Salted Caramel Imperial Ale
Southern Tier Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

12 oz bottle from my friend Cullen. Best by 10/13/21. Into Bomb snifter.

Pours an as-predicted root beer color with shades of tea, 20% transparent, with a grey fingernail of head.

Aroma is salted caramel squares and pretzel. I can practically taste the chewy homemade caramel already. Let's see how it translates.

Caramel comes through nicely, with an equal intermingling of salt and bitterness. Strong imperial amber ale characteristics. It's not too sweet though I could have used a touch more sweetness. This is more like licking the bottom side of the wax paper that the caramel was on. Some hints of sweet caramel square on the finish. The rest of it drinks like a heavy amber ale.

Feel is slick and wet with lots of heat, some busy carbonation, and a drying finish. Medium bodied. Reminds me of Alltech's barrel offerings.

Overall, a pretty decent beer, not sure I'd be pining for it again though. They have done better in their dessert series.

 

 

A great surprise for an imperial ale, great surprise...

Most imperials I drink are bourbon barrel aged and stouts or porters, this being an ale was different from what I normally come across. Boy, was I impressed. The beer had a nice gradient hue of very dark caramel in color with a smell that is full of salted caramel. Truly a special offering from ST, a seasonal I will be on the lookout from here on out...

 

12 FL OZ bottle
Served in a nonic pint glass

This beer pours a deep brown color with mahogany highlights. It is topped with an inch of tan head that leaves some nice lacing,

It has a sweet caramel sauce aroma.

The taste is sweet but not cloying. I get a buttload of caramel and not much else.

Medium bodied with a smooth mouthfeel

This is a sweet, dessert beer. I think giving the caramel treatment to a stout or adding some other flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, or coffee to this beer would have made it not so one dimensional. Of course, that is not what they were going for. It is just a personal preference on my part. It is good for what it is, a caramel, dessert ale.

Pours deep amber with a 1/2 inch tan head. Moderate lacing.

Aroma of caramel, maple, molasses.

Taste is caramel, salt, maple, molasses.

Medium bodied, lively carbonation. Oily, sweet, salty finish.

Wow! One of the best Southern Tier beers. Outstanding!

 

12 oz bottle, vintage 10/2020, poured into a Untappd 10 year birthday glass at 50 degrees F:
L - dark brown with a head that dissipated quickly
S - caramel, butterscotch
T - caramel, butterscotch, sea salt is understated, but it is there
F - medium mouthfeel and carbonation
O - very nice flavor, heavy on caramel and butterscotch

L - Rich brown with a light tan head that dissipates somewhat quickly leaving behind minimal lacing.
S - Rich, sweet, salted caramel and malt
T - Follows the nose: rich, sweet, salted caramel up front and throughout along with sweet roasted malts and toffee. Some nuttiness as well.
F - Medium bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O - Pretty straight forward - salted caramel ale that promises on the flavors. Solid beer.

 

This had to be a least three years old when I popped the cap. It was kinda of hidden in the back of my beer closet. I had a “friend” who is not to bright so I had him try it first. You know, quality comptroller”. He gave it a thumbs up and I tried mine and it was pretty damned good. Poured dark, had a lot of smell to it and we slowly finished it off to kudos

 

 

 

I was very excited to see this Bottle (eek!) available as a single during one of my recent visits to the Friendly Greek Bottle Shop (FGBS)! I have long been a fan of Southern Tier BC & their beers plus I like the taste of salted caramel despite generally eschewing sweets. There is something about sea salt that speaks to me as a retired Navy sailor. For this one, I even splurged & bought a bag of Herr's Salted Caramel Enrobed Pretzels as an accompaniment. Pretzels & beer are a south-central PA staple as mentioned in my review of Aldus Pretzel Ale so this was a no-brainer. Good thing, since I have no brain remaining. ;=)

From the Bottle (wow!): "Ale brewed with pink Himalayan sea salt and natural caramel flavor"; "Made with milk sugar".

I Pop!ped the cap & started a slow, steady C-Line pour into the awaiting glass. It foamed mightily to form two-plus fingers of fizzy, foamy, roiling, deep-tan head with extremely limited retention. Color was a gorgeous Coppery-Brown (SRM = > 17, < 22) with button-brightness for clarity. 8=O Nose was quite sweet with a definite caramel bent, but I was not getting the sea salt as intensely as I would have liked. Mouthfeel was medium, but very solid, almost still in the mouth & on the tongue. The taste was (thankfully, for me) MUCH less sweet than the nose had led me to gird myself for/against. It certainly tasted like caramel, but I would have liked a more assertive presence from the salt. The salt had a perceptible presence, but only barely. I was sorely tempted to grind some pink Himalayan sea salt of my own into it as I drank through it. I restrained myself from doing so, especially since the pretzels definitely brought a nice saltiness to the equation. They were an inspired purchase on my part! Mmm. Finish was semi-sweet & commendable for keeping its sweetness in check. This could have easily been a sugary malt bomb, but it was not. It appears that I can be aged for up to a year, so I may buy another bottle to do just this. YMMV.