Southern Tier Tangier Session IPA

It is with great pleasure I make the following statement; warm weather, sunshine and summer beer are finally here. And while I am not always excited to see summer beer, I am excited to finally enjoy a light, crisp, refreshing beer outside without the need of 10 layers of clothing. If you live in upstate New York or the Northeast in general I'm sure you understand what I am talking about. This was a winter that truly felt like it was never going to end. While I love winter beer and feel it's never time to completely put down the stouts, porters, strong ales and double IPAs that compliment the cold so well, I am excited to lighten up and enjoy one of the many styles of summer beer. The wheat beers, shandies, session ipas, goses and fruit beers or any combination of those compliment the sunshine nicely. The first of those beers I am going to review is the latest summer offering from the Southern Tier Brewing, Tangier Session IPA.

Tangier Session IPA caught my eye immediately because it was brewed with Tangerine peels. In my mind anytime you can find a way to boost the citrus in an India Pale Ale, the better. Tangier pours golden yellow with an off white head. There is a noticeable amount of sediment floating in it which is not pleasing to the eye but not noticeable in the mouthfeel. The aroma is this beer's best trait, it is literally bursting with citrus. At this point I had high hopes for Tangier but unfortunately they were squandered the moment I tasted it.

After my first sip of Tangier, I was immediately hit with the watered down flavor of citrus before a light pine hop finish. It sounds simple because it is. There really is not a lot going on here. I could tell you I detected a little malt sweetness but that would be reaching. To make matters even worse, the tangerine peels are completely non-existent in the flavor. I started to think the tangerine peels were what was floating in the beer, which did not make any sense because it certainly did not make Tangier look appetizing. Going back to the flavor, the light, almost watered down citrus might be good if not for the strong lingering dirty hop aftertaste that seemed to grow the deeper I got into the beer. By the time my glass was empty, my palette was wrecked and I was relieved I only purchased one bottle. As far as summer beer goes, this is one to stay away from.

Overall I would rate Southern Tier Tangier Session IPA a 1.5/5. While the aroma is delightful, Tangier tastes like a watered down version of a bad IPA with a horrible aftertaste. Summer is too short to drink a beer this bad.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!