Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout

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

Objectively speaking: A massive, vanilla and coffee liqueur-like dessert brew that escapes beer realm comparability.
I like: It assumes itself. Aromatic and perfumey to the point that you’d recognize it among any 30 different imperial stouts. Obviously doing just what it aims to do, but you really must be in the mood for non-beery nonsense. Relatively complex, cakey, full-flavoured.
I dislike: Sticky sweet: drinking more than a few announces would become challenging. Kinda dissimulated alcohol in the nose, but it jumps back at you in mouth.

Bottle. Thanks to KingpinIPA for this one. Dark black with a nice tan head. Smells and tastes like a butter rum Lifesaver. Some alcohol warmth in the finish. Very sweet. Different. Glad to have tried it.

Bottle; thanks for sharing, Todd. This smells lovely. Actually almost exactly like melted butterscotch chips and vanilla. Some caramel and a little burnt sugar, but more butterscotch than anything. Big sweet smell. Tastes like bitter burnt sugar. Really foul, to be honest, and much too sweet. I really didn’t like this at all.

(22 oz. bottle from Kappy’s) Dunkin’ Donuts!....Pours very, very dark brown with a slight bit of tan head that recedes to the edges. Aroma of French vanilla and really nothing else. Mouthfeel is full, smooth and sticky. Really no lacing. Flavor is French vanilla and chocolate with maybe some coffee underneath. A bit hot but not too bad. Certainly not the most complex Imp Stout I’ve had but a very tasty one. Like a French vanilla coffee in a bomber!

The aroma is striing for its domination by vanilla beans. Some caramel is mixed in too. The apperance is a gorgeous jet black, with a small tan head. The flavor is roasted coffee and vanilla - very sweet. It definitely has the flavor of a milk stout, more so that anything else. The palate is initially sweet like dessert, but is quickly dominated by a roasted burnt quality. Enjoyable beer, not the best from ST, and maybe the weakest of their Black Water Series.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 1pt. 6oz. or 650ml bottle in to a snifter. Appearance: A big, thick and foamy head sits on top of a very dark brown and opaque body. Its head is dark tan in color and it slowly fades to just a very thin covering. Lacing is rather sparse and slick as it slides down the sides of the glass. Smell: The aroma is strong and noticeable as soon as the bottle is opened. The big bold sweetness of caramel and vanilla bean hits the nose. Under that there is a hint of roasted malt and sweet boozy alcohol like butterscotch schnapps. Taste/Mouth feel: The flavor is overwhelmingly sweet!!! A thick, heavy caramel flavor dominates the over some creamy vanilla notes as well as a hint of dark powdery chocolate. Hop flavor is well hidden with just a slight bitterness sliding in near the finish. Also there is a mild warming from its 10% abv. The body is heavy and full with a syrupy slick, sticky texture. Its carbonation was mild which added to the slickness. Notes: Its thick sticky body and its unchecked, unbalanced sweetness made for a very slow sipping beverage. It’s not exactly my cup of tea but cheers to Southern Tier for pushing the boundary with a very interesting beer.

Bottle from d0b. Thanks!
Dear christ, this was a sweet beer. Smell was like butterscotch and Kraft caramel squares. Just like Choklat, this was very, very artificial smelling. Reminded me of Worthers butterscotch candies as well. Nobody in their right mind could drink more than a few ounces of this melted candy disguised as a beer. Very milk, and vanilla like with some light hops that quiver at the onslaught of malt warriors overtaking their feeble vines. They fight valiantly, but the Maltacians rape and pillage their weak cones leaving them tattered, vulnerable and succeptible to disease. The hops are crying and the malts continue to shower them with more sugar bombs, oblivious to their screams. NOOOO!!!! I literally saw a hop cone beheaded by a caramel square that jumped out of this beer with a maltsword. Very artificial and gimmicky and tastes more like melted caramel and vanilla extract that creme brulee. Cloying in the smell alone. What the fuck is going on here?!?!? AHHHH, stop raping my mouth!!! but I sort of liked it in an "I was abused by my parents as a child and now like really creepy men to touch me in innapropriate places" sort of way. Good god, I’m drunk, I think.

THOUGHTS: A crazy idea that they actually pulled off rather well, but one you try it I don’t know if you ever really need to have it again. Maybe on very rare occasions. It’s more than a novelty beer, but not much more. Nice, but not a great imperial stout. It was hard to finish a bomber. Maybe aging will help, but I don’t think I’ll be the one to attempt that. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a dark brown that was black in the glass with burgundy highlights and a small, tan head that mostly lasted and left fair lacing. The aroma was heavy caramel, toffee, butterscotch, vanilla and alcohol along with a combination of the last two coming out as vanilla extract. The initial flavor was heavily sweet and moderately acidic; while the finish was heavy to harshly sweet and lightly bitter with a short on flavor, but long on alcohol finish. The flavor was nice but just too harsh. There was burnt caramel, alcohol, vanilla (extract to be exact), toffee, coffee and butterscotch, but mostly alcohol. It became cloying quickly. The medium to full body was oily with tingly then soft carbonation and a moderate to heavy alcoholic finish.