Cheat Day
Southern Tier Brewing Company

I found a new Southern Tier beer while checking out my local store. Cheat Day is a self described brownie swirl ice cream imperial ale at 8.6% ABV. It pours a transparent Brown with a white head. The nose smells of pecan and molasses/burnt sugar. The taste disappears for several seconds before the pecan and burnt sugar shows up for the rest of the sip. The mouthfeel is super light, lasting less than the residual flavor. I would pass on this, their Blackwater Series has better options.

Very tasty! The ice cream flavors come through without being gimmicky.

 

 

 

 

Picked up a single as part of a Wegmans mix-six pack. 12 oz bottle poured into a tulip glass. I was expecting a stout so I was surprised by the light brown color. Quickly fading head. Aroma and flavor feature sweet caramel, brown sugar, and some chocolate. Fizzy, boozy, but not thin mouthfeel. Overall, I think this would be better as a stout, although it's more unique as it is. Not a beer I'll be purchasing again.

The mouthfeel on mine was a bit more than I expected from the pour. Aroma is sweet vanilla ice cream, taste is kinda sundae made with rum and kahlua. I can deal with the sticky, maybe more vanilla than my taste.

Pours murky, light brown in color with one quarter inch head. Taste us milk chocolate, vanilla water, and aspartame. Medium body, low carbonation, sweet. Southern Tier, please get rid of the aspartame taste. You are losing my circle of trust banner. Not bad but aspartame is so noticeable on the aftertaste. This would have been great 25 years ago but now feels fake. Not bad if you live in a beer wasteland but I feel I wasted money on something as fake as Walmart bottled water....Southern Tier, you used to be kings....return please.

Full-bodied it must be, as the pours that emptied two twelve ounce brown bottles entirely into a clear liter mug produced much foam. In fairness, the beer was at room temperature. The excessive head was light tan, tightly knit and receded slowly and evenly. The brew itself is brown-amber and relatively dull and cloudy. It smells complexly sweet, with notes of vanilla and nutmeg. It is flavorful and sweet, but to an acceptable level for what it strives to be. As with the aroma, the sweetness is complex enough to be appreciated for more than just being sweet. The notes of vanilla and spices carry over from its nose hit to the tongue. The earthiness of brown instead of white refined sugar certainly helps. There's not as much chocolate to find as could be expected. It's also not as full-bodied as it appeared it would be. That's not a bad thing, as lactose infused beers can get a little too sticky. This has a nice balance of the milk solids adding to the body, without muddling the flavors, nor making this drink too heavily. Overall, as a dessert beer, it's OK, maybe a little better. The taste layers beneath the complex sweetness aren't present enough to make this a rich taste treat. Its mouthfeel isn't exceptional for a dessert beer, as the slight glass lacing attests. The high level of alcohol is nicely delivered. It's a good, but not great member of its style.