Ah, Sugar Sugar: Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout

Last week I finally got around to opening the Southern Tier Creme Brulee Imperial Milk Stout. This is part of their Blackwater Imperial Stout series, and is a summer seasonal (!?!). Imperial stouts are typically higher in alcohol than other stouts - as is this one, at 9.6% abv - and are sometimes finished in liquor barrels, like whiskey or bourbon. Milk stouts include lactose, a sugar derived from milk. Beer yeast can't convert lactose, so the sugar sticks around to add sweetness to the beer. To the Creme Brulee Imperial, Southern Tier added vanilla bean and dark caramel malt.
 
I was especially excited about this beer. I absolutely love stouts, and I love sweet stuff. This seemed to be the perfect combination.
 
I poured my Creme Brulee into a pint glass (my reward for running the beer-less Tipple's Beer Run). Only after pouring did I realize the bottle's label instructs the drinker to pour it into a chilled snifter. Which is just as well, as that's the one glass I don't own.
 
The beer is used-engine-oil black, with a dark tan head that lasts quite some time. The aroma will knock you over - it is SWEET. Holy moses, is it ever. You could put this out when your Vanilla Cupcake candle from Yankee Candle burns away. To be fair, if you like sweet, that's not a bad thing. It's a delicious, caramelly, yummy aroma.
 
I took a sip, and to misuse a metaphor, the carpet matches the drapes. Good Lord Almighty, SUGAR RUSH. After the sugar, somewhere in there I tasted roasted coffee, and finished with a hell of a lot of booze. This is dessert in a bottle.   
 
Surprisingly, I found myself having a hard time finishing it. This is a lot of SWEET for one sitting. While the initial sips were delicious, I do believe this is too much of a good thing. I never thought I'd say it, but this is just too sweet. At 22 ounces, the Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout would make a great after-dinner drink with someone snuggly--IF they like sugary booze.
 
I've had other milk stouts before (Left Hand Milk Stout). Perhaps I should try another type of imperial stout. This is my first one, so others might be different. I don't think it's the booziness, per se, as my beloved Belgian browns are pretty high in alcohol as well.

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LL Cool B . . . ladies love cool beer

I know I promised a review of the Southern Tier Creme Brulee Imperial Milk Stout, but I haven't drank it yet - things that don't combine well with sitting down and enjoying a beer thoroughly keep getting in the way. Like a seven-year old's birthday party. And co-ed softball games (which apparently match well with Jello shots and cheap beer).

  But I was so pleased to see Ladies of Craft Beer founder (and president) Stevie Caldarola give a little shout-out to Tampa, Florida brewery Cigar City, reviewing (along with several other beers) their Big Sound Scotch Ale, I had to share:

 

Let me just start off by saying that Cigar City may just be my favorite brewery.  These guys have yet to fail me on a brew- everything that they offer is well thought out and really delicious.  Big Sound stays true to my word on this.  The beautiful cloudy cherry mohagony brew had one of the biggest noses of the night with a chewy toffee bread flair, similar to that of Panera’s Cinnamon Crunch Bagel.  Monkey bread, a bready peel off cake dish smothered in toffee, caramel gooey-ness.  Cherry rock candy meets toffee cookie in this huge and complex brew.  Yum!

 
I have had a couple Scotch ales before and liked them, but this sound deeeeeelicious!

  You should check out the LOC blog, by the way - even if you're not a lady. These dames know their beer.

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The Mistaken Identity of Sawtooth Ale

For the record, I didn't drink this beer - my husband did. I mistakenly bought it for him thinking it was an IPA. Left Hand Brewing's Sawtooth Ale is an ESB. I had to go look that up - "Extra-special beer?"
 
Nope, ESB stands for Extra Special/Strong Bitter. It's an ale (and, incidentally, ESB is an actual brand name is England). It's like a pale ale, but--despite the "bitter" in its name--it's not as hop-driven as an American IPA, which is why my husband was a little disappointed with it. I asked him to compare it to his standard - Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
 
"It's not as complex as Sierra Nevada. It's very smooth; it's not bad." We also both noted the lack of hoppy aroma that a typical American IPA will smack you with. I took a sip, and he was right - it was smoother than an American pale ale, and definitely didn't have as much going on in a mouthful that Sierra Nevada does. But I suppose it's not fair to compare it to an IPA if that's not what it is, right? I'll have to ask him to compare it to Red Hook ESB, another beer he likes. I think it will compare more favorably with another ESB. The Alstrom Bros like it, after all.
 
I bought myself a big 'ol bottle of Southern Tier Creme Brulee Imperial Milk Stout. Since we were leaving soon after I arrived with our bounty from Dorn's, I haven't opened it yet - at 22 ounces (and 9.6% ABV, yikes!), I want to be able to enjoy the whole thing, not swig it down and rush out the door. So I'll be back with my thoughts on that one. 

 

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"Dark" from McSorley's

My husband and I recently visited friends in New York. Well, they actually live across the river in Teaneck, New Jersey, but we spent most of our time in The City. I was hoping to try several different kinds of beer while I was there, but most of the places we went to serve the standard Stella, Guinness, Blue Moon, and the typical light American lagers.
 
One exception to this rule was McSorley's Old Ale House. Even if you've never heard of it before, you'll know walking in that it's the oldest continuously running bar in New York City - because it says as much on the front: "This is our 156 year and ale is well," plus "We were here before you were born." If this place hasn't been used as a set for a period piece, it probably wasn't from lacking of effort on the director's part. I'm pretty sure the decor hasn't changed since it opened - simply added to. It's basically one big room, with a bar up front and big, family-sized tables in the back (along with a fireplace). I couldn't tell you much more because the place was PACKED to the gills with people. But the walls are covered with memorabilia - photos, articles about the bar, art (including several prints of the bar by noted artists and illustrators); you could barely see the walls. This must be from where Applebee's and Chili's stole their interior design aesthetic.
 
