Chestnut Praline
Southern Tier Brewing Company

`Not sure on this one paid the premium on this at Gateway grill I think it should have been marked down. Strong Sweetness some butterscotch and vanilla meet some Pine nuts and chestnuts with a bit of what I can only pinpoint as like a alcohol taste which is grainy and slightly off putting. Surely didn't get better with age and not worth picking up at this point, More of a Wee heavy over a winter warmer

 

 

Pours hazy light amber with a thin white head. Nose is caramel and chocolate/coffee. Taste is sweet and strong. Big nutty and caramel/toffee notes. Very good!

Pours a medium amber with little foam. Smell shows nut very strongly (chestnut or hazelnut, I'm not enough of an expert) with a little butterscotch. I've had a lot of nut infused beers, but none have this much nut smell. Taste starts with caramel sweetness, with toasted nuttiness joining second. The finish exhibits strong alcohol. Feel is smooth, lightly syrupy with the alcohol and a touch of carbonation nicely balancing. Overall, this is one of those beers that ends up tasting more like a mixed drink. The sweet, nut and alcohol make for a very tasty drink, just not exactly a beer.

4-pack on discount after the holidays. Another Southern Tier 'dessert' beer, which aren't my favorite. This one has a wonderful copper-gold color and strong aroma. The taste is praline (can't say I would have guessed chestnut rather than, say, hazelnut). It has the illusion of sweetness because of its flavor, but really isn't all that sweet on the back end. It's a rich beer, possibly even a heavy one. Can't taste the booze.

On tap at Southern Tier Brewing – Buffalo.

This one pours a pale orange-ish/amber color, with a small head, and a little bit of lacing.

This smells like butterscotch, caramel, and toasted nuttiness. This is a super inviting aroma.

This is definitely quite sweet, but not quite as overbearingly saccharine as some of the big Southern Tier dessert beers. The aroma is definitely better than the taste here, it’s a bit sugary, but the toasted chestnut vibe feels fairly authentic and not artificial, like some of Southern Tier’s dessert beers.

This is thick, but not quite syrupy, with basically no booziness.

This was pleasantly surprising, not amazing, but definitely solid.

 

 

Served from a 12 oz bottle into a snifter. This beautiful beer was dark gold to light copper with a billowing white head. Aromas were sweet and nutty with underlying alcohol. The flavors were of nuts and syrupy sweet alcohol. I enjoy big, sweet beers, but this was over the top even for me. It was reminiscent of Amaretto Di Saronno liquor, but even more syrupy. Thick, slightly cloying body and moderate creamy carbonation. Bitterness was lost in the sweetness. Moderate alcohol heat. This beer had some interesting characteristics, but it was too sweet and cloying to be truly great.

Pours a pale amber. Thick foam. Caramel aroma. Super sweet praline and caramel body. Nutty finish. Good flavor but a little too sweet for me.

12 FL OZ bottle
Served in a pint glass

This beer pours amber and is topped with an inch of tan head that leaves no lacing.

Nutty and sweet aroma. I get hints of maraschino cherry. Vanilla frosting.

Nutty and sweet flavor. Dessert in a glass

Fuller bodied with a syrupy and smooth mouthfeel

Good dessert beer.

I bought this with Trepidation. (Trepidation is my cousin's cocker spaniel.) I wanted to try a variety of holiday beers, so I went to a place that's great for single bottles and is also pet-friendly. And by "pet" I mean they're good with animals. Not that they're trying to pet...you know, I just didn't get much sleep last night.

Anyway, among...amongst...

Anyway, of the dozen or so singles I picked up, this one was a little more out there in terms of flavor profile.

While...whilst...

Other seasonal brands boast more typical cheery flavors like vanilla, peppermint, chocolate, sugar cookie, ham...no, not ham. But here we have chestnut and praline. Now, chestnuts are sure to conjure memories of the holidays what with their roasting on an open fire and all that. Tragically, they also conjure memories of the vast forests of mighty chestnut tress that used to blanket much of North America before a fungal blight wiped out close to four billions trees in the first half of the 20th century. It is my belief that Southern Tier's intention is to remind us of Christmases of old, and not a virulent disease that nearly wiped out a entire species of economically important hardwood.

That brings us to praline. I don't know what a praline is. I think it might be a dance popular in the southern U.S. Parasols might be involved. Possibly crinoline. Also, I don't know what crinoline is.

The result is a very sweet yet balanced winter warmer that doesn't wear out it's welcome like so many holiday beers do. For me, it conjures thoughts of late summer, toward the end of the social season, sipping sweet tea under a massive American chestnut tree somewhere in the deep south, watching young ladies dance the crinoline, their parasols twirling merrily.

One of the best Southern Tier holiday beers. Nutty and spicy flavors.