Southern Tier Cuvée Series 1

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

Copper color with a very thin head. Coconut, almond and sugar aroma. Toasty oak flavor. Strong vanilla, nut, and oak flavor. More of a fresh oak quality. A bit of a vinous finish. Slightly burnt caramel. Solid.

A sweet aroma starts this beer off, there are hints of sugar, vanilla, and a touch of apricot. Pours a bright amber, with little carbonation. Very sweet flavor, hints of honey, vanilla, and it seems undercarbonated. If you are a fan of sweet sugary beers, this would probably be more up your alley. For the price paid, not worth it.

22oz. bottle served in a snifter. Poured a light copper with a sparse head. Aroma of burnt sugar, vanilla, and some alcohol. Medium bodied with a bit of a spicy bite. Lots of malty, some sweetness. Subtle oak flavor in the finish. More vanilla. A fair amount of hop bitterness. Alcohol in the aroma does not really come through in the flavor. Southern Tier tries a lot of things, and I really respect that. This seems a little more subtle than a lot of their big beers.

Bottle... Mostly clear golden/orange ale with a small, fizzy, off-white head. The nose is quite restrained. Once warm, oak, sourmash and butterscotch notes come to the forefront. A whisper of pineapple is also provided. Full-bodied and oily with expired carbonation. Basically consists of sticky-sweet date and praline essences. Flavor is also a bit reminiscent of a Ludens Honey Cough Drop. The finish is mouth wateringly sweet and lightly bitter with just a rumor of acidity. Thanks go out to scraff for shipping the bottle to me.

Pours a coppery orange with a tiny white head that dissapates almost instantly. Notes of vanilla, ripe fruit, honey, and oak. Flavor is lots of sugary caramel and vanilla. Very sweet with a medium thick mouthfeel. Not one of the better ones from ST and definitely not worth what I paid for it.

22 oz bottle. Light brown in color with a small off white head. Aroma of coconut, vanilla, caramel/pale malts. Taste was sweet- too sweet actually, thick, with coconut, vanilla, some wood. Body was syrupy, some light hop bitterness in the finish but mostly sweet malts. This one was cloying and I found it very hard to drink, dissapointing especially considering the price tag.

Pretty amber from bomber. Aroma of Barley Wine. Pine nuts and Congac a slight vanilla, there is just a bit os grass in there. Suprisingly light in the mouth with subdues malt surrounded by creamy cognac ansd bitters. ST was obviously going for balance here. This beer will compete favorably with the great beers of Belgium - a perfect storm of hops malt and brewing genius. In these early years it is not too much to describe this as a fine wine of beer. Perhap, if you think that what ever came before is the hallmark, this is American Cuvee. Wine in California, Beer in New York.. The finish is wine, mushrooms and leek. Goes on and on.

Sample at the Hopsnobbery Collective tasting on 12/10/08: Thanks to JaBier for sharing a bottle. Pours a clear yellow-orange color with a thin off-white head that recedes quickly. Very little lacing is evident. The nose consists of oak and citrusy hops. Medium body with flavors of oak, vanilla and caramel malt, plus a bit of hops. The finish is syrupy with an oaky vanilla aftertaste. Overall the beer is decent, but pretty overdressed for the actual contents.