Head to Head: Bells Hopslam vs. Southern Tier Gemini

Welcome to another Head to Head challenge.

As usual the tasting was done blind and to style.

Style: Imperial India Pale Ale. View the Top Imperial IPA’s

Beer	Bells Hopslam	Southern Tier Gemini
Brewer	Bells	Souther Tier
Country	America	America
State (if Applicable)	Michigan	New York

Price: Winner – Hopslam

Hopslam – $14.99 (6 pack 12 oz bottles)

Gemini – $8.99 (22oz Bottle)

Appearance: Winner – Gemini

Hopslam – Pours a yellowish-amber color. The off-white head is small and mostly diminishes. It leaves very little lace.

Gemini – Pours a Yellow amber with a large and very creamy off-white head. The head lasts for a long while and leaves some good lace on the glass

Aroma: Winner – Gemini by a small amount

Hopslam – The aroma is sweet with some citrus and honey a bit of resin and a light hop presence.

Gemini – This has some good sweetness, hints of grain and some floral hops.

Taste: Winner – Hopslam

Hoplsam – Presents a really good balance of sweet and bitter. It starts with a moderate bitterness that does not become overpowering. Instead the sweetness form the malt provides a good balance.

Gemini – The sweetness to bitterness of this beer is really well balanced. It has a good moderate bitterness to start then becomes sweet but then the bitterness returns.

Body/Finish: Winner – Tie

Hopslam – Ends with a wonderfully flavorful bitterness. Has a nice dryness in the finish.

Gemini – There is some good bitterness in the long finish.

Overall: Winner – Gemini, I think.
Pretty darn close this one. I love Hopslam so I did expect it to win. Yet when I tried the Gemini against the Three Floyd’s Dreadnaught I knew it was similar to the Hopslam in character. This test illustrated that. The Gemini has the same sweet/bitterness characteristic that makes Hoplsam so good. So today it beats the Bells but by a small margin. Of course when you consider that the Bells is cheaper and easier to find maybe I should choose it. But no I will stick with my first instinct, at least until next year.

~ by alelagerlambic on May 12, 2008.