Southern Tier Jah-va

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

Pours deep mahogany into a snifter. Mocha head with excellent retention slowly recedes to leave slight lacing. Coffee and chocolate aromas. Sticky sweet chocolate and espresso from front to back. The sugar tired me out more than the alcohol picked me up...

Pours an extremely dark chocolate brown to virtually black color. A dense, spongy, mocha colored head settles to a thin layer, with thick, syrupy legs depositing random flares and spots of lacing on the glass. The aroma is massively chocolaty, with rich, dark varieties dominating. With roasted coffee beans abounds and some heavy creamy notes, this one pretty much smells like the richest possible mocha milkshake. Flavors follow suit, leaning towards more chocolaty, with strong coffee and lactic notes. Earthy hoppiness lends substantial bitterness, but not enough to completely balance out the intensely sweet chocolate component. It’s not very complex, but it is very bold and well executed. The body is thick, slightly syrupy, and a little cloying on the finish. Still, the 12% ABV is masked impeccably, a signature trait of Southern Tier. If only this were a little less sweet, it would be a world-class brew. As it stands, it’s damn near close.

Taste from a bomber thanks to after4ever. Black with thin head. Big bitter coffee, teriyaki sweetness and a syrupy character. I love coffee brews. I love stouts. This is almost neither. The out of control sweetness in this was way too much. Could not imagine coming close to finishing even 1/2 a bottle of this.

Bomber: Aroma is roasted coffee, caramel, chocolate, somewhat sweet and nutty. Appearance is jet black with a thick tan head that lingers. Taste is got some subtle coffee notes of the top that intensify in the mouth feel and the finish. Some roasted malt notes are prevalent, light chocolate cake like flavor. Palate is somewhat sweet on the lips, mouth feel in nicely carbonated and bitter coffee tastes, aftertaste is lingering malt overtones with a slight coffee note. Overall, Pretty good the alcohol is almost nonexistent so this is a good one and a dangerous one as well. Cheers!

22. Another tour de excess from Southern Tier. Holy wow. Black. Burnt tan swirls for a head. Big prune and soy sauce nose. Thumpingly gooey body...more like a bechamel sauce than a beer. Coffee sour, roast, chocolate, and malt sweetness for days comprise the mid-palate. This is great stuff, but really hard to face fully. 22 ounces of this, like the Choklat, is about 10 servings of this beer.

*did not like could not buy* aroma: odd soapy floral smell. no coffee. i dont know what the heck this is supposed to be.. a joke? app: black brown. flavor: odd! bubble gum . strange. bordering on offensive. palate: fine OA: Odd. coffee?? where? stout? where? just a bad off beer. Why the hype? what gives??

Pours deep black with barely any head. It tastes like a typically good imperial stout...there is coffee, dark chocolate and roastiness but I don’t really discern the added coffee. I had this a couple years back and felt it had a lot more coffee, I think they’ve toned down the Jah-va this winter.

bomber bottle $7.99. Pours a dark dark brown with a thin tan head. Smells of intense coffee, dark chocolate, and hops. Palate is medium, perhaps a tad thinner than, say, Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate. Flavor is a smooth mixture of rich black coffee, chocolate malts, alcohol and roasts. Very well blended and superbly balanced. Finishes with roasted notes , coffee and some bitterness. Really hid the alcohol quite well. Very good beer, if anything it finishes a tad thin for an impy stout, though this improves as the beer warms. Similar in quality and flavor to DdC’s Peche Mortel (but less coffee punch). 4.1