Southern Tier Jahva Imperial Coffee Stout

Tonight I wasn’t actually going to write a beer review since tonight is the night of my monthly homebrewers club meeting at Andy’s Corner Bar in Bogota NJ. But, after sharing a tasting of my spiced holiday ale with the owner, he suggested a 22oz bottle of the Southern Tier Jahva Imperial Coffee Stout and said I should to try it, so I will make the ultimate sacrifice and try it.

Southern Tier Jahva Imperial Coffee Stout

Pour:

Give this beer a good hard pour to wake up the head an open up the aroma and all the flavors.

Appearance:

Very nice look, very dark with a slight ruby hue around the edges. Very little head, but what is there was retained for a good amount of time.

Aroma:

Surprisingly mostly caramel notes, for a coffee stout I would have expected more coffee aroma, while very subtle it was barely there.

Taste:

Definitely the high point of the beer, it was nicely balanced with lots of hops and coffee flavors.  A strong zest from the alcohol rounds out the sweet perfectly.  There were also some tiny under notes of chocolate, which gives this beer a very luscious complex flavor.

Drinkablility:

At 12% alcohol this stout has a warming feeling that hits you right in the chest, but doesn’t have that pervasive alcohol flavor many beers have.  It was quite a complex beer that I really enjoyed drinking.

Tasting Method: 22oz Bottle

My Rating:  9.2