Southern Tier Oat

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

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.

bottle - Pours thick and nearly black with a thin tan head. The aroma is full of oatmeal, dark roasted malt and chocolate. The big chocolate malt flavor has enough hops to give it balance. It’s full bodied and very enjoyable.

Bottle thanks to Pantanap: Poured a thick black sludge with a brown chocolate head. Aroma was sweet chocolate, oat, and coffee. The taste is smooth oat with chocolate and coffee.

On tap at the Trivia Pub. I was a little mislead on this one. I love sweet oatmeal stouts but disregard the terrible imperial stouts. All I could see from across the bar was the word oatmeal on the taphandle so I bought the farm. Big black pour. Thin chocolate mousse head. Aroma of mild rootbeer and licorice. First tate is like rootbeer, just for a nano second, then its imperial stout murder on the taste buds. Sweet, yet oppressive, quite odd for dark beer. Thick syrupy and mouth coating. Rather unfriendly. If there is any carbonation, I can’t tell because of the in your face angry taste bud impact. YEWW, very difficult to enjoy. Rude and overpowering. Finish is sickly tar and nearly triggers the gag reflex. Nasty, to say the least. Perfect example of a foreign or impy stout. Can you imagine thick rootbeer syrup spiked spiked with whiskey? Scores very low on the cheapdark enjoyability scale. Tastes like used shovelhead motor oil mixed with dishsoap, no kidden! Will not buy again. IMHO I’m not good enough for this beer, sorry. However, this is on par with fresh Expedition.

Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a black color with a trace of a dark brown head. The aroma was somewhat faint but had pleasant elements of sweet and roasty malts with noted chocolate syrup. The flavor was crisp, malty and chocolately with a malted milk elements .The middle was toasty malts and floral hops and the finish was long sweet toasty chocolate. The cocoa grows with each passing sip. The body was silky smooth but a bit thin. Excellent.

On draught at MacGregor’s in Rochester, NY. Big and black with a tan head. Completely opaque. Heavy aroma of chocolate and coffee come easily even before this warms up. Rich dark roast coffee flavor, with some licorice coming through. Smooth creamy thick palate. Coating. Nice bitter finish. Very well done Imperial Stout.

22oz. bottle. Inviting sweet, creamy, chocolate aroma, lightly roasty and toffeeish with notes of raisin, plum, cocoa and dark bread. Opaque ebony color with a largely subsiding, tan head. Flavor is very nicely balanced between the sweetness, chocolate, creamy oats, dark fruits and spicy hops, showing only faint traces of the excessive alcohol content, and finishing long, bitter and roasty. Nicely smooth and thick mouthfeel, gently warming with moderate effervescence. Somehow rather drinkable, for all its strength and depth, and remarkably good overall.

22 ounce bottle from By the Bottle in Vancouver, WA--Another worthy offering from Southern Tier. Pours an almost headless opaque black body with tinges of burgundy around the edges. Chocolate, nutty, boozy nose. Oats shine through and help balance super bold malts. Hops also contribute to spicing and leveling the weight of this beast. Very nice complexity to this beer. Subtle dark fruit flavors backdrop a thick chocolate spine with a clean soft finish.