This week ill be doing a review of Southern Tier Brewery's imperial extra pale ale called "hoppe." Now, i havent had a whole lot of Southern Tier's stuff, and i apparently have a lot of difficulty spelling the word 'tier' (thanks spell-check), but what i have had from them, i really like. Phin & Matt, IPA, unearthly. So when i saw an imperial extral pale ale by them, i had to pick up a tall boy. This bad boy weighs in at 8%, brewed with columbus and amarillo hops, and dry hopped with the same.
When poured into my pint glass, it looked pretty much exactly how you'd expect. An appetizing gold/dark yellow color. Very little head and little to no carbonation bubbles rising to the top. it was quite foggy. i couldn't see thorough the glass.
The smell was amazing! I dipped my nose into the glass and was punched in the face with amarillo hops and pale malt barley. It was a great mix of those 2 ingredients. The smell actually first reminded me of last Feb when Balczak sent me a couple bottles of Hopslam, one of the best beers ive had the opportunity to try. (for ryan's review, see Hopslam)
However, the taste left something to be desired. dont get me wrong, i enjoyed every last drop of this hop heavy ale, but after smelling it for a min or so, i had very high expectations. It was cold and crisp and the front of my tongue was groovin' on it. it was the taste buds in the back that weren't so sure. there was a very subtle taste, just a little unnatural, that i was picking up after swallowing.
That being said, i would recommend this to any hophead or Southern Tire...teir...tier fan for at least one try.
As for the "beerswetry" scale.....ill give this one an Eli Manning. He's good, he won the big one, but lets face it folks.....he's no Peyton.
Q - "Eli, what do you think of Hoppe?"
A - "ddeeeerrrrrrrrpp"
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