• 9.5% alcohol by volume
• Lakewood, New York
• southerntierbrewing.com

I stopped in a wine shop in northwest DC yesterday and noticed they had a nice selection of craft brews. They didn’t have a lot, but what they had was all pretty good beer. At the bottom of one of the small shelves I noticed a 22 oz. of Southern Tier Big Red Ale, an imperial red ale. I like red ale but it was the last bottle they had, which made it more interesting. Southern Tier Big Red is available year-round, but it only comes in 22 oz bottles.

It pours hazy and the color is deep amber. I was a little surprised by how fruity it smelled, but not citrus, more sweet, almost like cherries. I expected some fruity taste but it was sweet and slightly carmely. One thing I’ve come to expect from Southern Tier beers is a lot of hops. I didn’t find Big Red to be all that hoppy. I mean I could taste hops, but not a lot which might be what they intended. I just expected more. One thing that isn’t lacking is alcohol. I really noted the alcohol and at 9.5 percent ABV, this is not a beer to drink many of. I actually shared the bottle, as a 22 oz. is too much for me.

In my opinion Big Red is really good, but it’s a bit heavy for a summer beer, but like i said, I couldn’t overcome my curiosity. I’ll probably wait until fall to have another one of these. Another brew I will snag in the fall is Southern Tier Pumking Imperial Pumpkin Ale, which releases next month. I love pumpkin ales and have never tried an imperial, I can’t wait!