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Friday 22 July 2011

BEERSWAP! Southern Tier Gemini

Good beer is something that needs to be savoured. There is something about the pace of modern life generally (or maybe it's my life in particular) that is somehow not conducive to really stopping and enjoying a beer. Either there are pressures of life intruding into a special beer moment, or, and perhaps this is a crueller irony, there is so much great beer available that you feel hurried to drink what you have in front of you so you can move on to the next rarity.

And modern life can play cruel tricks in other ways. It's true that technology can bring us closer together, allow us to network more effectively, but equally, when technology Goes Bad (capital G, capital B), it throws everything into total disarray. So it is with this video.

There's nothing wrong with the video, but the thing is, when I shoot one of these, I use the transfer, compression and upload time to write down some thoughts that the beer evokes. But for some reason, this little snippet got stuck on my camera, and wouldn't download from the camera. So rather than note down a few Wilde-esque witticisms about the beer, I spent a couple of hours swearing and fiddling with setting on the camera and the computer.

Consequently, the fine-grained stuff about the beer is all in the video, and these words are mere padding.



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10 comments:

  1. Chad Polenz22 July 2011 at 21:42

    Glad you liked it. Funny how YouTube always picks a thumbnail where your eyes are closed, LOL (you can change it if you want by editing the video).

    I really need to officially review this beer. I've had it on tap a bunch of times but I've never sat down and given the bottle a serious go.

    I can't wait to see your take on the Mother's Milk and Whiskey Barrel Aged Porter!

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  2. ZakAvery22 July 2011 at 22:38

    Chad - I just selected another still, so hopefully I'll look a bit less moronic shortly. Thanks again for the beer.

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  3. Craig23 July 2011 at 13:31

    It looks like your realllllly thinking about Southern Tier.

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  4. Anonymous23 July 2011 at 14:22

    The Southern Tier beer sounds and looks great... I need to get me a beer trafficker. Thought I'd comment though as you mentioned the Pretty Things Field Mouse's Farewell. I was lucky enough to get one of the bottles from your shop and I drank it last night. I tweeted that it wasn't really my thing, but had my phone not gone flat I would have changed my mind slightly as the drink progressed..for the very reason you mention..temperature. As it warmed up it had greater balance for me and shows that a hasty tweet doesn't always tell the whole story. (loved the PT Jack D'or by the way)

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  5. Leigh24 July 2011 at 17:10

    And was worth it...good video, zak - a difficult medium to get right but you do nail it. Not tried any southern tier yet, but will be rectifying that shortly.

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  6. ZakAvery24 July 2011 at 22:19

    Craig - yeah, I changed the still, but it's no better, is it?

    Broadford - temperature is key. I thought Gemini was a tad sweet, which would be partially offset by serving it colder. And you should always at least finish a bottle before you pass an opinion!

    Leigh - ST are a big fave of mine, on the basis of what I've tried so far.

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  7. Anonymous25 July 2011 at 16:24

    Zak, quite right and it's something I'll be sure to do from now on. Cheers.

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  8. Birkonian25 July 2011 at 20:43

    Excellent brewery, I picked up a few bottles at Alvinne's festival in Belgium earler this year. Well, where else would you expect to find rare U.S. beers?

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  9. ZakAvery25 July 2011 at 21:49

    Birkonian - of course, where else but transatlantic, cosmopolitan Belgium!

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  10. Dan4 August 2011 at 00:58

    That sweet, caramel flavour is right across their big range: hoppe, unearthly, gemini, big red, iniquity — they all have it. I call it the Southern Tier Twang. Vanishes on the 2xIPA and IPA, as you might expect. I really love it. It is suggestive of that paraffin-esque pear drop flavour when the beer warms up. That and the sweetness can turn some people off, but not me.

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Sorry about the word verification - the blog was getting spammed to bits.