Beer Review - Warlock

Southern Tier Brewing Company Warlock Imperial Stout - 8.5% ABV

In honor of International Stout Day and in the spirit if the holiday season we loaded up on a several seasonal stouts that seemed as if they would be interesting and hopefully delicious.  The first that we tried was Warlock by the Southern Tier Brewing Company out of Lakewood, New York.

 

Southern Tier Brewing has only recently come to Texas and Warlock is the second of their beers that we have tasted.  Their Pumpking beer was our first try and it was delightful ... full flavored and quite enjoyable.  Southern Tier began production in 2002 using old equipment purchased from the defunct Old Saddleback Brewery from Massachusetts.  Phineas DeMink (yeah, sounds like an alias to me, too) and Allen “Skip” Yahn wanted to brew small batch beers using old regional brewing traditions.  Now that their beers are available in 30 states with production growing at an amazing rate I guess the 'small batch' aspect has kind of become a joke.

Warlock is another of their Blackwater Series line of high gravity, intensely flavored beers.  It is described as an Imperial Stout brewed with Pumpkins.  The beer pours out as black as my ex's heart with a brownish/tan head that did not persist.  The smell is amazing ... pumpkin pie, malts and spices.  The beer is surprising light on the tongue with moderate carbonation with a smooth mouth feel. The flavor immediately envelops your tongue and is amazingly complex.  The four malts that they use along with the pumpkin used in the brewing process (pumpkin is often used as a malt substitute in pumpkin beers) make for a malty explosion.  If you are a malt lover this is your beer.  Coffee and dark chocolate are fighting for dominance at the beginning of the sip as well.  The slight sweetness along with the pumpkin spices follow making the flavor even more interesting.  The lingering taste on your tongue is not easily identifiable but I would not surprised to find that they had added anise or licorice to the brew. 

This is a really superb beer.  We served the beer with roasted pork which paired with the beer magnificently.  Stellar.

Southern Tier Brewing Company
2072 Stoneman Circle
Lakewood, NY 14750
www.stbcbeer.com/‎