Review – Southern Tier Gemini

From Southern Tier: High in the winter sky, two parallel stick figures are visible & known as “the twins,” or the constellation Gemini. The astronauts of the 1960s flew as teams of two in a program named after the celestial pairing. At Southern Tier, we have our own fraternal twins, Hoppe & Unearthly. Blended together & placed in this vessel, the mission of our Gemini is to travel high & take passengers on a journey far into the heavens.
10.5% abv • 5.8ºL • 22oz. / 1/6 keg

A tale of two beers, literally and figuratively. Being an unfiltered beer, there was a decent amount of sediment at the bottom of the bottle, but since it was a 22oz bottle, unless I was going to pour two glasses at once, I couldn’t do the old pour-most-swirl-then-pour-the-rest trick. Thus, the two pints that had subtle differences between them. Purchased at Dawson’s Liquors in Severna Park, MD. Poured from a 22oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: The first glass was a clear, light tangerine color while the second glass was a murkier tangerine color with plenty of swirling sawdust. Both glasses had not quite a finger of whipped cream-like head. Moderate lacing.

Aroma: Fruity. Lots of peach, pineapple, mango, perhaps a touch of passionfruit with an underlying nose of hops.

Taste: The first glass was more hoppy than the second, although there was just the subtlest, fleeting hint of caramel on the finish. The second glass was considerably more smooth than the first. The additional sediment from the Hoppe imparted flavors of sweet breads that complimented the intensity of the hops most excellently.

Mouthfeel: The first glass was by no means thin, but not as silky as the second.

Drinkability: At 10.5% this is not a session beer, but the flavors are not so intense that, after a 22oz bottle, I was not craving more. Unfortunately, I only bought one.