Beer Sampling - Southern Tier Unearthly IPA

I should follow-up with my comments two posts ago about my collection of beer presently and all the catching up I have to do on this blog (with beer content, of course). I managed to kind of snicker away a few Southern Tier Brewing Co. beers after our trip back east this summer. That is, after I dragged them all back to CO. The brewery is awesome...certainly one of the best in the NE-Mid-Atlantic area, in my humble opinion.

After a busy few days and some household chores, I decided to reward myself with my 3-months young Southern Tier Unearthly IPA. "Another IPA!", you say...yes indeedy...I'm hop-driven. I poured this bad boy in to a fluted pint (again, see below) and discovered some serious olfactory joy. The beer smells like fresh hops and sweet malt, with the latter coming through almost moreso upon consumption. Unearthly poured almost deep copper...practically redish but still retaining some shiny hues. The head was perfect...a solid one-inch of lacy goodness. The beer is balanced, complete, sweet and bitter...one of the best IPAs have tried 'new' in a long time. If you happen upon one of these, definitely pick it up. I can only imagine how good the oak-aged Unearthly is...

Here are the notes from Southern Tier's website:


ABOUT THE BEER
STYLE: Imperial India Pale Ale
BREWED SINCE: 2006
ABV: 9.5%
FERMENTATION: Ale yeast, two types of malt, four varieties of hops
COLOR: Light copper
EFFERVESCENCE: Medium carbonation
NOSE: Sweet malts, piney hops, a bit grassy
FLAVOR: Lightly sweet, caramel, big hops linger, peppery
BITTERNESS: High
BODY: Medium-bodied, but dense, resinous.
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 42°F
GLASS: Fluted glass
AVAILABILITY: Year-round / 22oz / 1/2 keg, 1/6 keg
CELLARING: 35-40°F

Great work Southern Tier...you've once again hit another beer out of the park. Cheers!