Southern Tier IS

Formerly brewed at Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Lakewood, New York USA

Draft at MacGregors in Henrietta - Pitch black color with a thick milkshake head that was DENSE. Strong chocolate aroma with a good bit of coffee. Mouthfeel was very creamy and silky smooth. Quite nice flavor. More mild than most Imperials. More chocolate and less bitterness. There is no way this is 13%. It was as tasty as a milkshake without a HINT of alcohol. What an outstanding job from the folks at southern tier. These guys continue to impress me.

We enjoyed talking beer with Matt Robbins as he served us this at the PA Microbrewers Fest. He said that this would be the first in a line of specialty stouts that they want to brew. Very fresh - probably too hoppy for those of you that like your Imp.Stouts more mellow. Huge aroma - hops and sweetened coffee. Flavors were almost overwhelming - thick sweet chocolate cream coffee, plums and raisins, big roasty bitterness. Palate was thick but also very vinous at times that and the dark fruits gave it a real wine quality. Finished long and hoppy, lingering roasts. Reminded me of a Blackout Stout, but thicker. Our favorite beer of the festival.

draught at brewtopia - in order to sample this beer I had to - 1. wait for the seemingly ignored southern tier folks to get ice in their coolers - and - 2. tolertate the somewhat inhospitable southern tier reps - but it was so worth it - this is amazing stuff - one of the darkest tan heads I’ve ever seen, with an aroma of roasted nuts and coffee - hoppy for an IS? - sure, but so is Storm King, and that beer rules - besides, the hops really help to accent the roasty, woody, nutty characteristics of the beer - very full bodied - chocolate lingers in the finish forever - too bad this is a one-off.

Southern tier has been growing some in my esteem over the last year. This was my first sampling of this beer. Draft - the beer poured completely black. Raising the glass to the light did not enable any light to shine through. There was a moderately sized dark brown creamy head that really lingered for a long time. The aroma was sharp and sour with strong hops and a hint of chocolate. This translated well into the flavor which was strongly hoppy and had a decent chocolate and coffee presence. The large malt elements balances the beer well on the front but the finish is completely dominated by the hops. The texture is thick and amazingly creamy. Like drinking liquid silk. I really wish they would make this one again. Marvelous!

[draft - MacGregor’s - Henrietta, NY] Dark black color with a thick brown head. Strong chocolate aroma with roasted malts underneath. Very smooth taste of chocolate and roasty malts with a nice blend of hops and a good coffee finish. So smooth and creamy. I was shocked to see that it was 10.5%.

This beer rocks!... on tap at Brewtopia 2004... Very, very dark brew with a creamy, well-tanned head. The nose is of cocoa, smoke, espresso and hay. The burnt flavor is of dark cocoa and is very well-hopped for balance. Full-bodied with an oily mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Lengthy, burnt, bitter finish. World class beer!

Tap at MacGregors, way back in November of 2004 (yeah, I have a bit of a backlog in posting my ratings). As black as can be with a smallish brown head that stays forever. Aroma of chocolate, dark fruits, and the Southern Tier trademark hopiness. Taste is roasted barley, cocoa, prunes and of course, a hops kick, as expected from ST and from an Imperial Stout. Big, thick, chewy mouthfeel, that will leave you licking your lips. Outstanding beer. Southern Tier, if you are listening, please bottle this stuff!

Brewtopia 2004: Blackish brown with a tan head. Roasted coffee and chocolate aroma, powerful bitter sweet ending. I’d like to try this one again.