Creme Brulee

Beer Name: Crème Brûlée Stout
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 9.6%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle in a tumbler
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: DOB was 5/10/12

I hope all the effort I put into throwing fancy accent marks on the name of this beer doesn't result in some kind of crazy internet formatting error where they are replaced with HTML code. That would be a terrible injustice. Plus it would mean that all of that effort was wasted, and having my effort wasted makes me very unhappy.

I've been looking for this beer for quite a while, since roughly December 2010. As it turns out, that was not a particularly good time to begin my search, as this beer is released in June. Unfortunately, June 2011 came and went with no bottles to be had, as they all sold out rather quickly. Today was a different story, and while picking up some other grownup juice, I spotted some Crème Brûlée bottles hanging out in the cooler, one of which quickly became mine.

Crème Brûlée is a very dark beer, practically solid black for most of the glass with some brownish-ruby highlights around the edges. It poured with a bit of head, although that faded away in a couple of minutes. It left a light lacing pattern behind, although it seemed like it was going to be heavier. This may be a reflection of my glassware, and as such I must be more careful to rinse these things out after they've finished their dishwasher experience. I am not exactly sure what the dessert crème brûlée smells like (since Kate usually orders it and I occasionally steal a bite from across the table), but this beer definitely smells like a dessert. There's a whole bunch of vanilla, caramel, and other sweet aromas, with something like a cream or custard as well. This should be an interesting drinking experience.

This beer is quite sweet. That's probably something to be expected going in based on the name alone, and it certainly does not disappoint in that regard. There's a creamy, custard flavor here at first, with the caramel maltiness also making an appearance. It also has just a hint of bitterness at the end of each sip to let you know that this is a beer and not some fancy French dessert. The alcohol is barely noticeable. There's a moderate amount of carbonation here, and the aftertaste is mildly sweet.

Final thought - After waiting such a long time to get my hands on a bottle of this beer, I was slightly worried that I might have built it up too much in my mind. Luckily that was not the case. This beer was delicious, and will be making an annual appearance on my list of beers to purchase. I've already added it to my newly produced Beer Availability spreadsheet, and will be eagerly anticipating its arrival next spring. Hell, if the dessert is as good as this beer, maybe I'll start ordering it instead of cheesecake. Although I do love cheesecake... Maybe someone should make a cheesecake beer! Souther Tier, get on that.

-Jon