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

Mokah

Beer Name: Mokah
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 11.2%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle in a tumbler
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: DOB was 4/12/12

Southern Tier likes to spell the names of their Blackwater beers in silly ways. They also like to ramp up the ABVs to extreme levels. Mokah is no exception to either of these rules.

Mokah is a very dark beer, pretty much solid black except for some dark red highlights around the edge of the glass when held up to a light. It had just a little bit of head, which surprised me. Maybe it has something to do with the extreme humidity or the way I poured it. Either way, there was only a minimal amount of head, although it lasted for a while. There is a very pleasant aroma of both chocolate and coffee, and no strong alcohol aromas despite the 11.2% this beer is packing.

It's over 80 degrees right now, so this beer warmed up in a hurry. Luckily, that was not an issue as the flavor remained pleasant throughout the entire glass. Most of each sip is a nice mix of lightly roasted chocolate and coffee flavors, with just a hint of bitterness at the finish. There is only a light carbonation to the beer, and there are no overpowering flavors, making it very easy to drink. The beer has a big mouthfeel, almost creamy, with some coffee flavors in the aftertaste that linger for a bit.

Final thought - This beer is quite delicious. It's also the strongest of the Blackwater beers, so keep that in mind if you're enjoying it. The chocolate and coffee combination works nicely, so it's actually like a dessert. Great stuff.

-Jon

2X Stout

Beer Name: 2X Stout
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 7.5%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: DOB was 1/26/12

In my continually unsuccessful quest to find an elusive beer known as KBS, I often find myself grabbing something else in an attempt to fill the void. Sometimes I just grab whatever has an interesting label on it, but this time I actually spent some time to find something that would hopefully be a winning choice. Since Southern Tier rarely, if ever, lets me down, I figure their version of a stout should be tasty. As a bonus, it turns out that this oddly named beer is a milk stout! Score!!

2X Stout is a solid black beer. With a violent pour, I could get the beer to produce a very light head, but it faded away almost immediately with very little lacing. It's slightly thinner than I was expecting for such a strong beer, but that isn't necessarily a negative. There is a pleasant aroma of malty roasted chocolate. It's combined with some bittersweet chocolate notes in the background.

The flavor of this beer is very roasted. The chocolate from the aroma is here, and there's also a little bit of coffee in there as well, although it's very faint. The beer has a light carbonation that works well with the other flavors. It's sweet at the beginning, with some bitterness at the finish. There is a mostly sweet aftertaste, but it has a stickiness that starts to get overbearing on the second bottle.

Final thought - This is a nice sipping beer, but watch out for that ABV. It doesn't taste like a 7.5% beer, so a few of them will catch up to you quickly.

-Jon

Diesel

Beer Name: Diesel
Brewery: Sixpoint
ABV: 6.3%
Serving method: 16-oz can in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by June 23, 2012

Storing beer in a can makes it last longer since there is no way it can be exposed to light. I don't think these cans are going to make it to June though. By the way, this beer is a stout, which isn't readily apparent from the name.

Diesel is a very dark beer, practically black. It's sort of a transparent black, which isn't a great description, but I'm not sure how else to put it. Some stouts look very solid and thick, but this one looks... thinner, maybe. There isn't a lot of head, but it lasts for a while and sticks around for a heavy lacing. The aroma is not typical for a stout. It doesn't really have much coffee or chocolate at all, but there's definitely some maltiness and, surprisingly, hops. This might be an interesting beer.

This is a very different kind of stout from the majority of stouts out there. There's a much larger hop presence than others tend to have. It's also a little bit harsh at the beginning. There are light roasted flavors in there, but they aren't as big and bold as other stouts. The piney hop flavors seem to be running the show. The beer is pretty highly carbonated, but the drinkability does not suffer.

Final thought - Diesel is an intriguing beer. All of Sixpoint's beers (that I've tried) have a similar hop presence, which is kind of odd in a stout. However, it still works on a different level if you don't try to enjoy it as a stout. I also find it more enjoyable when it's not super-cold out of the fridge. I think the flavors mellow out a little after it warms up a bit.

