Tuesday, April 07, 2009

SOUTHERN TIER PRACTICES THE BLACK ARTS

(Thanks to Shyzaboy for the image)

I’m feeling just as well-versed in SOUTHERN TIER BREWING products these days as any east coaster is; except I’m a west coaster who just happens to have a stellar trading partner way out east, & I’ve taken a few trips out that way of late as well. Definitely one of the top brewers in the United States right now – these Lakewood, NY honchos are getting it done on all sorts of levels. The latest example to cross my lips is “OAT”, a big, intense imperial oatmeal stout. I thought the bottle said it was clocking in at 11%, but the Beer Advocate site says 12.5% alcohol by volume. It’s going to scramble your night if you drink it in a hurry for sure.

You know that candy called Whoppers? SOUTHERN TIER OAT is the big boy’s, belly-busting version of Whoppers in a glass. Rich chocolate malts, with oat (naturally) and cocoa powder combining into a rich, satisfying brew. Mine barely had any head at all, yet the bottle mentions a “thick tan head”. You call that a head, Southern Tier? Out west we do things a little differently, partner. In any case, this thing just opened up and got better & better as it warmed, and while an exceptionally rich beer, it only had medium thickness and not that cloying, ultra-thick soup you get from some big-ABV imperial stouts. These guys are great – kudos to them once again. 8/10.

1 comment:

Doug said...

Thank you for the attribution. I see you've used a number of my beer pix. I'd appreciate it if you'd just hot-link to the Flickr image instead of downloading them.