Southern Tier Jah-va

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

Draft pour. Deep deep black with a slightly reddish head. I picked up some dark roasted coffee hints but it wasn’t overpowering. Some caramel hints. Sticky. A little--very little--sweet up front. Bitterness builds and is overtaken by roasted coffee notes afterwards. I had it following a Victory Storm King IS and have to say the Southern Tier Jah-va was better.

Opaque black with a small tan head. Rich chocolaty coffee flavor and a nose full of toffee, coffee and caramel. Sugared mocha coffee with hoppy goodness. Nice.

22oz bottle. 2007. Not a huge fan of coffee beers, so here we go... Nearly pitch black pour with a thick, dense red-brown head that lasts and lasts. Surprisingly, not a coffee dominated aroma. Bourbon, oak, charred marshmallow and vanilla bean, dark chocolate all accent a surprisingly mild roasted coffee bean base on the nose. Dark, bitter chocolate initially on the tongue. Toasted malt, charred oak, lighter, morning blend coffee. Some vanilla, mocha and caramel as well. Impressive, slick, thick and slightly viscous body coats the tongue leaving a lasting roasted coffee and chocolate finish. Well done for a coffee beer for sure. 12%? Hardly! Thanks Mike!

22oz. Bottle: Wonderful aroma of coffee, chocolate, piney hops, and alcohol. Solid amount of hops in the aroma. Poured black in color with a medium-sized, creamy, rocky, brown head that lasted throughout. Opaque. Good lacing. Flavor is lightly bitter and medium sweet. Tastes of coffee, chocolate, piney hops, burnt malts, alcohol, and some roasting. Medium to full body. Slightly gritty, chalky texture. Average carbonation. Bitter-sweet, burnt malt, coffee, and piney hop finish.

From bottle - Thanks to Imadeadguy : Pours dark carbonated black color, looks pepsi like. A small offwhite head forms, then dies down. Nose is sweet chocolate, some nice coffee bean smells, and some fruit maybe. Taste is much the same, very good and very smooth. There is a pretty good amount of alcohol present, but it is nice. Medium body with a smooth thin finish. Aftertaste is quite roasted and nice. Really good stout.

A 12% Imperial Stout brewed with Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is what my dreams are made of. This beer pours a deep black with a thin beige head. The smell is chocolate truffle all the way, much like the coffee, with some vinous, spicy, dairy and potent alcohol notes. The taste is entirely too strong for me. The alcohol is intense! The coffee flavors overwhelm everything else, it’s surprisingly bitter, and somehow it’s kinda thin! Soy sauce, cumin, vinegar, rotten milk, stale bittersweet chocolate, and dark fruits. What is going on here? It does get better as it warms and breathes, but honestly a big disappointment for me.

Black body with a small tan head. The nose is sweet chocolate, coffee, toffee and some dark fruits. The flavor is moderately sweet, lightly bitter with lots of coffee, chocolate, prunes, light pine and molasses. Full body is sticky with moderate carbonation.

Huge thanks to jjpm and gmcc for this one! Must have something to do with initials? Anyways, I was very pumped for this one and, sadly, it fell short of what I wanted. Must have gotten it to hyped in my mind. Pours black with thin head and thin lacing. Very full bodied, incredibly creamy. The 12% is hidden well, but warms you up quickly. Flavor is used coffee grounds and espresso. Just never gets quite coffee enough, and never quite achieves what Bells Java Stout does. Solid offering from Southern Tier though.