One more beer - Southern Tier 2X IPA

Ok so I decided only one more beer review today since I am already way too buzzed from my first 7.0% beer I just tasted/reviewed and well its god damn Friday and I need to relax a bit!  My local liquor store had a craft beer sale so I wanted to try something that had a generic looking label but had a good "beer score" but was still relatively affordable.  So, since I love India Pale Ale's (IPA's) so freaking much I picked up a DOUBLE India Pale Ale made by Southern Tier Brewing Company, from Lakewood, New York.

Now i'm not exactly sure how a double IPA is crafted, but for a very interesting history lesson on how IPA's are made, and where the style came from click here http://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/styles/2_2style.html  Damn the internet is awesome isn't it?

Ok here's how the labeling and beer looks, it is very typical of any IPA.  Green color labels for hops, some indecipherable bullshit about 4 varieties of hops and 3 types of malts but the important part shows that it has an 8.2% ABV which is pretty strong for most types of beers, except for IPA's. 

Take that fancy marketing campaign!

So, I'm sure you are all anxiously waiting for the verdict on this, so here goes nothing!

Looks are like that of most IPA's but this one is a bit lighter and more golden in color, extremely pretty looking beer that is just begging to be drank.  Is that grammatically correct and is it gay to think a beer looks pretty?  Is beer a man or a woman?  Bah, who cares, i'm already solidly buzzed after a few sips of this shit!

The smell of this beer is something to behold.  It is like jamming your face into the garden of eden, if the garden of eden was full of masterfully mixed beer spices, hops, fruits, and satan's nectar! (or alcohol for us non baptists)

Well you would imagine something that smells super amazing would also taste amazing, and well this Southern Tier Brewing Co.'s 2XIPA certainly delivers as it is extremely smooth, not too hoppy, and spiced just right.  Dangerous, as the high ABV and amazing taste could get you blasted quite quickly if you aren't careful. 

For taste, appearance and smell, this beer gets a 9/10.  I really can't explain to you how amazing of a beer this really is unless you taste it first hand.  There is no fancy marketing campaign for this.  It is a craft beer by some guys in extreme southwest New York (seriously look up where Lakewood, NY is, its closer to Detroit than NYC) and they let the product do the talking.  I love shit like this, as it is American capitalism in its purest form, battling against the big guys for your hard earned dollars, that is, until Diageo, or Inbev/Budweiser or Miller/Molsen/Coors & Co. buy them out, water it down and charge twice as much as it used to cost...

Overall, since this beer doesn't waste billions of dollars on pointless advertisements that I will skip over on my DVR, the cost/refreshment ratio is very good.  I believe I picked up this 6 pack on sale for $8.49 (before the fuck you in the Ass city of Chicago Taxes) and let me tell you, what a spanking good deal.  The low cost of this beer easily adds another .5 points to the overall rating so this beer gets one of the highest scores I have ever given in this blog's short life of a 9.5/10.  Its not perfect, but god damn its fucking close to as perfect as an IPA can get.
Excellent!



Have a fantastic weekend!