Southern Tier Big Red
Inspiration can sometimes be found in the strangest of places. This eccentric brew started with a single flower from a hop named Hallertau. The delicate and spicy aroma present in the flower has been responsible for generations of great beers. Hallertau hops are to a brewer what an old tractor is to a farmer: reliable. Big Red expresses the nobility of Hallertau by placing it at the forefront of this Imperial Ale. Pour it into a snifter. A swirl allows the spicy aromas to come forward as a taste to the lips reveals the complex balance between sweet malts and the bitterness of hops. Big Red’s ability to please is as dependable as your grandpa’s old tractor. Please consume wisely. ABV lowered from 9.5%.
3.6
522 reviews
Lakewood, United States
Community reviews
Bomber from Green’s in Atlanta. Candy sugar sweet aroma with caramel, foral, citrus. Tastes are grass and citrus resin with pepper, caramel malts, bready cereal. Finishes bitter, spicy and slightly acidic. Alcohol fairly well hidden. Thick-ish palate with nice spike of carbonation.
Deep coppery amber in color with a tannish off white head. Flavor is deep and full with malt and bitterness, but hints of dried fruit are in there, too. Strong finish.
22 oz bottle pours a light amber color with a medium white head. Aromas of caramel, malt and very light floral hops. Medium bodied with a sweeter finish.
Pour from a 22oz bottle. Darker amber brew with thin white head. Aroma of caramel malts, spice, grass. Taste is modest caramel malts yeilding to a fine bitter / grassy hops finish. A little boozey at times. Average palate. A nice ale.
This beer almost reminds me of some Belgians. Caramel, toasty, bit of raisin, plum and sweetness. Great Imperial Red.
Bomber. Pours dark amber with a medium-sized off-white head. Aroma is floral and spicy hops with lots of caramel malt. Flavor follows aroma, with some honey, toffee, and quite a bit of sweetness. Not very bitter. Aroma is pretty well hidden. Soft palate.
After my victory over the hurricane it ws time for Sunday afternoon brew. This pours a bright amber with nice head. Nose is floral and hoppy. Taste is crisp, caramel, hops, orange peel, some spices. Finish is dry and this quite enjoyable drinking although not all that red.
A - Pours a clear copper-red color with a finger of frothy white head atop. The head fades slowly leaving behind some nice lacing in the process.
S - The aroma is a mix of super sweet and rich caramel malt and some pine hops. There is also a bit of booze evident.
T - The beer starts off with strong sweetness from the rich caramel malts. There is just a touch of pine hops in the background at this point. Through the middle, the richness of the malts backs off a bit and the piney hops get a bit stronger with some bitterness alongside. The finish is a mix of sweetness and some hop flavor, though a bit more mild, with some of the booze flavor coming through.
M - Medium-full bodied with moderate carbonation. The beer feels fairly smooth with a bit of warming due to the booze flavors.
D - Pretty drinkable. The flavors are very rich, especially the sweetness. The booze is also pretty evident, though it actually works well with the other strong flavors in the beer.
22oz bomber from Decanted. Wow, what a nice beer, very unique. Pours amber with a hint of red in colour, with smallish off white head. Slight haze. Aroma and taste are slightly spicy ( I think the hallertau?) and nice malt profile. Hard to find the alcohol in here. Would search this one out again!
Pours a reddish Cooper with a big off-white head. Malty aroma with some hop spiciness. Carmel and toffee flavors with a slight hop bitterness. Finishes sweet. Medium body and carbonation. Another top notch beer from Southern Tier.
Hazy amber/orange; Medium slightly creamy body; Aroma of toasted malt, citrus hops, caramel, & spice; Flavor of slight roasted sweet malt, some rye, floral hops, citrus, and caramel; Finish is slightly bitter with some alcohol; Overall, a little basic - but somehow it works.
Bottle acquired via trade with tgncc...thanks again Tom!!! There are so many reds/ambers out there with a weird malt profile that I’m not a fan of that this one concerned me a bit even though I’ve enjoyed everything from the brewery before. This one didn’t disappoint!! Glowing ember/liquid metal pour with a nice eggshell head. Aroma of caramel, toffee, and bright juicy hops. Flavor is balanced and easy to guzzle (though I wouldn’t recommend it at 9.5%...well hidden by the way). Lots of citrus, orange peel, honey, and lemongrass along with a solid malt backbone. Yum!
Bottle. Pours clear amber with a foamy white head that shows lacing. Aroma is sweet herbal and faint pine. Taste is bitter pine grapefruit with a floral, herbal tea flavor as well as a little pepper. Palate is full and sticky with a chaulky dry finish. Solid American strong ale!
Bottle bought refrigerated. Smell is of sweet malt, a bit floral but I think it’s fair to say it is pretty balanced - maybe not as hop forward as many of the style tend to be. It’s clean and crisp and perhaps relatively subtle. I usually like a bold, hoppy imperial red and am not convinced that this one hasn’t seen some deterioration of its hop profile - there’s a bit of a potato flavor as it warms - but it’s still enjoyable.
Overall a bit disapointing. Aroma was plain and somewhat nonexistent. Taste was the same as the aroma. Caramel malts and no hop presence. Not sweet, not bitter, not roasted, but well hidden alcohol.
