Southern Tier Mokah and Jahva

Southern Tier Mokah - A Stout brewed with Chocolate and Coffee - BlackWater Series (2011)

Spring Seasonal (Limited).

22 fl. oz. / $9.99 USD / 11.2%  ABV

About: "When empirical and creative impulses collide, the result is often timeless. The classic utility-art aesthetic of the coffee maker is an example of design and engineering working in concert. It is through similar cooperation that the simple bitter cocoa bean is transformed into a sweet treat. As scientists, our brewers utilize their materials to exacting standards. As artists, they couldn’t resist the temptation to combine two of our highly acclaimed Blackwater Series Imperial Stouts: Jahva and Choklat. Alone each is perfect, but together as Mokah they are an inimitable expression of two of the world’s most sought after flavors. Enjoy Mokah stout with - or as - your favorite dessert!"

Thoughts: Mokah poured out a dark brown color out of the bottle that formed an almost near black inside the glass. The dark tan head on this was very slow to form and topped at about half a finger. It looks pretty dense.

The scent on this one is absurdly strong and absolutely fucking incredible! That bittersweet Belgian chocolate is erupting out of this brew. And I'm hardly getting any coffee at all. It's heavy chocolate, caramel malt and barley for the most part. It smells a lot like hot chocolate, only this stuff is super cold right now. You know how after you've smelled a beer for a while it all seemingly starts to blend together and you lose the notes? That doesn't happen here.

Taste starts off like the scent, rich and chocolatey, and then that Jamaican roasted coffee slowly builds and makes its presence felt...

...Ah no shit! I just read the side of the bottle. This is a hybrid of their Choklat and Jahva Imperials! I was thinking while smelling it, man this beer is really similar to Choklat, well no fuckin' wonder. It starts out with that robust chocolate, very sweet and heavy, then mid-way through and after the swallow that roasted coffee languishes towards the back, clinging to the kettle hops. One single belch produces a haze of alcohol not noticeable in the taste. This beer is 11.2% and man, you can't even tell. I mean, even though it's cold, there's a slight booze heat to it but it's hard to notice.

The mouth feel on this isn't really that thick, but this brew is heavy! Maybe it's weighing me down.

After warming, the grassy hops start to come through rather quickly and linger around just a tad more than is appreciated in this sweet brew, but every new gulp refreshes that syrupy buzz.

Southern Tier Imperial Jah*va - Stout brewed with Coffee - BlackWater Series (2010)

Spring Seasonal (March Release)

22 fl. oz. / $7.49 USD / 11% ABV

About: "Three thousand feet above sea level in the misty mountains of Jamaica, some of the world’s finest Arabica beans are hand picked on their way to becoming Blue Mountain Coffee. Halfway around the world, plump spring barley grows to maturity in the loamy soil of North America while aromatic hops are cultivated to exacting standards. Here in our kettles, these three special ingredients are blended to create a heady mixture of sweet sugar, dark roast, and complex flavor. 2-Row Pale Malt / Caramel Malt / Chocolate Malt / Black Malt / Roasted Barley / Cascade and Columbus Hops / Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee"

Thoughts: At the first hiss from the bottle cap I was slowly peeling off was heard, I caught an incredibly strong whiff of fruity, blinding alcohol! The cap isn't even off this thing and it's already blasting me. It poured a murky dark brown that filled out as a pitch black in the glass. The head is full of small bubbles, tan and it just hangin' around for a while. 

I'm actually not getting much coffee in the scent. It's there but is currently being dominated by chocolate, caramel and black malts. I've got a feeling that this beer is about to kick my ass. It just smells violent.

Damn good coffee! This beer is extreme and mellow at the same time. It's nuts. It's very fruity off the bat, once swallowed it's hard to describe... but it's just this strange taste sensation. Not strange tasting, but just this wonderful flow of sweet sugary malts and at the end of it there's this real subtle tingling of hops and then a slow roasted coffee flavor creeps in as a backdrop. I've only slightly chilled this beer in my freezer for about fifteen minutes. There's a hint of almost unnoticeable grass on the back of the tongue once it's gone.

The mouth feel is incredibly creamy, soft and calming. But prepare to sneeze a little bit.

I held off trying this for so long because I'm not really all that excited about coffee... and either that was a good choice because it's aged a year and got better, or a mistake since I had missed out on how good this is for such a long time. I wonder what this beer will taste like if it's made in 2012. More like coffee perhaps? This is an extremely sweet Stout and that is dangerous! This is my third beer from their BlackWater Stout Series and while I like it better than their Oat, it still doesn't manage to outdo Choklat. But I don't think any other Stout ever will. Still, this is one fine tasting coffee!