 rampmaster (322), Alden, New York, USA
| 3.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 14/20 |
Mar 12, 2009 Presentation: It was poured from a brown 22oz bottle into a pilsener glass.
Appearance: The body had a good dark golden amber color with very good clarity. It also had some slow moving, small carbonation bubbles that make there way up the glass to the lovely creamy colored head. The head was of average size, had very good retention and made lots of cool lacing on the glass.
Smell: Its aroma had an assertive heavy and sweet character along with a strong hit of floral hops and just a touch of lemony citrus as well.
Taste/Mouth feel: The flavor like its aroma is big, bold and full bodied. Big floral and slightly citrusy hops mix with an equally big malty body that shows its 9% alcohol. The finish is slow with hop bitterness hanging on to the tongue. Its texture is slick, smooth, a bit thick, well rounded and slow sipping.
Notes: This was a delicious big bold slow sipper of a beer.
porterhouse (1158), Alna, Maine, USA
| 4.2 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 18/20 |
Mar 10, 2009 (22 oz. bottle from Kappy’s) My gosh this was wonderful...Pours caramel-golden with two fingers of lightly yellowish off-white head that recede to about 1/8" and stay. Wow big fresh hoppy aroma of pine with lots of caramel underneath. Mouthfeel medium-heavy and smooth. Perfect, persistent rings of lacing. Flavor is big fresh hops - pine and grapefruit overlaying a wonderful big, soft lightly sticky caramel base. Almost a perfect balance between big hops and big malt. This is what most big IPAs would only hope to achieve - much less abrasive. A wonderful beer from out of left field - I had never even heard of this (I saw "Helles" on the label and was just hoping for a nice Dortmunder). Great, big, fresh and hoppy with a great soft caramel sweetness. ABV well-hidden. Light bitter aftertaste. Almost perfectly done.
carruthm (1158), Seattle, Washington, USA
| 3.9 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 |
Mar 8, 2009 dark red with big head. loads of hops in the nose followed by some notes of rose. original and intriguing aroma. taste is smooth and more floral, tickles the throat a little.
gogaterz (20), Pennsylvania, USA
| 2.2 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 4/5 | 3/10 | 2/5 | 6/20 |
Mar 7, 2009 Had on tap. Like all the Southern Tier beers it has a quite hoppy aroma mixed with some spices. Also like most of the Southern Tier beers, it has a bitter hoppy flavor. Unlike most of the Southern Tier beers, however, this one misses the mark. The spiciness appears out of place with the hop mixture and it almost had a "soapy" taste to it. I couldn’t get over it and worse, couldn’t finish it.
Haslinger (649), Syracuse, New York, USA
| 4.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 9/10 | 4/5 | 16/20 |
Mar 5, 2009 22 ounce bottle. Pours a dark copper with an immense fluffy head. The aroma of hops is wonderful and slightly sweet. This beer taste as good as it smells. Kind of light but a distinct hop flavor in the aftertaste as well as the whole mouthfeel. Realy reminds me of a good IPA. I didn’t even know this was 9% the alcohol is that well hidden. Well done Souther Tier.
Would buy again
BillKismet (1946), Seattle, Washington, USA
| 4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 15/20 |
Mar 1, 2009 Luminous brassy color with a thick, dense head. Unexpected Cascade shot to the nose. Piny and spicy. How is this a European Strong Longer? Tastes like a delicious IPA. Nice bitterness. Well-balanced, spicy, piny, and floral hop flavors. Alcohol exceptionally well masked. Watery, bitter-hop finish. Completely dissimilar to any lager I have previously tasted.
Pwn3d (1086), Manhattan, New York, USA
| 4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 5/5 | 18/20 |
Mar 1, 2009 Great concept, cool story. Hats off to Southern Tier, yet again. When I think about it, this is probably the best lager I’ve cracked open. Nice pour, lace work. Lots of hops for a Helles, but something has to hide that alcohol. Incredibly drinkable for the percentage. Earthly with notes of pine and citrus. Actually interesting - not many lagers can say that.
bvc (310), Kenmore, Washington, USA
| 3.8 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 16/20 |
Feb 28, 2009 22oz bottle, ’08 release. Pours a clear but deep in copper color with nice white head that leaves a touch of lacing on the glass as it goes down. Nose is cloying with hints of bread and some hoppy resin goodness. No indication of the 9% in the nose. Nice palate with the right amount of carbonation and a bit of a ’sticky’ feel. Taste is very DIPA-ish and nice. The alcohol does become more noticeable on the way down as this one warms up. Really enjoyable beer that I had a bit of at a tasting a couple of months ago. I enjoyed it then, but my notes sucked so I grabbed this bottle to rate.
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