Southern Tier Oat

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

At first sip I thought, "Hey this is going to kill me!" As my insides slowly rotted from caustic acid, I struggled to withold my urge to spew this offending brew omnidirectionaly throughout the apartment. Indeed, as this troglodyte of a drink warmed it continually stood up on my coffee table, gave a slight wink, and then proceded to create a vortex of evil and unholiness. The nose was only half promising: it first smelled sweet, and then watery, and then finally like a messy, melted bag of leftover holiday candy. The flavor and palaette combined into one long, slow painful burn of alcohol that masked any taste. Somehow I was reminded of my childhood when I was forced to drink a cup of grain alcohol with small bits of used tire and motor oil mixed in; at least if I did that as a child that is exactly what this would remind me of. I wish this on my worst enemy. I fear for the poor horse on the label that is perhaps being force to consume this heinous brew. This beer is animal (and human) cruelty indeed.

One last thanks to the STL crew for sharing this during their big impy stout tasting. Pours very dark brown with very little head - what’s there is off-white. The aroma is quite alcoholic with dark maltiness, light sweetness and subdued chocolate. Medium / thick body that is quite slick for an impy stout and has low carbonation. The flavor starts with dry chocolate, dark semi-roasted malt, light vanilla and some soy sourness. The finish has light spice and cream. This is a decent beer, but the jah-va stout from Southern Tier eclipses this one in my opinion. (7/3/7/3/15 -3.5)
Rerate notes with a fresh bottle now that it’s in STL. Very dark pour with good sized orange tan head. Aroma doesn’t have as much abv as previous notes - very chocolately with milk, cream and smooth roasty malts. Body is like original notes. Flavor is much richer with milk and dark chocolate, some soy, some vanilla, lots of roast and a bit of sourness. The finish adds light spice and cream like noted in the original rating. This is a fine beer that is significantly better than I had originally rated.

Duane shared a 22 oz bottle with me. Thanks! Dark black pour with a dark tan head. Very roasty aroma with some chocolate and coffee. Thick and rich mouthfeel, lots of roasted and burnt malt flavors to it. Some bitterness to round out the malt. Tasty stuff!

Pitch black, tan head that dissipates down to a ring around the glass and no lacing. Smells of molasses, sweet malt, cherries, and hops. Oats are noticeable on the tongue, though I don’t know if it’s the first thing that would have came to mind if I didn’t know oats were used. Taste is also sweet with molasses and a little bit of cherries and currants. A little bit of hoppiness comes out in the finish, as well as some roastiness. Thick body with low carbonation. Good beer. This is my second offering from Southern Tier and both have been good beers that I’d get more of.

Fall 2007 Release, Sampled December 2007
A vigorous pour produces a three finger thick, richly browned, tan colored head in my 25cl tulip glass. The beer is an opaque, black color no matter what angle I look at it. Aromas of tempered black coffee, dark chocolate, and acidic espresso are strongly noticeable and dominant, though the chocolate note is the least noticeable. Behind this are aromatic notes of deeply toasted grain, blackened malt, and carbonized wood. The aroma is really dominated by overly roasted malt characteristics; sharp, acidic and harsh some feeble attempts at balance are made by weak chocolate notes and concentrated caramelized malt sugars. The aroma is not bad and would in fact appeal to those who like hugely roasted beers, but it is fairly uni-dimensional / one sided.

The taste is thick and rich up front with an ample, deeply caramelized, dark, malt sugar profile. The light carbonation makes has this leaning towards a creamy mouthfeel, but the roast acidity prickly carbonation cause the beer to thin out unsatisfactorily in the finish. Up front, creamy dark chocolate notes lend a richness and texture that is really quite nice, unfortunately the finish ruins this with sharp, bitter, burnt grain-husk flavors and a lingering roasted astringency. The harsh finish doesn’t quite banish the rich, textured malt character though it gives it harrowing blow. A bitter, roasted, almost tepid, overly drained espresso flavor with blackened vegetal characteristics in the finish really gets in the way.

While the aroma is way too one-dimensional, the front part of each sip is quite enjoyable; the rich, textured grain character (of which the oatmeal plays a significant role) accents a delightful chocolate flavor and reasonable espresso flavor. The finish though is overly sharp and roasted; harsh, off-putting and acidic, at best this beer needs five years to mellow. At which point it might actually be quite sublime. If you only have one bottle, I would highly recommend holding on to it for quite some time.

Tremendous imperial here! Enjoyed in a snifter (as recommended) from a 2007 vintage, 22 oz. bottle. Pours super dark ruby with a wisp of a head. Strong molasses nose follows into the commercial description of ’a chewy and almost oily mouthfeel’. Very impressive!

Bottle from Capones, sampled with Stegosaurus. Black pour with 2 finger thick beige head. Sweet malt aroma with roast and hop. Sweet in the mouth with a mild bitter chocolate roast taste. It was blended good and was really enjoyable. The cerimonial humping of the bottle was done.

Poured from a 22oz bomber and served in a snifter. This beer poured a solid black with a thin head of dark tan foam that slightly lasted, leaving behind a small amount of slick, oily lacing. The aroma of the beer was made up of milk chocolate, oats, light sugary caramel and molasses, and a touch of strong coffee beans. The flavor of the beer consisted of burnt malts, caramel/brown sugar notes, rich milk chocolate, and a mild alcoholic warmth. The mouthfeel was full-bodied and oily with very light carbonation. An excellent Imperial stout! While the flavor was a touch on the sweet side, this was still a tasty, easy drinking big beer. The only thing holding it back was that the flavor was just a bit restrained. Other than that, very well done!