Southern Tier Porter (NY)

I like this brewery's Raspberry Porter, which I believe is just a blend of their Raspberry Wheat and this beer, the Porter. "Dark" says the label -- is that a nod to BMC drinkers, who might not be sure what a porter is? It is very dark, nearly black. The aroma reminds me of chocolate liqueur or maybe just chocolate syrup, but the taste is less sweet than that. Roasted chocolate, maybe a touch of charcoal smokiness as well. The body is medium with plenty of small bubbles. There's a cola-like quality to it as well, maybe something acidic, caused by the fact that it isn't a big beer.

Southern Tier owes its reputation mostly to its big imperial brews, but Porter (@5.2%) ranks with their IPA and Hop Sun as really nice session-able beers for when you don't want to be dazzled.

Southern Tier Cherry Saison (NY)

The Southern Tier fruit beers I've had -- Pumking and Raspberry Porter -- aren't shy about allowing the fruitiness to come through. I might have expected the same thing from Cherry Saison, but that's not the case at all. If you fed this to me blind, I might not have guessed either cherry or saison (although the only saison I've ever tried is Ommegang Hennepin, so who knows?).

This pours a thick honey-color with no sign of cherry redness. No cherry aroma either, and ultimately, only a faint cherry taste. The bottle says it was aged with oak, and even here, I have to strain to sense this. Possibly the oak adds to what I perceive as bitterness that runs trhough it. The alcohol is noticeable. It claims to be Imperial, and although its 8% isn't much higher than Hennepin, it feels iy. Is that what you want in a saison? I don't know. ST Cherry Saison isn't dull, but it doesn't seem Belgian to me. It doesn't have the yeastiness, spiciness or tartness I might have expected. Earthy? Maybe. Funky? Not really. Sweet? Not so much. Still, fidelity to style isn't everything, and this doesn't taste bad at all. I do love the creamy body.

Southern Tier recommends drinking this at 40 degrees in a chilled glass. I went a little warmer, but am not sure whether I should have taken their advice to mute the booze or gone warmer still to bring out more flavors. Overall, I'd say this is a minor disappointment from Southern Tier (@ $7.50 a bomber).

Southern Tier Hop Sun (NY)

Looking back, I see I didn't write about this one last year. This hoppy wheat beer is one of my favorite summer brews. It is filtered, pouring sparkling clear gold, with a sustaining its white head. The hops are Centennial, of grapefruit, but also flowery. By the standards of a wheat ale, it's bitter, but not at the level of most APAs, let alone IPAs. It clocks in at 36 IBU and just over 4% ABV. So it's not a blockbuster, but truly a beer for warm days. It also has a nice lemony sweetness to balance it out.

Southern Tier also produces Uber Sun, Hop Sun's heavier brother, but something is necessarily lost in the upgrade.

Southern Tier Big Red (NY)

I paid $5.49 for a bomber of ol' Big Red. Described as an "Imperial Red Ale," the labels says it's 9.5% ABV, 93 IBUs, and both kettled and fragranced with "reliable" Hallertau hops. It also says to drink this at 42 degrees, but I think I went a little warmer than that.

It pours orange/brown rather than red, and looks pretty thick. What aroma there is is slightly earthy, slightly citrusy (oranges?). For all the IBUs, Big Red is more malt bomb than hop bomb. It's sweet, slightly spicy and floral, I think, with some hops to frame it. The taste has a certain aspect -- I can't quite put my finger on it -- that reminds me of other Southern Tier brews, such as the summer seasonal Hop Sun. It's also fair to say that the high alcohol doesn't really come through. What would slow me down isn't the booze, it's the body, which is quite full and softly fizzed. This isn't a guzzler.

I found an article about the brewery which claims Big Red is the only ST imperial beer not to catch on. One problem may be the packaging: tractor on the label, "as dependable as your old grandpa's tractor." Does this sound enticing to you? Another possibility is that Southern Tier produces better beers in its imperial line. This isn't their best, but is a pretty fine beer nonetheless.

Southern Tier Raspberry Porter (NY)

I've never had Southern Tier's Porter or Raspberry Wheat beers. Perhaps the Raspberry Porter is just a blend of the two. It pours very dark, nearly opaque, and only by holding it up to the light can I see any shades of red. The smell is definitely of raspberries. Specifcally, rapsberry seltzer water. That's okay; I don't really expect bottled beer to smell like a pint of fresh raspberries.