Pretty much the unearthly without any hops and less alcohol. No finish, pretty underwhelming
A lot of caramel in the aroma, along with some spice and citrus. Pours more orange than red with some fogginess and a medium heads. Strong caramel malt and some hop bitterness in the flavor. Might not really be "red" but certainly "big." Really tasty sipper from an underrated brewery.
Pours a deep orange/red with a thinnish white head that dissipates to only wisps clinging to the surface. Smells of pine and resin, certainly hoppier than I expected. Caramel brown sugar malt sweetness round out the nose. Reminds me of a barleywine in the nose. Taste is caramel sweetness with a touch of alcohol, an earthy spiciness, and almost enough hops to cut through the brown sugar. Medium body, thick almost syrupy mouthfeel, light carbonation. This one was good, I think it is a little sweet. I could see this one getting cloying with some age as the malt is pretty thick in there with barely enough hops to keep the sweetness in check.
Awesome label, led me to buy the bottle. The taste will keep me from a second one. Much more of a big, fat Irish Red than a hoppy American Red, this beer features a thick, funky malt center that is only accentuated by a warm liquor finish. You’ll feel every bit of the 9.5% ABV, and the Hallertau hops provide a cloy bitterness that makes the fade annoying. (2/22/09)
22oz bottle in a tasting glass. Pours light amber with an off-white head. Aroma and flavor of strong bready malts, and some floral hops. Average texture. Pretty good for a red, but not really my style of beer.
Bottle:
Small off white to yellow-ish head on top of a clear dark orange colored beer.
Smell prunes, barley, toasted sugars, rye bread, hint of liquorice, liquorice root and spices.
Taste malts, red ripe fruit, bitter, light dry, hops, sweets, barleys, dark sugars, caramel, hints of toffee and molasses.
Dry bitter aftertaste with hints of dark sweets.
Creamy mouthfeel and texture, medium to full body and low carbo.
[bottle]
Spicy and buttery caramel malt aroma with a touch of banana. Foggy copper under wispy white. Sweet, sour, salty, and spicy hops flavour with some faint toffee notes. Watermelon and peanut accents. Light body, moderate carbonation, slightly bitter finish.
Tap somewhere back east. Hazy orange pour with a small and indistinct white head. Smells of toffee, caramel, grassy hops, a little pine and some spice. Taste is also very malt forward with grassy hops biting at your tongue and some light pine. Not one of my favorite ST brews, but decent enough.
0.65l bottle. Pours a semi clear copper body with a thin sidesticking off-white head. Aroma is burned caramel, fruity, citrus, hops and a thin hint of chocolate. Body is full-bodied and the carbonation is medium. Good caramel sweetness from the malts, fruity hops with notes of raspberries and grapefruit, a slight peppery spiciness and some booze in the end. The whole thing is rounded off with a nice and really longlasting bitter flavor. All in all this is a really nice sipper and another one of those dangerous beers.
22oz bottle. Pours a clear honey/orange color. Aroma of citrus and caramel. Flavor is citrus, cherry, caramel, pine. Okay for a strong ale, but I have had better.
From a 650ml into a snifter... just like the 650 told me to. Pours a light red/pink with an inch or so of cloudy white head. Head never totally dissipates and leaves a little lacing on the glass. Aroma of alcohol, pine and some funk???... just a tiny bit unfortunately. Mouthfeel is moderate and a bit fizzy. I expected something heavier for 9% but it was pretty light. Taste is pinetar, alcohol, wood, sawdust and lemon, oh and that unidentified Southern Tier taste. Overall an average beer, nothing to write home about. Only other imperial red I’ve tried is Nugget Nectar and that blew this out of the water. For the price, I’d try something else.
650ml bottle, alc. 9% by vol., from Vika-polet in Oslo. Pours a golden-brown body with a very slight haze. Topped by a solid, off-white head that stays well and leaves a fine lace trail at the glassware. Spiced, mid-dried fruits to the nose. Orange shells and caramel malts in flavour along with figs and apricot accomplished by a long, rounded bitter tail. Well bodied and quite easy to drink. A consistently made brew, perfectly balanced and a pleasure to drink (Tromsø, 23.02.2011).
On tap at the Southern Tier brewpub. Pours a slightly golden colour. Aroma is of hop, maybe a little pine. Taste is of hop and spice. Quite decent.
22 oz. bottle. Pours a clear amber color with a small off white head. The aroma is hop forward with floral, spicy, and mild pine mingling nicely with some toasted caramel malt. The flavor are similar with the bold spicy, floral, pine hops allowing enough of the toasted caramel malt to come through. Mild sweetness early with the finish being more dry with moderate bitterness. The alcohol remains well hidden.
Presentation: It was poured from a brown 1pint 6oz bottle into a pint glass.
Appearance: It has a deep reddish/orange amber body with a slight haze. On top is a creamy egg shell white colored head, which is about two fingers tall and quickly settles to a thin covering. This small cap of foam hangs on well and makes lots of spotty and slick lace patterns on the glass.
Smell: The aroma has loads of caramel maltiness and sweet bready notes with a solid backing of perfume like citrusy hops.
Taste/Palate: There is a good solid load of bready and caramel like maltiness with a very slight hint of bitter chocolate. Right up there on the tongue with the malt base are the hops which bring solid bitterness and floral and spicy citrus flavor. The palate has smooth slightly slick but well carbonated feel and the finish has a slow hop bitter fade.
Notes: This is an overlooked and I think under rated beer from Southern Tier. At 9.5% abv it is way too easy to drink.