Southern Tier Un*Earthly

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

Get out of the way if your expecting a suttle little IPA. this is the real McCoy. The first taste gives you the over welming sense that your in for something great. Looks a bit dark and cloudy once poured. Alittle hard to find but well worth searching for. If you like this you’ll love ST. Gemini..

22oz bottle. Clear orange color, thin off-white head leaving good rows of lace. Sort of thick texture to the carbonation, with an alcohol bite in the finish. Very big and hoppy, but the alcohol aroma distracts from that a bit. Kind of a malty, caramel aroma that competes with the hops. An OK, kind of resiny and sticky IIPA. I like the Gemini (combo of this brew and the ST Hoppe) much better, it definitely has a much better balance.

bottle; clear orange with medium off white head; aroma-very sweet, caramel, grapefruit, spruce; taste-very sweet/syrupy, medium bitterness, full body, sticky, soft carbonation, long finish, and soooo sweet. Reminds me of Gemini. Too sweet

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled 1/4/2012. Finally found one dated, so I picked this up. Pours very clear golden orange color with a great dense 2 finger light khaki head with incredible retention that reduces to a thick cap that lasts. Some decent lacing on the glass. Aromas of big grapefruit, orange, caramel, mango, pine, and herbal. Nice and well balanced aromas; quite sweet and hoppy. Taste of big orange, grapefruit, herbal, pine, caramel, tropical fruit, and spiciness. Nice amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of herbal, pine, caramel, and citrus for a while. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a creamy and slick mouthfeel. Drinkability is limited; this is definitely a sipper at 9.5%. Some great balance of flavors with plenty of citrus hoppiness. Alcohol is fairly well hidden with only a warming on the finish present. Overall this is a very nice DIPA. Nice hoppy flavor balance and very enjoyable to sip on. This improved substantially as it rose above the recommended 42F temperature.

pours dark orange with no head. Aroma of fresh hops, a little pungent and light grapefruit notes. The grapefruit aroma is almost citrusy. Very smooth tasting, some light sweetness wish some pungent hops, and some grapefruit on the Backend. Very good beer

Draft into small tulip. Deep, cloudy orange. Citrus and sweetness on the nose, good balance throughout with a dry finish. Good offering.

Keg at Brewdog Camden. Very clear amber colour with beige/gold coloured creamy head. Aroma is plenty of hops, bit of b.o. and pine. Very full on. Taste is very bitter, lots of malt too, and plenty of grapefruit. Towards the end quite sticky maltiness, sweet too, maybe even treacle like. Very full on, but pretty nice.

Now if you’ve been reading my blog, you know how I feel about the Southern Tier Brewing’s lineup of Imperial brews, especially beers like the Pumking and Mokah. But tonight’s stop on my beer tour is the Southern Tier Un*Earthly IPA. At just about 11% abv this is sure to put my new hops-friendly palate to the test! The Southern Tier Unearthly pours a dark shade of amber with great clarity. The head atop is thinner than I had initially expected, though at 11% abv I guess I should have put aside my expectations. The bright white foam doesn’t last long, nor does it leave behind much lacing. Again, this isn’t what I expected, considering how much hops is supposed to be cramped into this bottle. The aromas are full of pungent grapefruit-driven hops. There’s also a touch of sweetness in the nose, which is always a good sign to me. On the palate the Un*Earthly is full of rough and pungent bitter hops. But there is still a nice sweetness on the finish. It’s like a not-so-sweet version of the 90 min IPA. The Southern Tier Un*Earthly is flavorful, bold and intense, yet drinkable and quite delicious!