Southern Tier Choklat

Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Lakewood, New York USA

Bomber. This is the best smelling beer EVER made. Nice thick robust chocolate taste. Extremely sweet smell. Can’t believe how much I like this. I hope I can get more of this.

22oz bottle served in a Duvel tulip. Pours black topped by a half inch tan head that quickly recedes to a small collection of bubbles at one side of the glass. The nose is of both real chocolate and chocolate malt, some vanilla, and an unexpected woodiness. Wow, that is some bittersweet stuff! Tons of chocolate flavor, slightly perfumey. Finishes very bitter and slightly acidic. This is one hell of a strange beer, and normally that is right up my alley, but this one might be a bit too odd for me. Couldn’t finish a whole glass, let alone a whole bottle.

22oz. bottle from Gabe (GMCC). Thanks for this one man! Pours an impressive black, absolutely no light shines through. Aroma of dark chocolate, cocoa, and a hint of alcohol. Flavor is very dark, bitter chocolate..alot of woodiness...that alcohol doesnt come through at all. Super smooth and a little warming. If you like porters and stouts...you will love this beer...For those of you that say this is a "chocolatey mess"...I dont know what your talking about...this is a very well balanced, fantastic stout. I want a keg of this!

22oz bottle. Pours black with a very thin mocha head that dissipates very quickly. The milk chocolate aroma is outstanding and sets the tone for some absolutely amazing chocolate flavors. The initial sip is dominated by milk chocolate with some caramel sweetness. As it goes down, the roasted malts and hops start to come through on the palate. Although it is sweeter than I normally prefer, this is a delightful treat to enjoy during a cold winter night after dinner. Recommended for chocolate lovers only. One of my favorite dessert beers.

THOUGHTS: Really nice on a cold night like the one I had it on. It went down easy for a beer this strong. Hid alcohol well. Nice drink, but I don’t know about it seeming like beer. A little one-sided with the whole chocolate thing. Probably my least favorite Black Water beer. But that’s not to say it was bad. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark brown that was an opaque black in the glass with a small, tan head that mostly diminished. The aroma was mostly chocolate milk and syrup and regular chocolate with light pine hops. The flavor started sweet and finished sweet and slightly bitter with an average duration. There was chocolate, chocolate milk, some more chocolate and slight hops. The flavor was a little watered down for something this strong and heavy. The full body was creamy, but slightly oily with tingly carbonation and a ever so slightly metallic and lightly alcoholic finish.

Draught. Black, very little head. Overwhelming aroma of milk chocolate. If my eyes were closed, I would think this was chocolate milk. Very malty and chocolatey, espresso, and milky smoothness. This is a very smooth beer, but not overly sweet. I could probably drink these all night. Too bad I can’t find it in a bottle.

Bottle. Pours black with a quickly disappearing thin tan head. Unbelievable chocolate aroma- hard to tell this is beer, frankly. Strong malts and chocolate, vanilla, a bit of subtle coffee fading to a woody alcohol aftertaste. Nice thick mouthfeel, but dominated I think just a TINY bit too much by the alcohol on the finish. Great dessert beer.

22 oz bottle purchased from Chuck’s Liquor in Bowling Green. Poured an obsidian black color with a two finger brown head. The aroma was...you guessed it...chocolate. Other faint notes of coffee and roasted malt exist, but are overwhelmed by the chocolate. The flavor was both milk and bitter chocolate, with a warming alcohol finish. The palate was perfect, with soft carbonation, a full body and a silky smooth mouthfeel. This was my perfect dessert beer. I hope to be able to purchase 4-5 more of these for special occasions.