Southern Tier Krampus

Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: European Strong Lager
Lakewood, New York USA

Appearance: clear, crystal reflection on amber body with mid frothy top. Good lacing noted. Aroma: Wonderful pine and spruce like hop aroma, side of mango fruit follow up by full malts. Splendid blend of fruity sweetness with bittering feel. Flavour/Palate: full bodied. Heavy pale malts. Brew set up is fairly straightforward. Quality excellent presentation of malts and hops with just enough of alcohol to keep this brew going. Brew that borrowed from best , central European soft heavy sweet malts with west coast refreshing hops. .

Bomber from Chevy Chase Wine and Liquor. I was extremely happy to see this since I tried to trade for it and failed to acquire it by those means. Pours a lucious amber orange with a nicely laced bubbly tan head. Nose is quite nice, some light spice big malts and a touch of fruit, Possibly a bit of pear as it is the season. Taste is full of big malts spiced and sweet. Just enough spice for me and a lot of nice prickly notes on the tongue. Great overall.

Poured a really nice copper color with a thin yellow-ish head. Aroma was juicy juicy hops, a lot of citrus and some pine with an undercurrent of malt and caramel. Flavor was almost as juicy as biting into fresh fruit. There was some nice grapefruit hints. Nothing overly bitter. This was a fantastic beer. Really really tasty.

Krampus is a perfectly clear amber lager with a foamy off-white head that leaves thick, foamy lacing and has good retention. It has a strong aroma that’s a touch sweet, juicy like orange juice, spicy like cinnamon and clove. There are notes of hay and spice cake. It is medium bodied, smooth and a bit bubbly. The finish is light and dry. Wow! The flavor is more complex than I expected. It is slightly sweet and quite bitter. It’s a nice, wooden spice with notes of orange peel, clove, nutmeg and oak. It shows nice balance. This is some serious drinking here. I really didn’t need the entire 22!

22 oz bomber. Pours a clear coppery amber with a medium white head. Strong piney aroma with hints of floral hops, citrus and honey. Taste of strong piney hops, honey, citrus and toasted malts. Excellent. Probably the best lager Ive ever had.

Tap. Sweet peach/cherry and barley malt. Clear copper color with nice head. Sweet peach malt with subdued lemon peel hops flavor. Excellent beer - nicely fruity without being too sweet and nicely blended.

In beerdom, you get two sides of every coin. For every "A Helles can never rate high because of its inherent recipe", you have those who say, "The sky is the limit, regardless of style". The pour here is hazy deep copper with 1-finger creamy off-white head. The nose is citrus, bready pale malt, spicy florals, and mild rock sugar and funk. Nice nose here. The taste is hefty pale malt, citric, with heavy hops, funk, grainy peppery notes, and a thick, rich, complex palate. I enjoyed this one greatly, and I’d love to be in the next discussion as to why this one got thrown into the ESL basket instead of helles or Impy Helles. Hell, let’s just go ahead and stipulate that this one would crush every Helles that came before it, but let’s also ive Southern Tier credit for continued innovation and excellence in the beer world. Thank you, sir, may I have another!

This stuff is christmas tree in a bottle! Pours a glowing clear red/amber with soda bubbles and a small white froth. Extremely fresh piney resiny hop aroma, almost like concentrated pine extract. Flavor is fresh crisp pine tree with a nice rich light caramel base, huge huge hops, can’t believe this is lagered and yet so fresh. Must try again!