Southern Tier Hoppe

Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Lakewood, New York USA

This pours a light gold body with a three-fingered head that laces in spotted sheets round the glass. It’s got an aroma of grapefruit, pine, and oranges - no malt. The latter lends a balancing sweetness to the flavor, but it’s mainly about the citric bitterness, rejoined by the pine in the finish. Very nicely lopsided in a hop-head’s favor.

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Clear golden in colour, lingering off-white coloured head, good lacing. The aroma is incredibly hoppy, lots of pine and citrus, light grapefruit, noticable sweetness. The flavour is again very hoppy, very chewy and sticky, lots of pine, turning soapy, moderate sweetness. Hoppy and sweet mouthfeel, medium body, high carbonation. Finishes long, hoppy, high sweetness. I was actually surprised by the lack of noticable alcohol. Very sticky, borderline unbalanced.

650ml bottle from the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/new-york target=blank>Premier Gourmet in Buffalo, New York graciously picked up for me by <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?U target=blank>IPFreely, many thanks Tim.
Opened on August 5, 2007.
No best before date.

Bomber purchased @ Spuyten Dyuvil Market in Brooklyn. Pours orange with a faded white head. Nose is very fragrant with orange and other citrus notes and lots of hops. Taste is sweet citrus hops, that are sticky fresh and full of flavor. Very smooth, very very good. Shared with my old HS pal Pete.

Pours gold with a large white frothy head. The head shrinks a little bit, but it stays with the beer, leaving pretty good lacing. Looking through the glass it is crystal clear with no carbonation bubbles floating to the top. The aroma is of citrus hops, grapefruit and pinapple being the main aroma. Taking a drink you get a ton of hop flavor, and a ton of bitterness. There is a little caramel malt in here. The body is medium to light, with a dry and creamy texture and livley carbonation. Overall a very fine brew, if you are a hop head you will appreciate this one.

Rated while drinking: Pours a rich golden color with an enormous thick cloudy head. Lots of hops on the nose, with some sweet malts in the back and an alcohol burn. Aroma could be considered an exotic flower that blooms with sulfur exploding out of it. On the tongue, Hoppe is bitter sweet. It has a sugary herbal taste to it. Almost minty. Aftertaste is dominant and kind of wipes anything else that might have been tasted in the past half-hour. Palate is almost smooth and creamy with nice carbonation and huge drinkability. Considering the 10%, this beer is very easy to drink. Southern Tier puts out another stellar beer, showing off the simplicity of beer ingredients, and the complexity of the beer’s taste.

Pours hazy golden orange with a foamy white head. Strong grapefruit zest aroma, with a light hint of caramel, and a bit of bread/doughy notes. Very nice piny, citric, and soapy hops upfront with much less bitterness than expected. Slight sweetness hits hard mid-palate, and gives way to a much stronger, but not overpowering soapy bitterness, and peppery spice. Palate is medium/full, with a spicy, bitter-sweet finish, and a smooth, lightly effervescent mouth-feel. Easy drinking, flavorful, and well-balanced.

Bottle: Golden in nature, a little dark, slight haze, moderate to large frothy white head, rings of lacing, very light carbonation.   Pale resiny aroma, very soft floral, hop, and citrus peel characteristics.   Some slight biscuity aspects as well.   Assertive, yet not overly bitter citrus rind on the tongue.   Decent malt backing, at least enough to carry what bitterness there is.   Mild on the backside, definitely doesn’t appear to be a 10% ABV brew.   Moderate to full body and mouthfeel.   Soft citrus peel on the backside.   Overall hop bitterness is low, malts are moderate to big, but I must say for an Imperial Pale Ale this one fits quite nicely.   Easy to drink, not brash like other examples, with a fairly clean finish.   This 22oz bottle went down too easy and too quick.   Thanks Dan for this treat!

Date: 05/02/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

clear dark copper, lasting frothy white head, lots of lace, lots of spicy peppery aroma with lightly sweet malt, creamy body, lots of spicy hop flavor, enough sweetness to add balance and body, light citrus adds complexity, only a hint of the alcohol but well covered by the spices,
-------- /> Date: 05/30/2007
Mode: bottle
Words: road trip

picking up piney sweetness in the aroma in addition to the spices, the peppery character picks up as it warms,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4