Southern Tier Oat

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

Bottle. 2007 batch. Black-colored, almost completely opaque, with a small brown head that disappears right away. Aroma of roasted malt, some chocolate and espresso and a bit of alcohol. A slightly sweetish flavor at first, with a lot of roasted character, oatmeal, some licorice and coffee which soon turns very dry, quite bitter, with notes of hops and some alcohol in the finish. Medium to full body, quite creamy. Good.

Draft: Pitch black body that light dares not shine through. Nice brown head leaves some drippy lacing behind. Very bready malty aroma w/ some sweet dark fruitiness hanging around. Heavy malts dominate the flavor, but the alcohol is a little too prominent for my liking. Not too fond of the finish either, waaaay too bitter/burnt. Palate is very robust, just too much alcohol standing out.

Pours deep chocolate brown with a tan foamy head that dissipates quickly. Nose is chocolate and coffee, and just a hint of hops. Flavor is rich with a creamy mouthfeel and influences of espresso, chocolate, leather and an oak like accent. Touch of an alcohol burn throughout. Great brew.

Bottle. Pours a very deep black with a ruby tint and a good sized dark tan head. Aroma is ridiculously rich, with notes of charred malt, dark roasted coffee, molasses, and tobacco. Big mouthfeel. Flavour - damn, there’s a lot going on here - molasses, licorice, espresso, very dark chocolate, some hints of dark fruit and smoke, and a warm, bitter, and slightly boozy finish. Would score it a bit higher if the alcohol wasn’t so obvious in the end notes, but still, this is a pretty damn fine beer.

The printing on my glass is black and this beer makes it look grey. No head. Thin tan bubble line. Smells awesome. Still too cold and yet it smells of sweet mollasses, dark dried fruit, malty. The taste is of sweet espresso, chocolate, with a nice alcohol bitterness at the end. LIke baking chocolate, extra cacao. It is a thick aftertaste but awesome. It coats your mouth with flavor.

bottle. opaque with frothy milk shake tan head. aroma of dark fruit, coffee, oats and hops. creamy mouth. coffee grind and oats. sweet. mild dark chocolate and dark fruit. enjoyable.

2007 Version -ST Imperial Oat pours pitch black and viscous with a very strong short head. The aroma of the beer has a hint of dark chocolate mixed with alcohol and roasted malt. It is very heavy in the mouth and has very fine carbonation. In fact, moving the beer around in the glass reveals how thick it really is as it clings to the side of the glass. The complex taste starts off sweeter but moves into a bitter chocolate malty taste ending with a warm alcohol feeling as it travels down the throat. In my opinion its one of the best beers I have had in a long time, as is the reason I have a stock put away to age. 3/10/08 2008 version - This years version seems a bit lighter in the mouth than last year. Still looks and smells the same but the flavor is a bit different. It has a much more prevalent coffee bitterness too it as well as a slight smoke taste as well. Still an awesome beer but prefer the 2007 version a little better. 10/10/08

Sept. 2007 - Beer pours jet black with very small head and little lacing. Strong roasty aroma. Flavor was sweet...really, really, really rich and sweet raisin, sweet rum, chocolate, oat and roast. Better as it warmed, but almost difficult to drink at times because of the sweetness. Good to try and share with one or two others.