Southern Tier 2XMAS

Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Lakewood, New York USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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Pours reddish brown with gold edges. Has a weak pale head and little carbonation. Aroma was pleasant of nutmeg but not overwhelming. Nutmeg and cinnamon hits you first, then a hoppy bitterness spreads back over the tongue. One is good on a cold night with a fire. Two is to much for me. I would drink again, but only on occasion.

Deep red with medium small tan head. Aroma spices, nutmeg, citrus, sugary malt. Medium full body. On the sweet and sticky side but not too bad. Flavors of cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg etc. along with molasses and brown sugar. Not my favorite style but more drinkable than usual for the amount of spice, done ok and about what you would expect.

Pour is brown with red tones and a small white head. Aroma screams nutmeg and cinnamon both I like but to much for beer. Nutmeg,nutmeg o and more nutmeg I can’t get this flavor out of my mouth. I would not buy again.

bottle. Total overboard beer - monster spices (most notably, nutmeg). Fun to try, but not a "have a few" type of beer.

Deep brown pour, nose nutmeg and cloves. Taste is the same with small hop bite on finish. Can taste the alcohol. Nice sipper.

Reviewed 11/16/2012. A: Pours a dark ruby color with excellent clarity. The head is a one finger khaki color with decent texture, but not much retention. Only a modicum of lacing stays on the glass. S: Spruce, ginger, nutmeg, graham cracker, orange peel, light dark fruits, and very slight hops. Give Southern Tier credit - when they want to make a beer resemble something else (like chocolate or, in this case, Christmas) they go all out and leave nothing to the imagination. Pretty much everything advertised comes through aromatically. T: There isn’t much of a drop off from the (admittedly ambitious) aroma, though maybe it’s a touch less complex. Lots of dark fruits appear immediately, smoothing out on the midtaste to graham crackers and gingerbread. The finish is shockingly bitter for Southern Tier, consisting of a combination of subtle wood, leafy tobacco, and orange peel. I swear the faintest hint of roasted malts comes through on the finish. There’s a nice layering of flavors, though finding some of the complexity requires a little hard work. Still, it’s an excellent winter warmer. M: Very slick, and creamy up until the swallow. The finish is both clean and wet, with a little bit of syrupiness to cover up the booze. This goes down superbly, without a hint of alcohol coming through. O: Admittedly, these heavily spiced winter beers are never quite my thing, but this seems almost paragonal of the said style, so it earns itself bonus points. This will be my future standard for winter warmers until further notice - naturally, this is an easy one to recommend.

12oz bottle. Pours a deep ruby reddish brown color with a one finger cream head. Heavy scents of spices, malted barley, dried fruit, and booze. Taste is heavy on the spices with cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. A very malty backbone with some hop bitterness too. Very boozy finish and aftertaste. The body was light and creamy with mild carbonation and a slick finish.

Nice brown coloured body with a ruby glow and a thin, fast-dying tan head. Aroma of nice spice, banana bread, allspice, canella and a ton of nutmeg. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong spice flavour with allspice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger root and a hint of cardamom with some roasted malt, a bit of yeast and a definite alcohol bite on the finish. Aftertaste shows a nice spicey complexity, but the alcohol and bitterness interrupt with the warmth a bit too much and the spices overpowering. Overall, a nice beer, but not executed flawlessly - so this one should be sampled if found easily, but passed up if there are other options close by. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Liqour Outlet in Boonton, New Jersey on 12-December-2012 for US$1.59 sampled at home in Upstate New York on 26-December-2012.

Perfect dark amber color, fresh taste not too thick or heavy but also not a lightweight, very good seasonal brew with mild hoppiness

UPDATED: DEC 28, 2012 Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a dark brown color with orange highlights and a large foamy orange-brown head that lingered and left decent lacing. The aroma was sweet plum, sugar and nutmeg. The flavor was tangy plum, cherry, nutmeg, clove, anise, bread and brandy. Medium length finish of plum, nutmeg, bread and brandy. Moderately full bodied. Well done.