So, if you’ve been buying beers at the LCBO in the past two years or so, you might have noticed a brewer from Lakewood, New York, called Southern Tier. For a while, they had their IPA regularly available on shelves. A bit more costly than the average 6-pack, it was one of the few true American IPAs available in Ontario. It appears it is no longer listed, but the LCBO continues to bring in a lot of Southern Tier’s products as seasonal releases. Their Creme Brulee Stout is a winter favourite of many, and their Yellow Snow IPA was just incredible. Often overlooked, because the bottles are generally around $10/bottle, they are one of the American breweries a lot of Canadian brewers are looking at. They brew a lot of big beers, in the “American Style”, which is to say, lots of hops, or really high alcohol or both (it seems the yanks have never gotten over the “Canadian beer is stronger” stigma, despite the fact that much of it can be attributed to them using alcohol-by-weight, vs our alcohol-by-volume in days of yore. The beers were, in fact, in roughly the same alcohol range, it just didn’t look that way. With everybody using the alcohol by weight, the playing field is levelled, and now they’re just making higher-proof beers to make up for lost time. I think. Maybe.)
Gemini is Southern Tier’s offering in the spring release. Now for those of you who don’t remember, I was greviously assulted at the media event for the spring release, when Stephen Beaumont tied me to a chair and broke both my legs with a tire-iron, then systematically burned my body with a lit Cohiba Especiale. Or threw a pen at me. I seem to have blocked the memories out. Regardless, it was for the offence of identifying a beer as “Imperial”. Stephen, quite rightly, is wearying of the massive (shall we say “Imperial”?) over-use of the words Imperial and Double in terms of brewing big, high-alcohol beers. Everybody does it. It’s getting a bit silly. So, with all that in mind, and with respect to Stephen, Gemini is an Imperial IPA from Southern Tier.
Gemini is the constellation of twins, and was the name given to early NASA space-missions, which were undertaken by two astronauts. Gemini by Southern Tier is a mix of two different Imperial ales, one filtered, the other not. It’s an exciting brew, and one that I really enjoyed after being assaulted at the LCBO tasting.
Gemini - Southern Tier Brewing Co.
From a labelled (not screened, as per usual) 650ml bomber with no freshness date, Gemini pours a light orange honey colour, with a nice fluffy head that stays about 1/2″ deep for most of the glass. There’s a decent amount of carbonation, and the beer is a little hazy, showing some of it’s unfiltered character. Aroma is grainy malts, like a barley field in early autumn. Sweet and earthy. There is a big hop presence, astringent and sharp, hits of fresh citrus and marmalade. Something a little spicy is there too, perhaps the yeast? Taste is massively hoppy. Immediately metallic, transitioning to grapefruit and lemon peel, with a nearly squeeky finish. Malts are actually very sweet and present, if you look for them under the big hops bite. A little caramelly and sweet, they actually linger a bit with the hops. Balance is good, and while it tends towards the big Yankee hops, the malt is very well respected in the mix. There are some yeasty esters that pop their head out on the mid palate, a little spicy and musty, that add a nearly gingerbread like quality to the malts, which are becoming biscuity as the beer warms up a bit. The citrus is also mellowing and becoming a little more candied with the sweetness. The beer is medium bodied on the tongue, though the carbonation helps keep it from being too chewy. As more and more malts come through with warmth, the beer becomes more and more of a slow sipper. At the recommended 5*C, it was a sessionable imperial. About 15 minutes warm, it’s a perfect match for that left-over Thai food in my fridge (I assume, it’s not really meal time). The beauty of the bomber, is you get enough beer to enjoy it over the span of temperatures, unless you’re anal enough to put the opened bottle back in the fridge.
The balance of the beer, with big hops that aren’t particularly aggressive makes this a great beer to introduce you to the world of imperials. At 9.1%, Gemini is probably one of the bigger one’s you’ll drink, but it balances it all out well. It’s also nice that there is an unfiltered element to it, without it being a fully raw beer. All in all, a great beer, if you can handle the price. Bear in mind, though, that it’s nearly two bottles of beer. Two bottles of 9% beer at that.
Cheers to Southern Tier, keep up your progressive brewing!
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