Head to Head: Bells Hopslam vs. Southern Tier Gemini

Welcome to another Head to Head challenge. Today we have two Imperial India Pale Ales. Both are from America. The first is from Michigan and is the Bells Hopslam. The second is from New York and is the Southern Tier Gemini.

As usual the tasting was done blind and to style.

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.