Gemini (Imperial Blended Ale)
Gemini, from Beer Run, Charlottesville, VA. Split at a tasting, w/ my portion poured into a tulip. Appearance: A surprisingly light copper-colored brew with sprase but terribly slow and fine-bubbled carbonation - you can tell this one's gonna be incredibly thick. The one-finger white head is foamy, clingy, fantastically sticky, and leaves what are some initially nice swaths of lacing, though they do get runny, glittery, watery after a while. Aroma: Whew. An absolutely divine aromatic mess - very minty and herbal, though its absolutely laden with tropical fruits of all sorts, berries, strawberries, pineapple, peach, grapefruit. I'd call it Pliny-esque if that weren't sacrilege, so instead I'll just say it's incredibly pleasant, and one of the best smelling beers I've had had the pleasure to, well, smell. Taste: Like the nose, this one's very herbal and minty, similar in the hop profile to the ST Krampus, but a little heavier, with more citrus and a slight tartness. The bitterness is moderate to high, and it's well-balanced in great DIPA fashion by creamy, heavy, sticky malts, sightly roasted, but largely simply sweet and sticky, with overtones of honey and candi sugar, though I'm certain both are absent. Mouthfeel: Incredibly thick, though with enough carbonation to "puff" it up considerably. It remains even and largely creamy though, even with a slight "prickle," though it's hard to tell if it's due to alcohol heat, bitterness, or effervescence peeking through the thick shroud of malts. Drinkability: Surprisingly high. This is a well-made and well-balanced DIPA which hits most of the right notes, and only loses points for those things that most nonetheless-well-made DIPAs lose points for - being too thick, alcohol-retarded lacing, etc. I believe I rated this one higher than both the Hoppe and the Unearthly, and it's always nice when the final product is greater than the sum of its parts.