The taste is predominantly rapsberry too, nicely balanced between sweet and tart, with some roasted malt in the background. The finish tries to pull back with some dryness, but it's still mostly berries. About their porter, Southern Tier cautions that dark beers are not necessarily strong, and that's true of Raspebrry Porter. The alcohol isn't high, the body is medium at most, and the malts aren't really rich. It's extremely drinkable, though. I really like it, but shouldn't have waited until winter to try it.

I think this is one for those who complain that fruit beers are too light or inspid. It might not convince porter purists, dark beer fanatics, or those who can't abide berries in their beer.

Southern Tier Harvest Ale (NY)

This is a fall seasonal, and I had assumed it was ST's Oktoberfest lager (though I guess it says "ale" right on the label). The website calls it a "classic English style Extra Special Bitter of the highest order."

Slightly hazy glden in color, it produces a lasting pure white, lacy head. Harvest Ale proves to be a fairly hoppy APA, but it isn't all bitterness. There's some citrusy hops to be sure, and secondary sweetness. But there's also an unusual bite to it that isn't the bitterness or the sharp carbonation. Overall, it tastes very fresh (though it isn't fresh-hopped like some other harvest ales).

This is another good beer from Southern Tier, better than Phin & Matt's but maybe not as nice as their IPA.

Southern Tier Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale (NY)

Another one from Southern Tier, Phin & Matt's is in fact a pale ale. As mentioned, the brewery's balanced IPA isn't any kind of hop blast, IMO, and their summer wheat beer (Hop Sun, which I have yet to review on this site) is actually a fairly hoppy concoction. So what space does that leave for Phin & Matt's?

It isn't a bitter pale ale. The aroma suggests grapefruit, but there wasn't all that much of that in the taste. It seems lemony to me, and somewhat sweet. It's less bitter than nearly all of the other pale ales I've reviewed so far. Balance is the name of the game. The biggest positives may be the attractive lacy head and the crisp finish. This really should be drunk in warmer weather.

More ordinary than extraordinary, but it's nonetheless a decent beer.

Southern Tier Pumking (NY)

I paid $5.99 for a bomber of this. Wortwurst over at A Roughneck's Take on Beer says the price is "ghastly," but I'm guessing he paid more for it to cross state borders. This ale has 9% ABV and includes pureed pumpkin alongisde 2-row malt, caramel malt, and magnum and sterling hops.

Abiding the bottle instructions, I chilled this to 40 degrees before drinking, although it warmed up a bit before I finished. The aroma of this copper-colored brew is mostly pumkpin pie, but also a bit of bubblegum or candy corn. It is sweet. The taste is along similar lines, but with a boost of vanilla. If it's pumpkin pie, it has whipped cream on top. Or maybe it's pumpkin ice cream. It's only near the end when I detect some hops and remember that I'm drinking beer. There are appropriate spices as well, most notably nutmeg. All things considered, I think the taste is a bit much. More positively, I don't really sense the alcohol and the body is good: medium-to-full with plenty of fizz.

Many people love this seasonal, although I can imagine others hating it. I'm somewhere in between. I'm glad I tried it -- it really is something else -- but can take it only in small doses.

Southern Tier IPA (NY)

Southern Tier Brewing has only been around a few years -- Lew Bryson's 2003 book New York Breweries doesn't even mention it -- but has already become one of New York State's top breweries. They're apparently doing a great job with distribution. My nearby Wegmans has shelves stocked with Southern Tier bombers near the back of the produce department (it's also sold in the walk-in beer cooler). I imagine any brewery would love to have that space.


Southern Tier makes a number of "special" beers, but this IPA is one of their standards. The name of the game here is balance. This isn't particularly bitter, not because it lacks flavor, but because it has other things going on. The hop bite is citrus and (to a lesser extent) pine. There's a malty backbone to it as well, and it leaves a pleasant, long aftertaste. I could drink a bunch of these. I recommend this highly, except perhaps for those who want their IPAs to be extreme. For newbies, I would think this would make a great introduction to the style.