3XIPA
Southern Tier Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

Ask and you shall receive a pint glass full of this stuff. Be careful what you wish for. This is a heavy hitter. It's an alluring pour, golden in color, with beautiful white head atop and lacing. It smells like, in order, malt, alcohol and hops. The taste is sweet, very sweet at the beginning. Malts seem to dominate, even after the hops kick in. Said hops add another aspect to the flavor, but don't counterbalance the overall sweetness of the brew. The presence of alcohol is noticeable from start to finish. With the combination of the malt, alcohol and yeast sweetness, more hoppy bitterness could improve this concoction. Not bad, but not outstanding.

Single purchased for $2.99. Bought last week to go with the ST mixed 15 pack but didn't get around to it until now.

Look - Honey golden with a finger of head and some moderate carbonation. Stick is solid.

Smell - Pineapple galore with lotsa that catty aspect but not piss like.

Taste - Total pineapple bomb. Fairly bitter but not as much as you'd suspect given the ABV.

Feel - Bit underwhelming and watery for the gravity but smooth as can be.

Overall - Smooth for the ABV for sure. While it isn't exactly loaded with flavor this has to be the smoothest near 10%er I've ever had. Price is good too. Would have a again. Good beer.

 

Pours an effervescent honey color with 2 fingers of cream colored head. Good lacing & head retention

S: Breadyness, pineapple

T: Follows the nose, plus dryness, a little bit of leafy hops up front. More cakeyness, pineapple, grassy hops and dryness as this warms. Finishes cakey, dry with a little pineapple & grassyness

MF: Cakey, slight carbonation, skewing malty now but not cloying

Despite this being over 7 months old, it is holding up well would buy again fresher. ABV is well hidden

 

Pours golden yellow with a 1/2 inch white head, which dissipates. Moderate lacing.

Aroma is mango, pine, pepper, orange.

State is strong pine, citrus zest, mango, resiny.

Medium bodied, lively carbonation. Semi-sweet to dry finish.

An excellent IPA from Southern Tier.

Don’t know if I’m crazy, but I had one of these last year, and I thought it kind of sucked. Picked up another bottle this year, and was blown away. Definitely on par with Bells Hop Slam, or any other five star ipa. Went down dangerously smooth. Would swear I was drinking their regular ipa.. Hope I can pick up some more of this.

When ST does it right, they are as good as any brewery. 3XIPA is stellar. Couldn't look much better for style - nearly crystal clear with steady carb bubbles rising slowly as if it's work to float up through the dense liquid. Firm white head billows up to hold a tight thin cap of bright white foam. Aroma is floral and honey sweet with some orange crush thrown in, hints of oats and vanilla and marshmallow come through as well. Flavor is just straight up IPA - you wouldn't think this one pushed 10% - alcohol mostly waits 'till the end to rear it's head and that to me is a mark of a skilled brewer. Nearly full bodied, the drinkabilty is dangerous with flavors so well balanced and alcohol so woven in it feels and swallows like a session IPA. Wonderful lingering hop bite on the tongue.
Just a damn fine beer man.

12 oz bottle with a February 2020 bottling date stamp on the label.
$3.59 from the Wall of Beer in Clemson SC.
Pours with a hazy amber colored body with a good white head.
Atoma. Boozy with mostly piney hops.
Flavor. The high ABV is partially hidden here and some citrus notes join the pine. Moderately bitter, at most, for the style.

Picked up a single from the Craft Beer Hop Stop cooler 1-9-20 for $3.99. Bottled on 12-16-19; consumed 4-16-20. Cold stored since purchase.

Beer poured orange with a beautiful three-finger white head that is leaving beautiful rings with each sip.

Nose is very nice with pine and citrus along with a breadiness i did not expect.

Taste is classic WCIPA, grapefruit and orange are present up front, catching some berry over the large malt base. Finishes with a nice pine resin; 7/10 on my bitterness scale.

Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied and smooth.

Overall this is a really well executed IPA, glad i finally tried it. Will look at having it again when available early next year!

I really liked the 2XIPA and once drank so many at a bar that my wife wasn't happy with me at the end of the evening...Anyway, I don't think I will be doing the same with this 3x's as it is about as good if not better...

Great looking beer - orange highlights mixed with the an appealing yellow color and a creamy looking head. The head leaves lacing all the way down the glass, really, really impressive. The smell was about as good as any other IPA, but juicier if that makes sense, it also had a distant smell of pine that was good. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and definitely carbonated but not distracting. The taste was good as well, a little piney but the kind that I liked. Overall, this is definitely a great seasonal from ST, one that I will keep an eye out for later this year.

 

On tap at Jeremiah's Tavern in Rochester, NY.

This one pours a golden amber color, clear, and with a small head, and not much lacing. This definitely looks like a complete malt bomb, unfortunately.

The smell betrays that thought process though - as I get clean but resinous pine here, along with orange jam, bready malt, floral hops, and biscuits.

It's not the gross malt bomb I expected it to be! I haven't had much Southern Tier lately, and it seems like they've gone somewhat downhill over the years (or my palate has just adjusted). This is not bad at all though - it's intensely hopped, especially for this brewery, with orange, grapefruit, and loads of pine. There's no way this wouldn't be malty, but it's honestly fairly restrained. There's also really no booziness, which is another miracle, in my eyes.

This is fairly clean, with a lighter body than expected, and a decent amount of drinkability.

I wanted to dislike this, so it's a nice surprise that I not only didn't dislike, I actually enjoyed it. Triple IPAs are never going to be a favorite style for me, especially West Coast-style triples, but I can enjoy them once in a blue moon.