Southern Tier Hoppe

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

Hazy orange/amber with a fluffy,white, short-lived head. Nose is somewhat musty, quite bitter, with a good deal of grapefruit. Quite sweet--very nice, with some tobacco, pine resin, almonds. Excellent, pillowy mouthfeel.

Draught. Hazy orange-brown body with a soapy white head. Wonderfully fragrant citrus aroma - mild pineapple/tropical sweetness. The flavour is really sharp and piney. Bready malt backbone with faint alcohol warmth and grain notes. Mango and pineapple hops are also noticeable. Lingering resin finish.
Enjoyed a pint at Cole’s in Buffalo on April 28, 2007.

Bright golden amber appearance with a medium size, off white head and decent lacing. Spicy, floral, herbal hop aroma gradually replaced by more familiar notes of citrus and resin. Full bodied, nicely carbonated mouthfeel. Taste is firmly controlled by the huge hop profile with only a passing nod to the moderate malt presence. Some interaction between bitterness and sweetness followed by a mild alcohol burn. Durable, long lasting, spicy finish.

Bottle pours a crystal clear light copper with a two inch off white head and lots of lacing. The aroma is very much of resinous hops, pine sap in the sugar bush season (spring when the nights are below freezing, but the days are above freezing), and fresh bread. The flavor is of sour dough bread, ale fruitiness, and hop juice. Oh yeah, we really have something here. I just read the ABV, there is no way I can taste the 10%. The palate is thin but lively and cleansing compared to other IIPAs of similar ABV, but it seems to work OK. This is one fine beer. Make no mistake, one of the finer IIPAs out there. Um yeah, I just saw it is classified as an ASA - OK then, damn good ASA. Next time, I buy a case.

Pours a two finger white head that fades to a thin layer leaving a good lace. Pale crystal clear amber color. Light-medium carbonation and medium bodied. Grapefruit hop nose. Flavor has a lot of hops (grapefruit) and malt (caramel), almost balanced but hops win with a grapefruit finish. $7.25 for a 22oz bottle from Colonial Spirits Acton, MA.

22 oz bottle. Very pale golden colour with a thick white head. Rich sweet hoppy aromas of apricot, peach, and tropical fruit over a soft spicy pale malt base. A bit of pine comes forth as the beer warms, but only plays a backing role to the aforementioned tropical aroma. Well-hopped but the bitterness is very smooth. Soft sweet/spicy malts up front followed by pineapple and sweet grassy flavour. The body is very lean with crisp minerally character that comes through nicely. Light wheaty spice on the back that adds a bit of depth and complexity to the otherwise lean malts. Excellent brew.

Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a hazy vivid golden color with a very large yellow-white head. The aroma was dry and earthy with moderately strong floral and piney hop elements. The flavor was lightly sweet and tangy with spicy and floral hops followed by grapefruit and a hint of pine. Overall a nicely complex hop presence. The finish was dryish and hoppy. The mouthfeel was moderately thick. The alcohol was well hidden. Very interesting.

Bottle. Pours a very bubbly clear gold with an average size mostly lasting fizzy off-white head. Aroma: Wowza, that’s nice! Lots and lots of resiny hops. The flavour fills me with big time hoppy joy! Plenty of oily, resiny hops with some sweetness, fruit, spices, a touch of alcohol (though for 10% it’s quite well hidden) and a big, long bitter finish. Medium bodied. It’s definitely one-dimensional but it’s oh so delicious, I loved it!