Warlock
Southern Tier Brewing Company

WarlockWarlock
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From:
Southern Tier Brewing Company
 
New York, United States
Style:
Pumpkin Beer
Ranked #35
ABV:
8.6%
Score:
89
Ranked #11,008
Avg:
3.99 | pDev: 13.28%
Reviews:
504
Ratings:
3,333
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 16, 2024
Added:
Sep 19, 2013
Wants:
  143
Gots:
  1,022
Imperial stout brewed with pumpkins Warlock is brewed to enchant your palate on its own and also to counterpoint our Imperial Ale, Pumking. Make your own black magic by carefully pouring this Imperial Stout into a goblet.

Dark and mysterious, the Blackwater Series is serious about high gravity. Reanimate your senses with Warlock’s huge roasted malt character, moderate carbonation and spicy pumpkin pie aroma.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by jonny1138:
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Rated by jonny1138 from Tennessee

4/5  rDev +0.3%

Jun 21, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of brianstrong2
Reviewed by brianstrong2 from Tennessee

4.21/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
For me, best pumpkin beer there is. Pumking is stellar as well but I lean towards warlock. The mix of the spices of a pumpkin beer with the complexities of an imperial stout are great. Highly recommend.
Feb 16, 2024
Photo of CarlC
Reviewed by CarlC from New York

4.4/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Great look taste and smell. A go to draft at my local bar. Dark like a porter, easy drinking like an ale. Not an easy find at beverage stores locally.
Jan 20, 2024
Photo of colts9016
Reviewed by colts9016 from Idaho

3.6/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Review: 2005
Name: Warlock
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing
Location: Lakewood, NY
Style: Imperial Pumpkin Stout
A.B.V. 8.6%
Date: Best By Date 27 June 2025
I am drinking Warlock today using a tulip glass. I served it at 46 degrees. The pour created an airy, foamy, creamy, two-fingered, light tan head with above-average retention. The color is dark brown, nearly black, charting around S.R.M. 36. The beer is opaque. The dissipation left lots of lacing on the glass. The appearance is above average for this style.
The aromas are pumpkin, chocolate, coffee, baking spices, char, dark roasted malts, and molasses. Swirling the glass a few times, I notice vanilla, bready, earthy, and light tobacco. The beer smells like a chocolate pumpkin pie.
The baking spices hit you strong, followed by the gourd. The spices are clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice. The dark roasted malts are chocolate, bready, and a slight char. Other flavors in the beer are brown sugar, molasses, caramel, tobacco, coffee, and vanilla.
The mouthfeel is carbonic and tannic, finishing bitter. The body is medium-plus and has medium carbonation.
This has been a beer I have wanted to try. I only get a little Southern Tier if I get shipped to me. As it warms up, the beer gets more bitter and unpleasant. I love the spiced pumpkin with chocolate, but I would have loved the mouthfeel to have more chewiness with a touch of creamy. Nonetheless, it is a lovely beer to sip on a chilly winter night before the New Year.
Jan 01, 2024
Photo of Victory_Sabre1973
Reviewed by Victory_Sabre1973 from Minnesota

3.8/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
From a 12oz bottle - Best by 06-29-25 (what will be my 52nd birthday)

A bit of hiss and a bit of smoke rising from the bottle upon opening. This is a dark pouring beer. I saw notes of brown and amber in the pour. In the glass it's more dark brown, but, when I hold it to the light, I do see some amber hues shining through the glass. There's a 1 finger tan head that forms from the pour. Looks a bit frothy, and fluffy. Retention is decent overall. No lacing on the glass. Very impressed with how it looks.
The aroma is very light. It's not off putting, but it's barely there. Hints or roasted malt, and faint pumpkin spice is here, but so damn faint.
Taste - The flavor is way, way more than the nose let on. I get almost a tea flavor in this beer. I get some cinnamon, clove and nutmeg.
Smooth body, and fairly full feeling.
The aroma is a let down, but the flavor is totally on target. Delicious.
Dec 03, 2023
 
Rated: 4.1 by Iggy88 from Ohio

Nov 29, 2023
 
Rated: 4.24 by porterman66 from Massachusetts

Nov 28, 2023
Photo of Jule17
Rated by Jule17 from Ohio

3.83/5  rDev -4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75
I'm not a fan of imperials, but this one has a wonderful flavor. Too liquory for me, but very good!
Nov 26, 2023
 
Rated: 3.36 by Pens1866 from Pennsylvania

Nov 25, 2023
Photo of mpruden
Reviewed by mpruden from Ohio

3.39/5  rDev -15%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Poured from a 12-oz bottle well within its date range into a tulip glass.

Look: Black, with a 1” tan head that lingered five or six minutes, leaving nice lacing.

Nose: Fresh-baked cinnamon roll with a little pumpkin. Turns out this is the best part of this ale.

Mouthfeel: Medium, plenty of carbonation.

