Thoughts on Southern Tier

I've had choklat and creme brulee so far. They're both very good, but it would be nice if they were available in 4-packs. I had a bomber of CB once and struggled to get through it. Other than pumpking, which is overrated IMO, I haven't had anything else from them.

 

Oat was not great IMO, a bit astringent for me. Choklat though is fantastic and I have a bottle of CB and Mokah on hand right now I need to try.

 

I think that Southern Tier's entire lineup is underrated. But their Blackwater series is definitely, the highlight, with Chokolat by far being my favorite chocolate stout.

 

The Blackwater series is incredible, and I still think Creme Brûlée gets a worse rap around here than it deserves.

 

Creme Brulee was really good, but too sweet to enjoy a lot of it, would have been better in 12 oz bottles imo.
Choklat was fantastic.
Big fan of Pumpking, not my favorite pumpkin beer, but it's up there.
2XMas was really good for a winter beer, tastes like Christmas.
Plum Noire was decent and very, very plummy.

I don't think I've ever really been let down by any ST brew. Can't wait to try the Mokah I have waiting for me in the garage.

 

I agree they're underrated -- not necessarily great, but all their stuff is solid, including 2x stout (which was mentioned earlier). And one nobody has brought up is Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale -- that was pretty much my introduction to craft beer, and is a very smooth APA.

 

I find many of ST beers to be very enjoyable, i like the brewery as a whole. I would say they are a very good but not great brewery.

 

Southern Tier produces some excellent brews. Creme Brulee was excellent. Next time, I'm going to make a vanilla float with it for dessert.

 

They make a lot of stuff that I really enjoy, some stuff kind of that miss the mark (Old Man, Eurotrash Pils), and some stuff that don't really interest me at all (ironically, a lot of which is in the op- flavored stouts and dessert beers).

The stuff I enjoy are definitely good enough to be in in my regular rotation- all of the 2X beers, Harvest (my fave American ESB), many seasonals (including Hop Sun, Krampus). Plus Grand Arbor, the saison, was one of my very pleasant surprises of the spring; it's a superb beer.

Overall I really am happy they are around, and there's plenty of variety to boot.

 

Choklat and Pumking are great beers, but are pretty much the only two ST beers I buy.

 

LIKE

 

I love Southern Tier. They always seem to be very consistently good to great for me. They are a brewery where if a new release is coming out, I will always buy it. the whole 2X series has been really good, though I seem to be the only one that liked 2X Steam. Their 422 APWA is excellent IMO as well, one of my favorites of that style. And Harvest ale is my favorite ESB that is not made in the UK. And of course blackwater is great across the board. So many people say Creme Brulee is too sweet, but every time I have it I can finish the whole bottle and it never gets cloying. But I havent had a well aged bottle. There is enough hop bitterness to balance it when it's fresh. They always seem to be very consistent across multiple styles. One of the reasons I am a big fan of them.

 

2x IPA in a growler was real nice, I'm going to try mokah and choklat.

 

I've had 17 of their beers and my scores are usually above the average. I'd love to have ST available in my area.

 

ST can be hit or miss, but I ultimately rate them highly..

 

I like, but don't love ST. They seem to be more well known for their stouts which I think are good but not great. Since their stouts are so popular I think it overshadows their IPA and pales which I think are actually under the radar solid beers. Can be over priced too. Never had a beer from them I haven liked wight he exception of Warlock.

 

When super fresh, 2XIPA is one of the best dipa I have ever had, but falls off a cliff pretty rapidly imo. Problem is, I have only had that experience once in my life...a real dust collector, though its nice the started putting dates on bottles a while ago.

 

Southern Tier is one of those breweries that i can always count on to have something good on the shelf year round. I also think that creme brulee gets a bad rap for tasting just like the dessert it is named for. This year they even made a weizenbock. Go figure. I can live without some of their stuff like Krampus and the milkstout but the 2X beers are all excellent in my opinion. The IPA is good, the stouts are good, even the black IPA is good and I don't usually like those. The 2XONE series should prove to be something to look forward to each year.