Top Tier

Sorry for the long absence. I swear I haven’t been away so long because of anything you did. Seriously, it’s not you, it’s me. I also want to assure you that I the reason I haven’t been posting is not because I went through some crazy transformation and decided to give up drinking. No, it’ll be a cold day in hell before that happens. Really, it had a lot more to do with my three least favorite things in the universe: stress, stress, and stress. However, certain things have gotten way better so I’m going to focus on that and get back to providing you with quality beer reviews.

Anyways, without further ado, allow me to introduce an absolutely fabulous brewery: Southern Tier

I was first introduced to this wonderful company back in February when Mark told me that he'd had a chocolate stout that he said I was sure to love. This seemed like a dubious claim given that I generally don't like chocolate stouts and increasingly the only time I have a stout of any kind is when drinking one of these. However, I was completely blown away by Southern Tier Choklat. At the next beer festival we went to, I made a beeline for the Southern Tier booth and tried everything they had and each sample was better than the one before it.

Personal favorites would have to be their summer seasonal, Hop Sun, their IPA, and the aforementioned Choklat, but, hell, you should try them all. So far the only Southern Tier brew that I didn’t enjoy was their Jahva, but I’m not a coffee drinker so that really shouldn’t be held against them. Since February, it has become a major topic of conversation in BeerHappensLand as to whether Southern Tier is in fact our favorite brewery. I don’t know if Mark has officially made up his mind yet but I’m ready to give them the crown.

ADDENDUM: I was with Mark and some college friends the past few days for a weekend of nice quiet fun and we picked up a bottle of Souther Tier’s Crème Brulee Stout and I officially have a new Southern Tier favorite. Full disclosure, I’ve never met a crème brulee I didn’t like so maybe I came in with a bias, but let’s not kid ourselves either, this beer is not only delicious, it's a major brewing achievement. How on earth do you make a beer that tastes like the finest of the fine French desserts? It seems absurd to even suggest yet they did it. Once again, hats off to Southern Tier.