You'll recall I'm a big fan of Southern Tier brewing as it is. And then I came across this brew. According to the Southern Tier brewing website it is part of their standard year round offerings. But I came across it in the variety pack of the Imperial series that included the Iniquity brew that was the subject of the last posting.
Either way - Standard or Imperial - I'm in love.
IPA is my favorite general category of beer. And with 2X IPA from Southern Tier I have found my new favorite in my favorite category.
Look at that head. How could you not like that?
And then you drink it. You get what you would expect from an IPA, that first rush of citrus-flavored hops. But then you are in for a real treat. 
Yes there is plenty of flavor. You would expect that from a beer with over 8% alcohol. But what really grabs you is how smoooooth this beer is. For a double IPA, with that high an alcohol content and there is no bitterness, no overwhelming bite. Rather this might be the most balanced beer I've tasted. Especially given the hops and the strength. Not bitter, but no lightweight and not at all sweet. You could drink this one all night, but I wouldn't - it packs a punch!
I give this 9 mugs out of 10. It is the new standard against which I judge all other IPA's, if not all other beers. Well done, sirs!

I'm a big fan of Southern Tier brewing. Maybe because I spent some formative years, from pre-school through the beginning of the 5th grade, in Vestal, New York outside of Binghamton. And people referred to the area as the Southern Tier. So naturally I figured this brewery must be near the Binghamton area. It is not.
Instead it in Lakewood, near Jamestown in the southwest corner of the Empire State. Hours from Binghamton. Heck it's closer to Buffalo.
Still the name did get me to try the brews once I saw them in the local package store that carries a wide variety of brews. And I've been a fan every since. Once all my holiday brews and Christmas gift beers had been consumed, the first beers I bought in 2014 were a variety pack of Imperial brews from Southern Tier. The one I'm writing about today is called Iniquity. It is an Imperial Black Ale. Iniquity is a strange name for a brew. The definition of "iniquity" is immoral or grossly unfair. Other definitions are wickedness or sinfulness, or the quality of being unfair or evil. 
Maybe they gave it that name due to the dark color. As you can tell this is one opaque ale. Or perhaps it's because this beer is "wicked" good, and sinfully awesome. Out of curiosity I did visit the web site and they named it Iniquity because it is "evil", the antithesis of what you would expect from an IPA. 
It starts with the 9% alcohol level. So this is not a shy brew, you can feel the strength. But at the same time it is very tasty, and for something so dark and powerful, extremely smooth. It goes down very easily. And yet the taste fills your mouth. I detected hints of caramel and even dare I say a faint trace of licorice in the flavors. But all I know for sure is that it was great! This is definitely one of my favorite beers of recent memory. I could drink it all year long, and fortunately for me this is one of the Imperial series that is available year-round.
If you have the opportunity to try any of the offerings from Southern Tier, please do. You won't be disappointed. You especially won't be disappointed with anything from the Imperial series. And if you are traveling somewhere in the southwest part of New York state try to drop in at Southern Tier. They give tours and have an attached brew pub as well. Maybe some day I'll make it out there from New England.
I'm giving Iniquity a score of 8 mugs out of 10. 

I keep mentioning how I'm a big fan of IPA's, but I haven't reviewed one yet. So time to pull out one of my favorite IPA's from the archives. 
This is from one of my favorite breweries, Southern Tier Brewing Company of Lakewood, NY.
I found variety packs from this brewery at one of my favorite package stores (that's New England speak for liquor store). This particular establishment carries quite a variety of beers from many locations. 
It was the name that first caught my eye. From age 4 to about half way through the 5th grade my family lived in the town of Vestal, NY just outside of Binghamton. The region was referred to as the Southern Tier. So when I saw beers from a place called Southern Tier I had to pick it up. I have never been disappointed.
Southern Tier advertises itself as liking "vigorously hopped" brews so they were already on my good side before I had tasted a drop. Every beer I have tried from them so far has been good, but the IPA is outstanding. It just may currently be my favorite in the entire genre. 
The hops are strong in this one for sure. You get the bitterness you expect from an IPA. But it is nicely balanced so the bitterness does not overwhelm or get in the way of a very flavorful brew. This is an IPA you could drink all night, at an appropriate moderate pace of course. It will stand up to spicy or strongly flavored foods, but can be enjoyed immensely all by itself. The taste fills the mouth as they say and has the usual hoppy taste with tones of caramel from the malts. What more can I say? This is one of the smoothest, tastiest IPA's I have ever had. They also have an Imperial IPA that is allegedly much stronger than their "regular" IPA. Can't wait to find that one and try it.
I'm giving Southern Tier IPA 8 mugs out of 10 only because I'm harder grading IPA's than other styles. 
And they lose points because it turns out Lakewood, NY is closer to the southwest corner of New York state near Jamestown, hours from the Binghamton area. So while technically still Southern Tier, it is not as close to my old home as I thought when I first purchased these beers. Hey my scoring is nothing if not highly subjective and capricious. 
But all seriousness aside, if you're a fan of IPA's find this beer and drink it. And if you find other offerings from Southern Tier try those too. Like I said I have yet to find a bad beer from these people. And apparently it's not just me, they have expanded their operation dramatically in recent years and are shipping to more and more areas of the country. So find out what the excitement is all about.