Southern Tier Choklat

Chocolate stout has taken over my mind. It is all I think about when trying to find new beers. And as I mentioned last week it isn’t going to stop this week. Although I do admit, I really need to find a new style that I at least want to try. Ok, so moving on, I am a little late in bringing you this review because I got in a deep discussion with my brother-in-law about the difference in ‘draft’ beer and ‘draught’ beer. He didn’t like the answer I gave him, that they are one in the same, just American vs. UK basically. So 20 minutes later I get to try the Southern Tier Choklat that I have been dying to try.

Choklat – Southern Tier Brewing Co

It pours like you would expect, em, black. I was disappointed in the head or rather lack thereof and I always think to myself when a beer doesn’t pour with a good head, is it flat, is the glass not ‘beer’ clean, did I pour it wrong, who knows, I really try my best to do all of those things correctly. But I will admit that pouring a beer from a 64 oz. growler isn’t the easiest thing to do. It doesn’t taste flat so maybe it is the way I had to pour it. The smell is probably the chocolatiest beer I have ever smelled, and yes, this time I do mean chocolate as in a candy bar chocolate. The taste is really smooth at first but then you get just a hint of burnt bittersweet baker’s chocolate coming out. The alcohol flavor doesn’t really hit you in the taste but rather on your stomach, like you just took a small shoot of bourbon but not nearly that heavy. You know you’re not drinking the standard 5% abv but it isn’t like you can taste it like some of the other 10+% abv beers out there. So this beer poses a unique issue, it hides the alcohol so well and taste so good that you want to just really chug it down but after the second or third swallow you know you are dealing with a serious beer and you better be careful.

So, remember if anybody out there has some ideas for how I can get of this chocolate stout kick I’m on, well, I’m all ears. In the mean time, drink up cause there is plenty more where that came from. Cheers beer friend.

FourBoysBrewPub!

Hop Sun Summer Wheat

Ok, so I missed my first week. Technically, I didn’t but I will take the blame since I usually post the weekly reviews on Friday. See, what had happened was…I wanted to take the pictures of this beer with something summery in the background. We were planning to go to my mom’s house last Sunday to go swimming. Perfect, I’ll take the pictures and right my notes down there, by the POOL. Well, I did that but when I got home, what, where is my camera, are you serious, yep, I left it down there at ma’s house. Now, that shouldn’t be a big deal, just go over there and get it right, well it’s an hour drive, one way. So this week we will get a two-fer, but each will still have its own post.


So, without any more lame excuses, here it is

Hop Sun – Summer Wheat Beer – Southern Tier Brewing Co.

Hard to believe this is a wheat beer as crystal clear as it pours. Nice bright pale yellow with a foamy white head. You can most definitely smell some floral hops and citrus hops here. A bright crisp clean first taste that is followed by the bitterness from the hops, but it doesn’t leave any after taste most hoppy beers give. I must say, could quite possibly be the perfect summer time, sitting by the pool, doing nothing beer. Cheers!

FourBoysBrewPub!

Southern Tier - 422

Well he we are, Friday before Memorial Day. First and foremost let me give a big thanks to all those who have served our nation, it takes a special type of person to put their life on the line for someone they have never met. We cannot even begin to repay their families for their sacrifice, but here is my humble thanks.

This week’s beer grabbed my attention because it mixes two of my favorite styles, Pale Ale and Wheat Beer. So we have a Pale Wheat Ale from Southern Tier…422. Label says make everyday Earth Day. Now, I’m not one of those tree huggers or anything but I also would like to think we can keep the place we call home a little cleaner so our kids and grandkids can enjoy themselves, moderation is the key.

Ok, the beer, it pours a golden orange with just a slight hue, not crystal clear or super hazy, kind of in the middle. It has a nice head that settles to nice thin cap. The scent is bursting with hops with a little wheat hiding in the background, basically what you would think you get mixing the two styles. The taste however is almost the opposite of the scent, wheat dominating and the hops being subtle. It works very nicely though I must say. Much like a good springtime/summertime wheat beer it doesn’t come across as being heavy and would lend itself to multiplicity. Hey, if I can have a good beer like this and it somehow help the ‘earthies’, I can live with that.

So fire up the grill, clean the pool and relax on this 3 day weekend, and don’t forget those who have given us the freedom to do so. Cheers beer friend and military veteran, this beer is on me.

FourBoysBrewPub!