SOUTHERN TIER IS HERE!
FEATURE BREWERY
SOUTHERN TIER (USA)
Hailing from Lakewood, New York & having been operating since 2004 this highly acclaimed US brewery has plenty to offer. Being very much true to its North American craft brewing roots, creating a vast range of modern & innovative beers that focus on challenging the drinker. However don’t be fooled into thinking these guys are a one trick, hop-obsessed pony!
IPA 355ml $7.00
Pours orange/amber with a nice fluffy white head, looks a treat & smells even better! Plenty of citrus fruit notes from the hops with support from some light biscuit & caramel malt. Finishes with apricot & grapefruit hop notes that definitely hit the spot, not too aggressive. A nice, robust yet sessionable ipa. 6.5%abv
Phin & Matts Extraordinary Ale 355ml $6.50
Pours lovely golden/yellow with nice white head. Nose has a hint of sweet honey & lemon mix from the malt with the hops attributing some nice citrus fruit. Finishes with a light touch of hop bitterness. Ultimately a light & refreshing pale ale. 5.6%abv
422 Pale Wheat Ale 355ml $6.50
Pours pale straw with a white fluffy head. Nose is quite typical of the style, zesty wheat notes with subtle spicy clove-like yeast notes & touch citrus & spice from the hops. Apt that they go for pale wheat ale, as apposed to the traditional hefeweizen or witbier as it has elements of both but ultimately is a variation. 5%abv
Old Man Winter 355ml $7.50
Perhaps not so appropriate for our current weather, however this is a lovely beer all the same. American brewers sure like to come up with their own styles, this being termed a winter warmer. What that means exactly is anyone's guess! From what I gather it is a hoppy dark ale. This has quite a bit of dark malt bringing caramel & some dark fruit. Finishes with abv spice & some feint citrus hops & medium bitterness. 7.2%abv – Winter Seasonal
Raspberry Porter 355ml $6.00
Pretty self explanatory really, though I’ll give you some specifics! Pour gives a hint of raspberry treat within, dark brow with ruby highlights. Nose has chocolate & nuts from the dark roasted malt with sweeter raspberry hints hiding beneath. Quite light in body, which I suppose suits the mash-up of styles. Finishes much like the general palate, dry & roasty dark malt with hints of raspberry. 4.8%abv – Winter Seasonal
Unearthly 650ml $17.00
So you’ve been patient right? Time to get onto their bread & butter, that being heavily hoppy, experimental beers. This one certainly doesn’t disappoint! Pretty robust & full on right from the get go, quite full, almost slick caramel-malty goodness with a big old whack of bitter grapefruit & pine. Finishes quite bitter but still very full on the palate. Apparently this is up at about 150IBUs...which if you didn’t know is a lot! It shows but in the best possible way. If your a hop-head like me, you’ll love this! 11%abv
Iniquity 650ml $15.50
Hop-tastic beer #2! Pours dark brown/black but the nose completely messes with your mind. Sure, there's a lot of dark roasted malt but also a heap of citrus & pine from the hops. This is a dark ale but not as you know it. Being termed an Imperial Black ale is appropriate, as this is no stout/porter. Finish is quite robust with a slight tang from the dark roasted malt & citrus/pine hops. There's also sweet licorice character, which I would attribute to both dark malt & hops, almost like raspberry licorice. Really interesting & another winner for the hop-heads! 9%abv
Choklat 650ml $17.00
The hops are taking a rest in this one right? So what can we do to overtly flavor the beer? Chocolate perhaps? Well this beer has chocolate in spades! Though not in the subtle dark roasted malt way & while it does have that too it is actually like a nice, velvety milk chocolate. Not syrupy or artificial though, actual milk chocolate. Crazy, yet totally delicious. Would loved to have woken up to this in place of my milo every morning! 11.00%abv
Cuvee Series 2 650ml $19.50
This is part 2 of a trilogy of beers. Cuvee 1 is aged in french oak, this is aged in american oak & 3 is a blend of the 2 previous. So what to expect from this? Masses of caramel, milk chocolate, nuts & espresso all backed up by some toasty oak & vanilla. Maybe something of a crème brulee in beer form. Another peculiar, albeit delicious beer! 11%abv
SOUTHERN TIER (USA)
Hailing from Lakewood, New York & having been operating since 2004 this highly acclaimed US brewery has plenty to offer. Being very much true to its North American craft brewing roots, creating a vast range of modern & innovative beers that focus on challenging the drinker. However don’t be fooled into thinking these guys are a one trick, hop-obsessed pony!
