Southern Tier Mokah

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

Loved it. Beautiful black with a velvety tan head. Dark chocolate in the aroma and flavor. Nice and warming on the throat. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a hopped up dessert.

Opaque black with a small beige head. Smells of cocoa powder and Red Bull. Quite sweet with very strong aromas of cocoa. Warming hints of alcohol. Tiny peppery hints with notes of licorice. Full bodied slightly sticky mouthfeel. Medium carbonation. Too sweet and unbalanced towards the cocoa.

THOUGHTS: Just when I think I’ve tried all the Southern Tier Imperial Stouts, they come out with another one. It may be a combination of Jah-va and Choklat, but it leans way more toward the Choklat. I thought this would be incredible, but it was not quite as good as the other two. Way too sweet. There was plenty of bitterness to balance things out, but it was still very cloying. It did hide the alcohol well, though, and then it all hits you when you don’t even expect it. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark brown that looked nearly opaque black in the glass. but then when held to the light ti is amber with a hint of dark around the edges. It had an average, tan, head that mostly diminished and left fair lacing. The aroma was heavy cocoa and oat, almost harsh chocolate syrup, and slight coffee when it warmed up way above the recommended serving temp. The initial flavor was very sweet, bitter and a little acidic; while the finish was extremely sweet, lightly bitter and acidic with a fairly long duration. There was chocolate syrup, dark fruit, cocoa, oat, ever so slight coffee, alcohol, more coffee when warmer. Nice, but way too cloying. The medium to full that was leaning to full body was fairly slick, but also a little sticky on the lips with quite fizzy carbonation and a ever so light alcoholic, slightly chalky, an light to moderately astringent finish.

650ml bottle. Pours dark brownish-black with a soft tan head that disapates quickly. Smells of vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and malt. Tastes of creammy milk chocolate, dark chocolate, roasted coffee, and followed by bitter both by cocoa and hops. Creamy body and a long sticky bittersweet aftertaste.

Bottle from Nqualls. Pours a deep viscous brown, almost black with a dissipating brown head. Aroma of chocolate and roast. This is full bodied with a creamy texture and a slight syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor is full of rich dark chocolate and vanilla bean, but with enough espresso flavor to keep it in balance. Hop bitterness is moderate but in check. I like the attenuation- sweet but not overly sweet. Finish is warming but with no fusels, and with a mild roast coffee clinging to the back of the mouth. Excellent beer. My friend Tracy, my father-in-law, and my wife enjoyed this as well. I like this as much as Choklat.

I had this following the Southern Tier Iniquity, and as tremendous as this is, it isn’t quite the achievement of brewing that Iniquity demonstrates. Still, it’s very very good beer from a hedonistic perspective. The vanilla notes are strong in this rendition of the coffee-chocolate Impy, with rich, thick layers of goodness. Excellent dessert beer, without question. I’d like to try it over ice cream, which might be heavenly (or a complete bust as some beers surprisingly are in combination with ice cream).

Bottle. Another tremendous Blackwater from Southern Tier. Pours deep black, with gorgeous fluffy biege head. After settling down, the aroma releases intensely. The coffee and chocolate aromas blend together and swirl in the air like magic-- it leaps from your glass into your nose. No wafting necessary. Flavor is uncommonly good for such a heavy stout. Creamy, rich, hearty. A great hybrid by these mad-stout geniuses.

This is one good brew!! It’s appearance is pure black with hardly any head at all. The aroma is full of chocolate with some undertones of malts and coffee. Taste is full of chocolate. There are some malts in the background. Leaves a sweeter aftertaste. Man I wan not at all expecting this! What a pleasant surprise. A+