-Jon

Hoptical Illusion

Beer Name: Hoptical Illusion
Brewery: Blue Point Brewing Company
ABV: 6.8%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a Weizen glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

If you're wondering, the answer is yes: I ordered this beer strictly because of the name.

Hoptical Illusion is a coppery orange beer that started off with a nice head that mostly faded away in the first few minutes. A thin layer remained, and it left a moderate lacing pattern on the glass. There is a strong hoppy aroma, mostly citrusy. There is also some maltiness, but it's only faint.

Lots of hoppiness and bitterness in this beer. The hops have a nice citrus quality to them, but there isn't enough malt in the background to give it a nice balance. It's also incredibly dry. And what I'm saying here is that after each sip, I feel like I need to drink something else to get my saliva flowing again. This beer is pretty highly carbonated, which, when combined with the bitterness and dryness, makes it a little bit rough in the drinkability department.

Final thought - This is alright, but wouldn't be one of my top choices for IPAs if there were others available. It's a bit too dry for me.

-Jon

Porter

Beer Name: Porter
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 5.8%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: DOB was 6/24/11

This weather is completely inappropriate for a porter, but it's the last of my sixpack mixpack and it's getting consumed regardless.

Southern Tier's Porter (seriously, this place makes some delicious beer, but their names need some creativity) is a very dark beer that blocks all light from passing through and is nearly black except for some ruby highlights around the edges. It pours with a minimal amount of head, and again, only because I poured it in such a way to force head production. It didn't last very long, and it barely left any lacing. The aroma is roasted malt, roasted chocolate, and maybe a little bit of fruit, but only faintly.

All those roasted notes from the aroma come through in the flavor. It's mostly roasted malt, with a little hint of the chocolate in the background. There's not much carbonation, but I'm not sure you really want a heavily carbonated porter. I am not sure I would enjoy that. There's even a little bit of a hoppy kick to the finish, with just a bit of bitterness.

Final thought - This is a very easy drinking porter. Nothing outstanding about it, but nothing bad either. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the style. I don't think it will convert any porter-haters though.

-Jon

India Pale Ale

Beer Name: India Pale Ale
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 7.3%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: DOB was 8/12/11

August is a much more reasonable time for a beer to be born if I'm drinking it in September. Hopefully that means things will go better with this beer.

Southern Tier's IPA is an orangey copper beer that poured with a thin head which quickly evaporated, leaving a thin layer around the edges. It also left a medium lacing pattern. The beer has a hoppy aroma, with a mix of floral hops and pine hops. There's also a little bit of citrus hops in the background. It seems like there is even some maltiness in there as well, but it's very faint.

This is a good flavored IPA, with enough of a hoppy kick to let you know it's an IPA without being too bitter. It is balanced with a bit of malt as well, so the flavor is both bitter and sweet. The beer is lightly carbonated, and it finishes with a bitter hop flavor. There's a little bit of an aftertaste, and it has some bitter and sweet components. After a little while, the beer's flavor sort of weakens, so drink this one sort of quickly.

Final thought - This is a pretty good beer, with only one minor drawback. I would say that it has a perfect amount of hops, with enough malt to keep things balanced. The only flaw in my opinion is that after a few minutes, the beer's flavor sort of fades away and it feels kind of watery. I bet if I drank it a little bit faster, then that wouldn't have been an issue. But that is dumb, because I like to enjoy my beers. If I wanted to chug down 10 beers an hour, I'd just drink Random Macro-brew Light.

-Jon

Pale

Beer Name: Pale
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 6.1%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: DOB was 5/4/11

This beer is outside my arbitrary 90 day window, and also my 120 day window, which are not based on anything other than seeming like a good amount of time in which to consume a beer after it's brewed. However, I am not sure that this window is significant for anything other than mass-produced macro swill beers, so what the hell, I'll give it a try.

Pale is a pale golden colored beer that poured with about a quarter inch of head (because I intentionally poured it to force some head to form) that quickly faded away, leaving a thin layer on top and a light lacing pattern. At first there is a hoppy aroma, but this disappears after a few minutes, leaving the beer without much of an aroma. That's kind of weird, so maybe we can blame it on the beer's age.

