Cuvee Series Three (Oak Aged Series)
Southern Tier Brewing Company

I am sampling a 2008ish 22 oz bottle poured into my snifter at cellar temp. Ive had the other two in this series within the past 6 months or so and am finally opening up #3, the blend of the first 2.
the beer pours a rich deep mahogany color and reveals strong garnet highlights when I hold the glass in front of a light source.
A creamy beige head of 1 cm foams up with some interesting streaks of copper in the foam. this foam fades to a very sturdy edge layer and some wispy island notes in the center of my glass. Looks very nice and enticing in the glass!
The nose on this beer is malt forward and a little sweet. I get rich brown sugar notes and toffee mixing with dark fruits. I find some red grape notes and plum. Some fig scents as well. Maybe a little bit of oxidation, but very faint and no real booziness to speak of on the aroma, nice for an 11% brew.
First sip reveals a medium body with sticky texture and fine gentle carbonation. The beer leaves a bit of a coating across my palate with each sip. Feels like a sipping beer even after all this time in the bottle.
Flavor is sweet through and through. I get brown sugar and toffee dominant. This mixes with a little fig and plum notes and faint hints of dark chocolate in the background. The brown sugar is by far the dominant flavor here, and it gets to be a little much towards the end of the 22 oz bottle. I like big syrupy brews and this is one, I could definitely see this being way to sweet for some, but I do enjoy it on a cold Saturday evening. Glad I held onto these cuvee series beers!

 

 

 

 

Cuvee 3, bottle bought along the Delaware River not too far from Philadelphia for $8.99.

Bottled somewhere around 2008-2009? Enjoyed during a rainy, hot late August evening, 2016.

Cuvee 3 was a gusher, exploding in my bare chest and making a sticky mess like a beery bukkake. But this brew is not over-carbonated; just lively and jovial despite the eight years it's been brooding inside the bottle. The color is a deep auburn with a surprisingly hefty white-colored head that lives some lacing behind.

The smell is of sweetness, unhinged sweetness, oh-my-god-delicious-but-I-got-diabetes sugary sweetness. Sugar, toffee, iced-tea, butterscotch. Dyacetil galore.

The taste follows the nose, with added raisins, grapefruit juice and Mad Dog 20-20. Vanilla, toffee, some hops. Nuttiness, caramel. I don't get much oak or barrel-aging, though.

The mouthfeel is rather fine for such an old beer, and overall I am surprised at how good this still is. Drinkable, well preserved, fine. Yessir, it is a sugah bomb... but if you like sweet beers, you'll enjoy this brew. It reminded me of the Mikkeller Foret series I recently had.

Also, and judging by its current sweetness, you could age this another eight years and it'd still be drinkable. The sugar will mellow more and more... Cuvee 3 is like one of those English barleywines you can have after 20 years. I *get* the bad reviews, but can't agree with them.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at some of the reviews I am really scratching my head with this one. I really enjoyed this. It's super sweet. The only thing I had against the beer was the back end and after taste, was a little rubbery tasting.

 

Due to the packaging and the price I may have been expecting substantially more but this had the taste of a failed batch of beer that should never have been sold.

sweet sweet sweet sweet molasses sweet molasses and some more. tastes like unfermented malt extract... no really thats what it tastes like

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, I really wish I would've looked over some reviews before randomly buying this bottle.

Slight gusher open opening. Poured into a ST tulip, a glossy, dark brown color with a slight haze, topped with a cap of off white head; good retention and lacing. All downhill from there. When I first opened the bottle, it actually had a decent aroma somewhat resembling a vinous barleywine. But that quickly turned for the worse. I really don't even know how to accurately describe the horrors of this beer's aroma, but I honestly could not even bring the glass close to my face without throwing up a little in my mouth. Some cloying sweet caramel, grapes, solvent, battery acid, bile...I don't know, rotten raisins maybe? You know that puddle of old flat liquid that pools in the bottom of your bag of recyclables over the course of a week? Maybe that. My palate and all senses were pretty much destroyed at this point, but I held my nose and took a sip. Harsh sulfur, all kinds of cheap booze, varnish, rotten wood, sickeningly sweet rotten fruit. Wow, this was really bad. Not even going to make note of the mouthfeel, because after that one sip, the rest of this went down the drain, and I actually feel bad for my drain because of it.

Easily one of the worst beers I've had from the craft scene, and even when compared to some macros.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A thin, off-white head makes a brief appearance above a reddish, copper, clear ale.

The wine sampler glass presents an overly sweet, spicy, almost rabbit feed, aroma with musty notes, caramel, and vanilla.

As anticipated, this one is exceptionally sweet, with complex spices. However, it is all over the place and confused. Even the finish is sweet, with nuances of dates and prunes.

A full-bodied, syrupy beer that leaves a sticky residue on the lips. Carbonation is modest and alcohol is controlled for 11%.

The sweetness here is over the top and detracting, as are the peculiar spices. It would be difficult to find any suitable pairing to tame this experience. While it is certainly interesting, it is nonetheless difficult to finish the bottle.

Purchased this on a recent trip to NY over Thanksgiving weekend

A - ruby amber with a super-thin lacing of head that fades away instantly

S - huge breadiness, sugar, caramel, and something I can only describe as a baked potato

T - giant bready malts, sugary, some caramel, faint bitterness in the finish, there is some woodiness and oak in the finish, alcohol

M - full bodied, well carbonated, warming alcohol

This is certainly better than it's 3.22 average. I can see where it's a bit unbalanced and not well meshed. Being a blend of Cuvee 1 and 2, it seems that Cuvee 1 is more noticeable. The bready malts come through and dominate but it seems that Cuvee 2 provides a good deal of candy sugar and caramel. I'm glad that I had all 3 of this series. It's been a great privilege to be able to enjoy each one. This isn't the best of the series, but this is nice offering even if it's not the best balanced beer. I'm very glad I tried this beer.