Southern Tier Big Red

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

Bottle thanks to St.fun. Pours with a hazy, amber orange body and a large, off-white head that leaves a good amount of lace. Aroma of orange, caramel, red fruits, raisins, and light grape. Taste is caramel, light fruit, and faded hallertau. A bit earthy overall. Light bubbles and a creamy mouthfeel.

8/09/2009: Southern Tier Big Red (Imperial Red Ale)... Aroma: Soft, citrusy notes, slightly earthy along with plenty of inviting toffee and caramel maltiness. Appearance: Pours a golden orange/copper color; a dense, but short lived ivory-colored head gathers on the top. Flavor: Citrusy toffee maltiness gives way to an earthy, spicy, and slightly pine-like hoppiness; iced tea with some citrus (tangerine) and pine resin complexities; moderate bitterness; fairly short finish; herbal tea aftertaste; alcohol is fairly well-hidden despite the other flavors not being that huge or intense. Palate: Medium to medium-full body, extremely smooth. Overall: This was pretty much the only beer from the Southern Tier Imperial Series that I had not yet had despite this one being one of the originals and I am disappointed with it. I have always put off buying this beer because of the price, perceived style, and the hope that it would show up someday at tasting (I guess everybody has long since had this beer already though!). While this beer is reasonably tasty, is still don’t think that it warrants the $6.99+tax price tag. It does a reasonably good job at showcasing Hallertau hops, but I might as well just get a super Hallertau fix from some Sam Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner at a much lower price! That having been said, I am with my pal illinismitty... This could really be a great beer. Southern Tier should re-evaluate their recipe and think about redoing it to be something really intense and huge like all of their other Imperial Series brews. Actually, they should get really aggressive with it and make it into an Imperial Pacific Northwestern-Style IPA!

1 pt. 6 fl. oz. sticker-labeled bottle (Alc. 9% by Vol. / 20° plato / 10° L / 2-row pale malt, caramel malt, chocolate malt / kettle hops: hallertau magnum & hallertau tradition / dry hops: hallertau perle & hallertau magnum) from Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield, Ohio. Rating #390 for this beer.

Flaske: Flot ravrød øl med et fint skumhoved. Dejlig duft af humle og maltsødme. Smagen er sød med en god del bitterhumle. Alkoholen er lidt for fremtrædende til at gøre øllen rigtig god, men bestemt drikbar og fin.

Bottle. Pours an amber body with an off white head. Sweet chewy hoppy floral body with a grassy pine notes. Lighter caramel and grapefruit with a moderate etoh warming. Good brew.

Bottled@Konttori, Tampere. Amber colour, basically no head. Aroma is lots of fruity hops, some oaked notes as well as some herbal notes. Flavour is fruity, mildly yeasty, some alcohol, some plum as well as burnt sugar.. Huge grassy and caramelly peak in the finish. Hides the 9 % very well, since alcohol only shows as a slight sweetness.

Strong beer. Pours a cloudy amber, thin white head that dissipates quickly. Sweet aroma. Lots of carmel flavor with grapefruit hops. Spicy, dry finish with a bit of the 9% warming in the finish. I dig it.

reddish brown with reasonable white head. moderate carbonation. nose of spicy hops and some alcohol. moderate hop bitterness then a lot of spicy and herbal hop flavors before some alcohol and crystal malt followed by a rather dry finish. some yeasty esters in there. nice lingering finihs. nice beer

Draft. Deep red-amber body, small beige head. Very hoppy and alcoholic; rather one-dimensional, but that’s the point. A nice, bold strong ale.