The first sip I took had a nice light flavor with a citrusy hop kick that was balanced by some maltiness. There was a light-medium level of carbonation, and a mostly crisp bitter finish with a mild aftertaste. The next couple sips were like this as well. Then, after a little while, that seems to vanish much like the aroma did. Now, I've had beers that change in flavor as they warm up, but to have the flavor disappear? That's a new one.

Final thought - While not a bad beer by any means, this beer doesn't really live up to the pedigree established by the other Southern Tier beers I've had. I'm willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt and try it again with a fresh one, but only because the first few sips seems like they were the beginning of a delicious beer. Let's call this one "Rating Pending," even though I don't even use a rating system here.

-Jon

Harvest Ale

Beer Name: Harvest Ale
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 6.7%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: It's "DOB" was 0?/29/11... it was partly scratched off.

Apparently Southern Tier actually does put dates on their bottles, but they come off very easily. As in just rubbing my finger against the date makes it rub off. What kind of adhesive are they using, wishes?

Harvest Ale is a copper-colored beer that pours with a light head (just under half an inch I'd say) that quickly fades, leaving a light lacing pattern behind. The aroma is fantastic, with citrus hops, mainly grapefruit, and caramel maltiness. If the flavor is half as good as this aroma is predicting, then this beer will be... well, pretty average. Maybe I should be shooting for at least 3/4 as good.

Well, I'm not sure I can be exact with the percentages, but this is a pretty tasty beer that doesn't quite live up to the aroma's hype. Although it's classified as an ESB, it drinks like a mild IPA. It has a light hoppiness to it, but it's balanced nicely by the malt. The finish is slightly bitter, with an aftertaste that lingers a bit, but not too long. There's a little carbonation, probably just above what I'd consider "light" carbonation. The overall bitterness increases as it warms up, so take that into consideration depending on your enjoyment of hops.

Final thought - I enjoyed this beer, but I think it would have been better paired with food. It seems like the perfect beer to drink with a meal, as it has a good flavor that wouldn't overpower any foods, but also wouldn't be covered up. I'm not really an expert on food pairings though, so I don't know what it would work with. Probably something with BBQ sauce.

-Jon

Phin & Matt's

Beer Name: Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 5.7%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

What a modestly named beer! I am expecting big things.

Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale is an American pale ale, so it's a little hoppier than a normal pale ale without being an IPA. At least that's the way I'm understanding this. I'm fighting a fairly annoying sinus issue right now, so the only part of the aroma I'm getting here are the sweet and hop portions. There's definitely some other stuff going on though, but I can't identify it. The beer poured with only a light head that quickly faded, but the beer still left a light lacing pattern behind. For color, it has a somewhat dark golden appearance.

This beer has a nice flavor of hops without being bitter. Well, it has a little bitterness at the finish, but it's not the sharp bitterness and bitter aftertaste that most hoppy beers have. There's a light carbonation, which, when combined with the clean finish, makes this beer very easy drinking. I could see this being a good beer for a drinking session. A smooth beer with a nice flavor is always a good choice.

Final thought - This is a tasty beverage. I would suggest that if you don't think you like hops, give this beer a try. There is a nice citrus hop flavor, but it doesn't have the normal hop bitterness that seems to turn off some people. This could definitely be a new beer in my regular rotation, which will have to wait until 2012. I've still got a little ways to go to fulfill my promise of 100 different beers this year, so I can't be locking myself into anything specific yet.

-Jon

Raspberry Wheat

Beer Name: Raspberry Wheat
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 4.9%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

I recently learned that my local package store allows you to pick and choose beers to make your own variety packs. Sadly, this might be the most exciting event of September, unless our brown ale comes out deliciously. I took advantage of this feature to make myself a Southern Tier mixpack.

Raspberry Wheat is barely a beer. I am suspicious of any beers that make the distinction of putting "Malt Beverage" on their bottle instead of ale, lager, beer, etc. This particular beverage is a pale golden straw color that poured without any head of lacing. It does have a lovely raspberry aroma though, along with some wheatiness. Makes sense, given the beer's name.

