize countries that don’t produce beer.

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Ralphus
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Post by Ralphus »

You probably had a bad bottle RayOhm. It happens. Sometimes its poor handling, sometimes its old, sometimes its a bad batch. I think if you have given up on it then its only you who is missing out.

This is a really nice beer. It has the malt of unearthly but the fruit is more diverse as are the hops. Its also got some complexity which makes it interesting too. And to find it smack dab in the middle of an LCBO next to bottles of Tree Hophead is a big leap from what we have seen in the past.

Good work R&R!
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Derek
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Post by Derek »

It is good, but personally I'd take the Unearthly straight up.

S.T. now lists the Hoppe at 8.5% and the Unearthly at 9.5%, so a blend would presumably be around 9%.
http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/beers.html

TheSevenDuffs
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Post by TheSevenDuffs »

Finally had this one tonight.

The sweet caramel matls were the predominant flavour in this one with some decent bitterness. The hops didn't provide much in terms of flavour though. Overall this was not as bold as one would expect from a 9% ABV beer but it was very enjoyable and easy drinking. I will probably buy a couple more bombers of this one.

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RayOhm
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Post by RayOhm »

i finally caved and tried this one again based on the reviews here. and yes, it was good. that first bottle i had must have been bad because it was plain gross (50% unearthy, 50% balls). this one was sooo much better. nice hoppy aroma, caramel malts, hoppy finish, and slight alcohol warming.
I don’t care what the U.N. says, I don’t recognize countries that don’t produce beer.

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Ralphus
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Post by Ralphus »

Glad to hear it.
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JesseM
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Post by JesseM »

Derek wrote:It is good, but personally I'd take the Unearthly straight up.

S.T. now lists the Hoppe at 8.5% and the Unearthly at 9.5%, so a blend would presumably be around 9%.
http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/beers.html
+1. I like both beers individually, but together they really didn't do much for me. Sometimes the characteristic sweetness of ST beers bothers me a little.

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Bonesey
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Post by Bonesey »

I used to love ST IIPAs, but I find them to be way too cloying and not enough aroma hop character. Either they are mashed too high or there's an overuse of carapils. Not the best example of the style by a longshot.
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S. St. Jeb
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Post by S. St. Jeb »

In past years, I've generally not enjoyed beers with higher alcohol content. That has changed. Not sure if it's my age (and a maturing of my taste buds), or if it is just that that higher alcohol beers that I have in the last couple of years are better than what I had previously.

Tried this one tonight. I probably would not have purchased a bottle had I not read good things about it on this forum.

Glad I bought it. Very nice flavour. I found the high alcohol content noticeable, but not overpowering or unpleasant.

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