Southern Tier Jah-va

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

Bottle at Volo - shared with tupalev & DougShoemaker. Deep black-brown with a small tan head. Big, oily coffee aroma with warm booze notes - smells more like a coffee liqueur than a coffee beer. Big flavour as well - lots of dark roasted coffee, bitter chocolate, dark dried fruit, a hint of smoke and wood. I only have two complaints - the body is a bit on the thin side, and the alcohol is too pronounced in the finish. It’s still damn good, but I expect this will age nicely and turn into a absolutely astounding beer in a year or so.

Pitch black in color with a super thin brown head. Aroma of chocolate, beef, and soy sauce with a bit of caramel at the end. Full-bodied; strong roasted malt flavors with soy sauce and chocolate noticeable. After-taste shows more of the same strong meaty characteristics dominate the flavor with a bit of sweetness at the end. Overall, too strong of a flavor and the meaty taste were a bit too much, but not horrible. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Olivers in Albany, NY on 27-May-2007 on the Eastern Shore in Virginia.

22oz bomber courtesy of HogTownHarry. Thanks, Harry! Pours a pitch black center, thin translucent brown edges; dark tan head with decent lacing. Plenty of coffee in the aroma, slightly vegetal, hints of dark chocolate. The alcohol is well-integrated for 12% (I’d have guessed 9-10%, at most); full, chewy mouthfeel (even oily); plenty of fresh coffee beans (unroasted), bittersweet chocolate, roasted malts, smoke, and floral hops; also vegetal characteristics, which tend to increase as it warms; long, dark/milk chocolate finish with pleasant hop bitterness. A good, bitter coffee-infused stout.

22oz bottle brewed November 22, 2005 - pours black, thick with a fluffy tan head that settles back to a ring fairly quick but laces beautifully down the glass in sheets. Aroma is nice roasted coffee, dark fruits, roasted malts and just a touch of chocolate. Flavor is wonderful roasted coffee, premium Jamaican coffee but the coffee doesn’t overwhelm this one. Many notes of dark fruits, and some dark, baker’s chocolate comes through as well. Palate is full bodied and thick but smooth, creamy and mouthcoating. Lingering coffee and roasted malt finish makes you thirst for another sip. No alcohol can be found even though the bottle says this one is 12%. This reminded me alot of Siberian Night with a nice coffee influence. Outstanding!

November 2005 bottling date, Sampled June 2007
Pours with a three-finger thick, creamed-chocolate, brown colored head that sits atop a pitch black colored brew. The aroma is interesting; it definitely is coffee influenced. It even has the acidity that the nose on cup of French roast would have. It is almost smoky at times, with notes of espresso beans, dusty-blackened barley, something that is sort of spicy, maybe even musty or something like rotting ancient vegetation (something like peat perhaps).

The beer is quite thick and rich; the burnt malt sugars just coat the palate and cling to the tongue in an almost syrup-like fashion. It is like drinking a rich, deeply chocolate & coffee flavored cream. Fairly sweet tasting, this really brings out a chocolate-like flavor. Notes of blackened espresso mix in with the chocolate; they add a touch of acidity and a roast bitterness that struggles to be noticed under the thick, creamy texture & sweetness. This is so big that it is almost simplistic in its dark malt flavors. I suppose one doesn’t ask for much more in an Imperial stout though. A hint of the off note from the nose is in the taste, but the massive body really helps to mitigate this.

Wow, based on the aroma, I was just not expecting this beer to be so thick and rich. The flavor really outshines the aroma, as there seems to be something that is just a touch off-putting there. This thing really hides the alcohol well, I never would have guessed it was 12%, but with such a massive body I guess it would have to be. This is definitely a sipping brew, it is going to take me quite some time to kill off a 22oz bottle of this. This is quite tasty, if that off thing in the aroma was cleaned up, this would be a fantastic example of a coffee Imperial Stout.

Bottle from MaltOMeal at the December Houston tasting. Thanks! Pours deep black with a beige head. Aroma is vegetable nut and new carpet. Flavor is dark raspberry soaked in alcohol, with a strawberry finish. Thick and coating mouthfeel. Coffee? Where?

Black Coloring with Espresso Ring. This Beer Completely Takes Your Senses Over and Owns You...Immediately Apparent It’s a Complex and Sophisticated Brew...Wonderful Coffee Aroma and Taste..The Quality of the Ingredients Speak for Themselves...Dark Fruits, Chocolate...Rich Syrapy Malt...But Still Roasty and Amazingly Balanced Overall. Arguably My Favorite Coffee Brew.

Small sample from a bomber at a tasting at Bishops Arms, Göteborg, Sweden. Firstly, the name is a bit misleading since it makes you think there are (old) Java coffee beans in there, but instead they are Jamaica Blue, a gourmet variety with subtle mild complexity. Why use such coffee in an Imperial Stout one may wonder. Secondly, it is not a good effort at all, with pungent coffe notes, alcohol, and some liquorice. Far from the best Coffee stouts like Beer Geek Brunch/Breakfast or Peche Mortel.