Bold fleshy-headed tawny amber from Adirondack Mountains. Grassy-hopped wheat chaff receives lemony grapefruit-mango tang over sweet yeast affluence. Herbal peppercorn, floral rosebud, and tinny copper ale illusions arrive midway. Sour-fruited respite deepens backend piney bitterness.
SOUTHERN TIER IMPERIAL PUMKING ALE
Wondrous autumnal ale soaks brown-sugared gingerbread cookie entry with penetrative pumpkin pie spicing. Floral white-peppered cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg seasoning speckles cornbread-buttered pumpkin muffin midst. Vanilla-glazed sweetness endures above cotton candy, rum raisin, banana bread and apple butter illusions. At busy pie-crusted pumpkin-pureed pastry finish, alcohol-burnt Amaretto, almondine and hazelnut coffee adjuncts rise to creamy top. On tap at Blue Ribbon Tavern (2014), heady cinnamon-toasted pumpkin pie theme picked up refreshing fern-like minting.
SOUTHERN TIER KRAMPUS IMPERIAL HELLES LAGER
Unconventional rocky tan-headed amber-hazed medium-bodied Munich-styled helles lager (nicknamed after Krampus, a fanged Christmas devil) reveals ambitious moderate-bodied India Pale Ale character hop-heads will find unexpectedly profound. Brashly inventive, its woody Chinook hop bittering, usually reserved for dryer pale ales, adds wintry evergreen pining to floral fruited frequency of inventive hybrid. Sugared malts sweeten apple-candied peach-pineapple-melon tang and juicy grapefruit sourness girding boozy 9% alcohol whir. Herbaceous white-peppered ginger-spearmint reminder adds further depth. ‘Diabolical,’ indeed.
SOUTHERN TIER IMPERIAL CREME BRULEE STOUT
Unrivalled lactose stout (brewed with vanilla beans) retains intimate creme brulee warmth, replicating a Sugar Daddy candy bar at its opulent butterscotch finish. Syrupy dark caramel malting bulks up liqueur-like Sambuca, Kahlua, bourbon and Bailey’s Irish Cream sweetness as well as tertiary cappuccino, rum raisin, Black Forest cake, bananas foster, and French vanilla ice cream illusions. Maple-sapped chocolate pecan, white chocolate, and cocoa creaminess reinforces cumulative mocha theme. A relaxing nightcap with mind-bending 10% alcohol amplification. On tap at Andy’s Corner Bar, luscious creme brulee creaming thickened while caramel-burnt toffee follow-up and bourbon whiskey spell get heightened.
SOUTHERN TIER IMPERIAL CHERRY SAISON
Complacent golden-bronzed candi-sugared Belgian-styled saison (aged with French oak staves) retains abstract spicy fruiting, dismal acidic souring, and cork-y residue. Submerged oak-aged cherry tartness puckers tenuous dry hop bittering to unstable cereal-grained base. Indirect lemony orange-peeled grapefruit modesty lacks aggression. Distant cranberry, banana, and clove illusions fall away as cotton-candied cherry jubilee illusion beckons.
SOUTHERN TIER HOP SUN SUMMER WHEAT
Lively lemon-limed grapefruit souring gets pleasing white-pepperd coriander-rosemary spicing and bitter piney hop linger before herbal white ale finish completes score.
SOUTHERN TIER HARVEST ALE
Brawny straw-hued brew lacks expectant gourd-spiced autumnal character. Soft lemony grapefruit fizz positioned atop herbaceous floral-hopped bed as red apple, pear, and melon illusions add IPA ambience. Fresh-cut grass and wet hay dry out grainy mineral resins.
SOUTHERN TIER GEMINI IMPERIAL ALE
Meritorious citric-soured nickel-hued alcohol-burned strong ale blends floral-dabbed hop tingle and juniper-bitten grapefruit-orange peel bittering into remedial sugar cookie sweetness. Grassy hay-horsehide-barnyard waft matches earthen wheat-straw/ wild oats backdrop aiding intricate concoction.
SOUTHERN TIER CHOKLAT STOUT
Astonishing creamy chocolate malted theme dominates fabulous Imperial stout. Super-sweet milk chocolate-y frontage benefits from residual vanilla, hazelnut, and cherry cordial illusions heightening thickened chocolate cake finish. Compares favorably to Young’s Double Chocolate and Rogue Chocolate Stout.
SOUTHERN TIER BIG RED ALE
Spicy floral hop tingle juxtaposes biscuit-y cereal-grained cornmeal sweetness. Ripe red grape-cherry-nectarine fruiting girded by grassy earthiness. Cracked wheat spine gets cardboard-y and reticent chocolate malting tails off, but pulpy center maintains.
SOUTHERN TIER BELGIAN STYLE TRIPEL ALE
Thin translucent gold flop buries candied Belgian sugar, mild orange-apricot-banana sop, and subdued cracked wheat spine beneath solvent diacetyl grimness. Even its silky hop bittering gets phenol.
SOUTHERN TIER BACK BURNER BARLEYWINE
Clear chestnut-amber hue too tepid for robust barleywine class. Neither chewy nor gooey enough to convince discriminating aficionados. Oaken Chinook hop dryness counters brown sugared molasses fade, reclining red cherry sway, tucked-in peach-pear dash, and finishing bruised orange upsurge. Wispy spiced rum-Courvoisier lilt fails to ignite.