This is a very light drinking beer, with only a light carbonation and no real hop bitterness. Everything is very smooth. The raspberry flavor is noticeable without being overpowering. The flavor also has something in it that gives you the impression of a raspberry dessert, like a turnover or a cobbler. It's nice. Each sip ends cleanly without leaving an aftertaste.

Final thought - This is a pretty good fruity beer, but I am not sure I'd be able to drink a whole bunch of them in one sitting. I continue to be impressed by what the brewers at Southern Tier are putting out.

-Jon

Heinnieweisse

Beer Name: Heinnieweisse Weissebier
Brewery: Butternuts Beer and Ale
ABV: 4.9%
Serving method: 12-oz can
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by Dec 2011

After a day of errands and an afternoon of bottling our homebrew, it was absolutely time for a beer. There's a couple random beers left in there, so I figured that I had better clear them out to make room for Kate's Brown Ale, whose real name is still under construction.

Heinnieweisse is the last of the Butternuts variety pack we had picked up a little while back, so I decided to polish that off. I wasn't in the mood for pouring beers into glasses at this point in time, so it stayed in the can. It's a hefeweizen though, so it's almost certainly a hazy golden color that stays a little bit cloudy. It certainly smells like a hefe, with bananas and cloves hitting you in the nose with each sip.

Pretty standard hefeweizen flavor here, with bananas, cloves, and a little bit of some other fruitiness all sharing the spotlight. It's easy drinking as well, since I just noticed that I polished off most of the can already while writing this. Good thing the ABV isn't too high, or you could potentially run into problems. Mostly clean finish, with a slight aftertaste of sweetness that lingers on the tongue.

Final thought - I'm probably not the best person to ask about hefeweizens, since it's not one of my favorite styles. I've had some decent ones though, so this one just comes up a little short. It's not bad though. Just not as good as others that I've had.

-Jon

Pumking

Beer Name: Pumking
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 8.6%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle, served in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on:

Obviously this beer is not here to mess around. The pumpkin on the label is even wearing a crown. It actually looks pretty awesome. If I were an evil pumpkin, that's the kind of crown I'd be rocking.

Pumking is a orange-amber colored beer that, like many pumpkin ales, pours without much head and without leaving much lacing. There's a nice pumpkin aroma here, and the usual spice notes. There's also something else in there, like a sweet scent. It might be caramel. If the flavor is anything like the aroma, this is going to be a tasty beverage.

At 8.6%, this pumpkin ale is quite a bit higher than most of the others. The alcohol is faintly noticeable, but it's not a huge issue. The pumpkin flavor here is very good, and the spices add a nice flavor without overpowering my tastebuds. There's only a marginal carbonation here, and the beer finishes clean without leaving much of an aftertaste.

Final thought - This is another great beer from the fine folks at Southern Tier. Whatever they're doing over there, they should keep it up. Be aware that the high ABV means that this is a pumpkin ale to be enjoyed occasionally as opposed to most other pumpkins which make great session beers. I am definitely keeping this on the list of pumpkin beers to drink next year. This has been a good year for new pumpkin ales. Unlike last year...

-Jon

Snapperhead IPA

Beer Name: Snapperhead IPA
Brewery: Butternuts Beer and Ale
ABV: 6.3%
Serving method: 12-oz can
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by Dec 2011

This can isn't quite as awesome as the others, as it only has a fish rocking out to a Walkman. I prefer high-fiving pigs, personally.

Snapperhead IPA is not a typical IPA, as Butternuts doesn't really brew with a whole lot of hops. This means that even if you hate hoppy beers, you might enjoy this one. The aroma here is sweet and malty, and not hoppy at all. Since the can is pretty impossible to see through, I don't know much about the beer's color or whether or not it poured with any head. It tastes like a darker ale though, so maybe a light brown or deep reddish color would be appropriate.

This is a very malty IPA, with nary a hop to be tasted. It is very smooth and thick, and pretty much all malt in the flavor department. There's only a light carbonation, and it has a slightly bitter aftertaste. Overall, the whole thing feels very heavy as you drink it.

Final thought - As an IPA, I'm not really sure about this one. But as a beer, it's not too bad. I think it's overshadowed by their stout and pale ale, but I'm not about to dump it down the sink. I am not sure what the reviewers that say it has a nice citrusy flavor were drinking though...