IPA 355ml $7.00
Pours orange/amber with a nice fluffy white head, looks a treat & smells even better! Plenty of citrus fruit notes from the hops with support from some light biscuit & caramel malt. Finishes with apricot & grapefruit hop notes that definitely hit the spot, not too aggressive. A nice, robust yet sessionable ipa. 6.5%abv
Phin & Matts Extraordinary Ale 355ml $6.50
Pours lovely golden/yellow with nice white head. Nose has a hint of sweet honey & lemon mix from the malt with the hops attributing some nice citrus fruit. Finishes with a light touch of hop bitterness. Ultimately a light & refreshing pale ale. 5.6%abv
422 Pale Wheat Ale 355ml $6.50
Pours pale straw with a white fluffy head. Nose is quite typical of the style, zesty wheat notes with subtle spicy clove-like yeast notes & touch citrus & spice from the hops. Apt that they go for pale wheat ale, as apposed to the traditional hefeweizen or witbier as it has elements of both but ultimately is a variation. 5%abv
Old Man Winter 355ml $7.50
Perhaps not so appropriate for our current weather, however this is a lovely beer all the same. American brewers sure like to come up with their own styles, this being termed a winter warmer. What that means exactly is anyone's guess! From what I gather it is a hoppy dark ale. This has quite a bit of dark malt bringing caramel & some dark fruit. Finishes with abv spice & some feint citrus hops & medium bitterness. 7.2%abv – Winter Seasonal
Raspberry Porter 355ml $6.00
Pretty self explanatory really, though I’ll give you some specifics! Pour gives a hint of raspberry treat within, dark brow with ruby highlights. Nose has chocolate & nuts from the dark roasted malt with sweeter raspberry hints hiding beneath. Quite light in body, which I suppose suits the mash-up of styles. Finishes much like the general palate, dry & roasty dark malt with hints of raspberry. 4.8%abv – Winter Seasonal
Unearthly 650ml $17.00
So you’ve been patient right? Time to get onto their bread & butter, that being heavily hoppy, experimental beers. This one certainly doesn’t disappoint! Pretty robust & full on right from the get go, quite full, almost slick caramel-malty goodness with a big old whack of bitter grapefruit & pine. Finishes quite bitter but still very full on the palate. Apparently this is up at about 150IBUs...which if you didn’t know is a lot! It shows but in the best possible way. If your a hop-head like me, you’ll love this! 11%abv
Iniquity 650ml $15.50
Hop-tastic beer #2! Pours dark brown/black but the nose completely messes with your mind. Sure, there's a lot of dark roasted malt but also a heap of citrus & pine from the hops. This is a dark ale but not as you know it. Being termed an Imperial Black ale is appropriate, as this is no stout/porter. Finish is quite robust with a slight tang from the dark roasted malt & citrus/pine hops. There's also sweet licorice character, which I would attribute to both dark malt & hops, almost like raspberry licorice. Really interesting & another winner for the hop-heads! 9%abv
Choklat 650ml $17.00
The hops are taking a rest in this one right? So what can we do to overtly flavor the beer? Chocolate perhaps? Well this beer has chocolate in spades! Though not in the subtle dark roasted malt way & while it does have that too it is actually like a nice, velvety milk chocolate. Not syrupy or artificial though, actual milk chocolate. Crazy, yet totally delicious. Would loved to have woken up to this in place of my milo every morning! 11.00%abv
Cuvee Series 2 650ml $19.50
This is part 2 of a trilogy of beers. Cuvee 1 is aged in french oak, this is aged in american oak & 3 is a blend of the 2 previous. So what to expect from this? Masses of caramel, milk chocolate, nuts & espresso all backed up by some toasty oak & vanilla. Maybe something of a crème brulee in beer form. Another peculiar, albeit delicious beer! 11%abv
Labels: New Releases, Recent Tasting Notes
posted by Chris Menichelli at
12:41 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home