Attack: Disappointing after the nose. I’m not getting much stout or pumpkin (!). There is some dark roast but, frankly, not a whole lot else.

Finish: Bitterness from the dark roast, and some alcohol.

Overall: Actually I’m kind of glad I only bought one bottle. I’m not sure I see the point or purpose of this ale. I’m going back to Southern Tier’s Pumking, which I like a lot.
Nov 25, 2023
 
Rated: 3.71 by sewerchewer from New York

Nov 22, 2023
Photo of Beersnake
Reviewed by Beersnake from California

4.09/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Tasted blind in the barleywine/stout BIF:

Poured at fridge temp. As I was pouring it, I thought it was more along the lines of a barleywine than a stout, but we will see. Thin layer of head. The nose is very interesting. A lot going on here. Definitely some adjuncts! Marshmallow, funfetti birthday cake, chocolate, vanilla. There is a very distinct smell, but I'm having the hardest time pinpointing it. It's really close to a Christmas spice - maybe nutmeg and cinnamon? A candy sweetness.

The taste is also really interesting. A slight bitterness here. Cola is really dominant here. Pretty low carbonation. There is a slightly chalky tobacco note, along with coffee grounds. I'm thinking porter or stout, but the ABV is pretty low I'm guessing. No barrel aging as far as I can tell, although I almost get a hint of rum. The bitterness kind of dominates. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and the aftertaste is a roasty bitterness and some cola.

After knowing what it was:

The pumpkin is really obvious now that I know it's there! The nose is full of pumpkin pie. Really nice beer!
Nov 11, 2023
 
Rated: 3.98 by TLA from Pennsylvania

Nov 11, 2023
Photo of Kiiz
Reviewed by Kiiz

4.08/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
It’s good one beer a year but honestly schlafly has overtaken it in recent years and at the price it’s just not really worth getting anymore sadly
Oct 30, 2023
 
Rated: 4.06 by craigbelly from Iowa

Oct 30, 2023
Photo of MonDak_Joe1953
Reviewed by MonDak_Joe1953 from Minnesota

4.09/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
12oz bottle. Label has dating stamp of 'BESTBY 06/29/25'.
Very dark brown colored body. Two fingers of beige colored head, and this settles back to a full cap. Only a few scattered spots of lacing are left behind.
Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate, and pumpkin spices - allspice, cloves, and nutmeg. Sweet smelling.
Taste is brown sugar sweet. Flavors include dark roasted malts, a bit of char, coffee, milk chocolate, and spices - nutmeg, cloves, and a touch of cinnamon. Cream and vanilla. Still sweet but more bitter in the aftertaste.
More than medium mouth feel. Carbonated and fizzy. Some tongue sting. Good carbonation.
Sweet stout with pumpkin pie spices. Close to a pumpkin spice cola.
Oct 29, 2023
Photo of Cathartes
Reviewed by Cathartes from Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
For national pumpkin day.

12 oz bottle acclimated to 50°F and poured into a stout glass.

Pours an opaque black with cola colored highlights with a 1.5 finger frothy, long lasting, khaki head, leaving a ring and splotches of lacing.

Initial aroma is strong, like beer flavored candy. I get strong notes of root beer/sasaparilla/birch beer, notes of sweet chocolate, notes of pumpkin pie, pie crust/Graham crackers, notes of cinnamon/butter, and notes of malt, sweet and grainy.

After agitating I'm met with some dairy type funk, backed with less sweet pumpkin pie smell.

Initial taste before swallowing is very sweet, like pumpkin and brown sugar with a distinct taste of cream cheese. Some buttery and bitter hop flavors underneath, and a moderate alcohol burn after a moment. Really tastes a lot like pumpkin pie.

After swallowing it's brown sugar, pumpkin spices, and pumpkin, followed by something of a poison taste, like biting into an apple seed. I get notes of coffee, and sweet chocolate in the middle, and that delightful root beer taste is present. The coffee and poison tastes last into the aftertaste, which is a little dry and astringent, and has a little dry grassy taste to it.

Mouthfeel is nice, but a little hard to describe. I would say smooth and smooth but not quite silky. Definitely flows nicely.

Overall I was very excited by the smell, and let down by the poison taste, it was still easy to finish the bottle, but each sip had a little "eh" to it. I guess this is just a gamble with stouts for me now, as it's been about 4 that have had this taste, never used to have this problem. The other tastes present were excellent but didn't really live up to the marvel of the smell. I wanted to really love it but couldn't, still very good.

I will buy again because I want desperately for this poison thing to be an outlier batch, and because, if not, I still enjoyed it.
Oct 27, 2023
 
Rated: 3.95 by ronniebruner from Arizona

Oct 16, 2023
 
Rated: 4.19 by Cfitty from New York

Oct 14, 2023
Warlock from Southern Tier Brewing Company
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 3333 ratings