-Jon

Sweet Action

Beer Name: Sweet Action
Brewery: Sixpoint
ABV: 5.2%
Serving method: 16-oz can in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 9/20/11

This is the second of my Sixpoint gift beers. Kate drank the other 2, so you'll have to ask her how they were. I know she hated one of them, but I don't remember which one it was. Sweet Action is supposed to be a balance of sweetness and bitterness, so that's what I'm expecting.

This beer is a hazy orange color that poured with a very heavy head slightly less than an inch thick. It faded slowly, leaving just a thin layer on the top of the beer for most of the pint. There is an aroma of hops at first, but it's gradually replaced by malt. The aroma isn't very strong though. This beer leaves a light lacing behind at the end of the pint.

Much like the can suggested, there is a nice mix of sweetness and bitterness here. The sweetness starts off each sip, and there is a hoppy bitterness at the end. There is a mild carbonation in the beer, and it has sort of a creamy feel to it. The whole thing is very smooth and easily drinkable.

Final thought - I'm not sure why I let this beer hide in the fridge for so long. Well, it's only been 2 weeks, but still. This is a very enjoyable beer, and it deserved a better treatment. Luckily it comes in a can, so there's not a whole lot that can go wrong while it sits in the fridge.

-Jon

Moo Thunder Stout

Beer Name: Moo Thunder Stout
Brewery: Butternuts Beer and Ale
ABV: 4.9%
Serving method: 12-oz can in a frosted mug
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Much like their Porkslap Pale Ale, Butternuts' Moo Thunder Stout also has an awesome can. A cow getting struck by lightning isn't quite as sweet as two pig high-fiving, but it's still better than the vast majority of beer containers.

This beer is very dark, but not quite solid black. It looks sort of like cola. There was about an inch of head that slowly faded without leaving much lacing behind. That may have been because the mug was chilled, but I'm not sure. We have a Butternuts mix-pack in the fridge, so I'll be able to check this out later with a different, unchilled mug. The aroma is chocolatey and coffee sweetness, which makes it seem like this is going to be a sweet beer.

The first sip is delicious. Since this is a sweet stout as opposed to a normal stout, the lactose sort of stands out. It's not too sweet though. There's also some roasted coffee and chocolate flavors in there as well. The beer has a decent amount of carbonation, and it has some body to it. The finish has a little bit of bitter coffee, but it doesn't linger as an aftertaste.

Final thought - This was a delightful beer that went perfect with my burrito, but I think would also be great on its own or as an aftermeal digestif. I am not sure if that is what a digestif is, or if that's even how it's supposed to be used. All I know is that this beer would be delicious at a wide variety of times, and I plan to do so in the future.

-Jon

Bengali Tiger

Beer Name: Bengali Tiger
Brewery: Sixpoint
ABV: 6.4%
Serving method: 16-oz can in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 9/20/11

This beer was a gift. Hooray for beer presents!

Bengali Tiger is an IPA from Sixpoint, a brewery in New York City. It's a golden orange colored beer that poured with a thin head that bubbled for a little bit and then faded away. According to the can, this beer is supposed to leave rings of lacing behind that resemble a tiger, but my particular can did not do so. I'm a little disappointed. The aroma of this beer is hoppy, like an IPA should be, but it also has some fruit in there, specifically oranges.

This beer has a very complex taste. There's citrusy hops, and sweetness from the malts, and a little bit of an orange flavor. . . there's a lot going on here. There is a slightly bitter finish, but even that has some sweetness mixed into it. The aftertaste here is very mild, with a little bit of hops. The beer wasn't very carbonated (probably why there wasn't much lacing), but I don't think that is the norm. My guess is that I just got an off can, as this beer seems like it should be a carbonated one.

Final thought - I didn't really enjoy my first sip of this beer, but after that I thought it was very good. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't judge it solely on the first sip. That also makes me think that I need to try some of the beers that I didn't really like at various beer festivals a second time, as maybe a 3- or 4-oz sample isn't enough for a full judgment. My (beer) world has really been turned upside down here.