We were lucky to get four seats at a table with some friendly young men (who later would lead us in some sort of raucous soccer cheer/song). A rather grizzled, middle-aged man walks up:
 
"Dark or light?"
 
That's it - those are your choices at McSorley's. Nothing but ale. They are house beers, brewed for the bar by ... someone. The bar's web site says Pabst, Beer Advocate says it's no longer brewed. It was originally brewed by a local brewery, Fidelio, up until World War II. The McSorley beer was then made by several more breweries, each getting bought out by a larger one, the last being Pabst, states the web site.
 
But anyway. There's a light lager-looking beer and the dark-ish ale we ordered. A very dark amber color; hold it up to the light, and it's almost purple. They serve beer in small glass mugs, two at a time. And they only take cash. I suppose when you've been around for over a century, you pretty much get to make up the rules.
 
The dark ale is very good - lighter than a stout, but with nice flavor. And it goes down easy (probably too easy). Did I mention they just keep bringing them, un-asked, until you holler uncle?
 
I loved the place - loud, cheerful, I felt at home. And the history is undeniably alluring. Being a drinking establishment, and thus a man's retreat from the world, women were not allowed in McSorley's. Even when ownership fell to the adult daughter of the third owner (and first non-McSorley) in 1939 - she never entered the bar except on Sundays when it was closed. She handed day-to-day management to her husband. It wasn't until 1970 that women were permitted entrance, thanks to Faith Seidenberg and Karen DeCrow, attorneys for the National Organization for Women, who sued for sexual discrimination in 1969 and won.
 
I, for one, am thankful for that.

 

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Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale: It's Pretty Delicious

It occurred to me while in the grocery store recently, that while my efforts to be cost-conscious and buy my beloved Cheap Beer are good for my budget, they weren't helping promote my efforts to write a beer blog. I mean, I love me some Miller Lite, but even I wouldn't read a Miller Lite Blog.
 
This epiphany came at just the right moment, too, because what should appear on the beer cooler's shelves but the autumn seasonal from Sierra Nevada--a brown ale called Tumbler. I didn't even pause to read the description - brown ale? Hell yeah!
 
I'm a sucker for labels. I keep my favorites (that St. Somewhere Saison bottle is still on the kitchen windowsill). While Tumbler doesn't live up to sill-worthiness, it is a very pretty label. Lovely fall colors, a scene right out of New England--or some other fairytale place where the leaves actually change color and the air turns cool and crisp.
 
It poured with a lot of decent head; I tended to dinner (lasagna) while I waited to finish pouring the bottle. And it's the prettiest color: deep brown, but not completely opaque. After the head settled, it actually looked like a slightly flat Coke.
 
I was pleased with how malty it was. Of course it was still a bit hoppy--it is Sierra Nevada, after all; hops are their crack, I think--but not nearly as herbal-perfumey as their pale ale. Very smooth, pretty damn delicious! Out of all the Sierra Nevadas I've tried, this Tumbler is my favorite by far.
 
I first thought to write, "What a shame that it's a seasonal!" But as with the seasons, and more so the holidays, the anticipation and waiting for something truly heightens my pleasure of finally experiencing it. Christmas all year long would be a drag; but I look forward to the holiday season (that I officially put at Halloween, screw the marketers and their September pumpkins/costumes/candy). That could be part of the reason Sam Adams' Octoberfest didn't quite feel right in AUGUST, even as I drank it in my local watering hole anyway. So while I'll be sad when the winter Celebration beer takes Tumbler's place on the shelves in a few months, it will give me something to look forward to in next year's dog days of summer.
 
(Which, this being Florida, are actually still upon us. It's been in the low 90s during the day here. Although it seems to be warm Up North as well. Heck, it was warm enough in Philadelphia last night to make the players of the Atlanta-Philly game sweat their asses off. Damn Phillies.)
 
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P.S. I hear (via the Brookston Beer Bulletin) that Guiness Foreign Extra Stout is finally returning to the U.S. - I will very interested in trying it, although with a description like "GUINNESS Foreign Extra Stout (FES) is brewed with the highest hop rate of all the GUINNESS variants," I'm a little wary.

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Congratulations to the one Florida brewery that won in the GABF

Jay (hope that's not too familiar) at the Brookston Beer Bulletin listed the winners at the Great American Beer Festival, held earlier this month in Colorado. I can't say that I'm surprised, but it was still a bit of a bummer to see that Florida is only listed once. But, as I noted on his post, how many Florida entries were there?

  So, on the sunny side, let's give some big congratulations to Cigar City Beer in Tampa for its Humidor India Pale Ale, which won a Silver in Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer (out of 32 entries in this category)! I have yet to try any of the Cigar City Beers, although their Bolita Brown sounds interesting.

  I did just come back from New York City (cue the cowboys: "New York City?!?!") where I didn't get to try as many beers as I would have imagined. I ended up drinking Guinness more often than not (oh, poor me, I know). I'll have to get my notes together for a real post on my trip, because I did get to try one very interesting beer...

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Major Beer Birthday

Today - Sept. 17 - is beer writer Stan Hieronymus' birthday. His blog, http://appellationbeer.com/blog/ (sorry, I'm typing on my phone from the airport) was very influential in me becoming a beer blogger. I have learned much of what I know about beer beyond Miller Lite from him. Happy birthday, Mr. Hieronymus! I'm traveling to New York this weekend to visit friends - hopefully I'll get to try some new and exciting beer!

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