Southern Tier Big Red

Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Lakewood, New York USA

Pours a cloudy ruby red/ coppery orange with golden burnt orange hues when held to a light source and a 2.5 finger frothy yellowish beige head that slowly fades into a lasting ring. Strong citrus hop aroma with some earthy floral notes and a very prominent caramel malt presence. Subtle pine. Very hop forward with a nice blast of floral and citrus hops that is quickly balanced out nicely by a caramel chocolate malt backbone. The hops are very prominent up front with a nice dry pine flavor along with hints of lemon peel and grapefruit. This is followed by a sweet caramel maltiness with hints of chocolate and some alcohol heat. The dry, bitter hops linger over top of the malt backbone and last into a dry bitter finish with slight alcohol heat.

Large bottle. Not what I was expecting. More of an average double IPA than a red, especially if going by color. Pours a light orange. A bit heavy on the alcohol but still drinkable. Not bad, but nothing special.

22 oz bomber pours dark orange, little cream colored head. Aroma is pine and caramel. Taste is very sweet toffee, vanilla and caramel up front with a solid bitter backbone. Almost west-coast barleywine-ish. Alcohol is definitely present, but still a very solid dangerously drinkable beer.

Just another DIPA, I’m afriad. I mean that in two ways: 1) an imperial red is actually nothin’, just a DIPA and b) it’s not like it was a blowaway DIPA either. Very malty, but, still tasted like a DIPA to me. Good brew but there are better substitutes out there.

Dense, hazy, golden/orange body with faint carbonation beneath a large yellowhite head which settles slow and frothy. After an initial whiff of pepper (which actually made me sneeze), I got a big nose of pine and citrus, from sweet tangerine to tart lemon. While hops dominate, there are enough malts here to uncover some light, pale DME and a sweet caramel backing. Sharp and thick in the mouth. Flavor seesaws between bitter and sweet... I’ll say there is balance here but only if you can picture some BFFs on either end of that seesaw (and I don’t mean "best friends forever"). Big caramel candy sweetness, mild tea notes, sharp pine, tart, rindy grapefruit, and undeniable ABV. Pretty huge. I notice Southern Tier likes to put "Imperial" on a lot of their labels. This time it’s well-placed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 22 oz. bomber from Kenwood Liquors, Oak Lawn, IL

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a small sized head of foamy finely sized bubbles that were quickly diminishing and left behind a transparent softly carbonated dark orange colored body. The mild aroma was hoppy and Irish Red malty. The crisp mouth feel was tingly at the start and at the finish with a biting hoppy aftertaste. The biting flavor contained notes of honey and red malt. Delicious and one I would certainly buy again.

Looks nice in the glass, good copper/red, small grey/off-white head. Aroma is great, not incredibly complex but most pleasant. Soft caramel notes, a lovely citrus quality backed up with some interesting spiciness, good rounded malt aroma, all balances rather well. Flavour is grand, once again well balanced, big malts with sweet toffee notes to the fore backed up very nicely by some bittering hops, ending biscuity and and citrusy with lovely herbal/spice overtones. Palate is good, pretty soft with a nice bite to it, keeps it refreshing and not overly rich. All i all a very good beer, it’s only downfall is perhaps a little lacking in the complexity department. It tastes great and good quality ingredients have obviously been used it’s just a little straight forward. Seems harsh but fair.

22oz bottle 9/11/09 RIP Flts. 11 & 77 (Binny’s Naperville)-Pours a hazy orangish amber iwth a small white head. Aroma of citrus, caramel, hops, bubblegum, and some spices. Taste of hops, malt, and alcohol. This full bodied brew is not bad but it doesn’t hide the ABV very well. Almost like a barley wine.