-Jon

IPA

Beer Name: Lake Placid India Pale Ale
Brewery: Lake Placid Pub and Brewery
ABV: 6.8%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Alex had a bunch of different beers in his fridge from some sort of Beer-of-the-Month thing. I figured I might as well go with the IPA since I'm always on the lookout for IPAs that Kathryn might actually enjoy drinking.

Again, I was drinking from a bottle, so I don't have much to say about the appearance of Lake Placid's IPA. I can say that there is a good aroma of hops, but not much of the malt that the bottle's label tells me is in there.

This beer has a good amount of bitter hops, but not much malty sweetness to balance it out. I was actually expecting a lot more in the malt area, so I was a little bit disappointed. While the bitterness was good for an IPA, it was a little bit too much without anything to balance it. Having said that, this beer was still very easy to drink, and I plowed through a couple of bottles.

Final thought - While it was a good beer to just sit and relax with, I am not sure I'd go for this one again. I guess I prefer the IPAs with the sweetness in the background to balance out the bitterness from the hops.

-Jon

Jah*va

Beer Name: Jah*va Imperial Coffee Stout
Brewery: Southern Tier
ABV: 10.6%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Southern Tier continues their streak of ridiculously high ABV beverages. The bottle of this particular brew says that the ideal serving method is in a brandy snifter at 48ºF. Ok, I can probably handle letting the beer warm up a little, but do I really seem like the kind of guy who owns a brandy snifter? Yeah, I keep it in my study with my smoking jacket, fancy globe and encyclopædia collection. Get real.

The Jah*va is a very dark beer. It's pretty much solid black, even when held up to a light. Usually with a stout there are some highlights at the edges, but not this time. I read a few other reviews of this beer, and all of them said there was a good amount of head but no lacing. For some reason, even though I tried to pour it to generate head, mine did not have it. There is a strong aroma of roasted coffee with a hint of alcohol and sweetness, probably malt.

My initial sip of the beer generated a reaction that was partly "mmmm!" and partly "whoa, this is strong!" It was pretty good, but I don't think I let it warm quite enough. After a few more minutes, it was a little more mellow, which I believe is the brewers' intent. Once it warmed a bit more, it really stood out as a good beer. There is a good coffee flavor the whole way through each sip. It starts off with sweet coffee and a little bit of chocolate and finishes with a nice crisp bitterness. It's very lightly carbonated, but I think any more carbonation would be too much. The beer has a slight aftertaste of coffee.

Final thought - Alright, this is another good example of making a high ABV beer without overdoing the alcohol flavor. Don't get me wrong: I love taking shots. I just don't want to feel like I'm taking shots when I'm supposed to be enjoying a beer. Jah*va is definitely one of the better beers I've had in recent memory, and another strong showing from Southern Tier.

-Jon

Dragonslayer

Beer Name: Dragonslayer Imperial Stout
Brewery: Middle Ages Brewing Company
ABV: 9.5%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

This beer is called Dragonslayer. Was there really any doubt that it needed to be purchased? Unfortunately, there is almost no way that this beer can live up to the ridiculously high expectations I have for it. I am pretty sure that I'm expecting to be able to go out and kick a dragon's ass after I drink this, and there's really no way that's going to happen.

Dragonslayer is a solid black beer that pours with an incredibly thick head that sticks around for a while. At this point, it's been in the glass for about 3 minutes, and there is still a decent amount of foam there. There's also going to be a heavy amount of lacing. It looks like one of those fancy drinks you get at a coffee house. There is a coffee aroma along with a distinct scent of alcohol. This beer is going to be strong.

The flavor here is a little more bitter than I was expecting. There's a bitter coffee flavor along with the very-present alcohol. There also seems to be a little bit of chocolate in the background. And everything is sort of roasted. The beer is only lightly carbonated, which makes it very smooth to drink. The finish is bitter, but only has a slight aftertaste.

Final thought - Too much of an alcohol flavor here for me. Maybe it will mellow out if I let it sit a bit, but my first reaction is that this needs to be toned down a little. I feel like someone spiked my beer with a shot of vodka, and that's not a good thing.

-Jon