Chautauqua Brew - Southern Tier Brewing Company

mtnbikerpa

Pennsylvania

2.83/5  rDev -18.7%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Served in a pint glass at the brewery. This is a local beer only distributed in Chautauqua area. Bright golden color with about an inch of head. Strong scents of straw and freshly cut hay. Very earthy flavors stand out the most ahead of any real hops or malty flavors. Mouthfeel is smooth. Pretty easy to drink on a warm day, but I was not a huge fan.

Serving type: on-tap

09-09-2010 00:13:44 | More by mtnbikerpa

Joshc

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +14.9%

01-12-2013 18:16:25 | More by Joshc

ceberly

Florida

2.75/5  rDev -21%

10-04-2012 23:49:00 | More by ceberly

spark3148857

New York

2.75/5  rDev -21%

06-15-2012 19:35:41 | More by spark3148857

waffles

Missouri

2.5/5  rDev -28.2%

04-18-2012 22:23:04 | More by waffles

ShadyJay

Pennsylvania

1.5/5  rDev -56.9%

03-04-2012 00:06:34 | More by ShadyJay

hopsandstouts

Virginia

3/5  rDev -13.8%

01-22-2012 11:44:05 | More by hopsandstouts

hotmanflab666

New York

2.5/5  rDev -28.2%

01-04-2012 03:47:03 | More by hotmanflab666

clarkley

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +0.6%

01-02-2012 01:41:47 | More by clarkley

tdm168

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On tap at the brewery's tasting room on 12/23/11.

Pours a pale gold with a 1/2" of soft white head. The nose is faint grass and mild caramel. The taste is similar; faint notes of caramel and hints of grassy, earthy hops. There is a faint bitterness in the finish. This one is very light and well carbonated.

This is a very easy to drink beer. In fact my brother-in-law and I took little time to finish our pints. Flavor-wise, however, it lacks anything special for the style. Honestly, for an amber ale, it didn't have many of the things I would expect like amber body, heavy caramel notes, and a heavier mouthfeel. Don't get me wrong, this is in no way a bad beer, just simple and light.

Serving type: on-tap

12-27-2011 01:12:10 | More by tdm168

THECPJ

Delaware

3/5  rDev -13.8%

12-05-2011 15:58:47 | More by THECPJ

mikesgroove

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +14.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

hazy amber with a decent head. Smell was a muted hops, with definate hints of grain and even a slight caramel. Taste was a bit thin, but had a definate sugary touch to it. Hoppy dry finish with a tiny pine bite. Very drinkable. Overall this was a decent beer, I could see this being served in large numbers as it is very smooth and very drinkable

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2011 03:47:42 | More by mikesgroove

jjayjaye

New York

4/5  rDev +14.9%

11-27-2011 12:30:34 | More by jjayjaye

rlee1390

Indiana

3.6/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Picked up at the brewery a few weeks ago and I finally got around to trying it.

A-Semi cloudy to clear yellow-orange. About a finger worth of head that doesn't stay along very long.

S-Wheat with some hops.

T-Lemon and some slight wheat tones to start, not much bitterness is present either.

M-Light and crisp

O-So far one of the worse ST brews out there, but it was worth the try. All fans of ST should try this one once, but don't expect much.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2011 15:16:55 | More by rlee1390

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Drove 6 hours to the brewery to take a tour last summer. I was one of the first people in line and they told me they were out of tickets already. I was pretty pissed, So I decided to drink my anger away and I started with this one.

This brew pours like most Red Ales do, this beer had a decent head on it and a fairly hoppy aroma. It was on the lighter side when it came to mouthfeel, and the taste was moderate. Hops came first and dry malt in the finish. This beer is just one for the people who don't have any clue about what Southern Tier does. I look at this the same way I looked at Dogfish Head's Lawnmower Ale.

Serving type: on-tap

04-07-2011 23:50:58 | More by Knapp85

mdaschaf

Washington

3.48/5  rDev 0%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to THECPJ for providing this beer.

A: Extremely light yellow, reminds of a BMC beer. Small white head, very little lacing, small carbonation bubbles released from the bottom.

S: A little bit of hay, some grains, a little doughy malt, and a very weak floral aroma.

T: Similar to the nose, light grains, a little floral and grassy. Slight lemony flavor at the end.

M: Light bodied and crisp, would make for a good summer beer.

O: Very simple, not a ton going on, but nothing wrong with it either. Lawnmower beer for sure.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2011 23:43:55 | More by mdaschaf

MadScientist

New York

3.98/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Crystal clear pale golden with a creamy white head that quickly dissipates.

Aroma: a light aroma with faintly citrusy hop aroma with a nice balance of malt.

Flavor: A good balance of citrusy hop and malt flavors with a bit of caramel/biscuit in the background. A good flavorful beer for he style.

Mouthfeel: A nice bright, bubbly mouth feel with a pleasing weight on the palate

Overall Impression: This is an excellent light style beer from Southern Tier who is better know for high alcohol, aggressively hopped beers. It's a nice crowd pleaser that would be an excellent choice to into introduce ale to you macro-brew/lager friends.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2011 00:42:52 | More by MadScientist

generallee

New York

3.38/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: From the pour I got a clear golden yellow beer with a bright white head. The head is light and fades quickly to just a light film covering.

Smell: The aroma is light and has notes of pale grain and fresh white bread with just a hint of grassy hops.

Taste/Palate: The flavor matches the aroma with a clean light grain and white bready maltiness balanced with light grassy hops. I also get just the slightest hint of citrus hop flavor in the quick, dry and slightly acidic finish.

Notes: This is a light and very basic ale, which is nice, but I will defiantly be sticking with there other more interesting and bigger beers!!!

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2011 17:51:03 | More by generallee

billab914

Virginia

3.35/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz bottle into my Surly shaped glass. Poured golden yellow in color with a thin white head scattered across the top.

The aroma is grainy and slightly sweet with just a hint of hops to it. Pretty plain and light but also clean and crisp. Not bad for the style.

The taste is similar to the nose in that it has a slightly sweet, grainy, malt flavor to it. It's light, crisp and clean which all fit with the style pretty well.

The mouthfeel is light and carbonation is moderate. It's a pretty good beer if you look at it as a substitute for a macro, but nothing special overall. Easy drinking on a hot day, and goes down easy.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2010 21:44:03 | More by billab914

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Chautauqua Brew looks nowhere near as unusual as its name sounds. It is a stock, uninspiring, lightly foggy shade of yellow that will look quite familiar to all beer drinkers everywhere in the world. Its surface has shed of all its head and, despite the constant updraft of bubbles, seems incapable of growing any more. Lacing will be impossible.

Fortunately, this beer fails to have the off-putting smell of corn syrup or adjuncts like most pale lagers in the U.S. do; unfortunately, it also fails to do anything to decorate the boring and lifeless bouquet that results from a simple pale malt grist. Knowing these brewers, I expected a spattering of zesty, colourful hops... but this is not Hop Sun.

While that particular beer, despite its lightness and mindless quaffability, is fit to impress even the more refined palates, it's evident that Southern Tier has aimed this offering to more mainstream, less choosy drinkers. And that's fine - hops aren't mandatory, provided of course that they keep the malt profile clean, relatively tasty and quenching.

Which they certainly have. The crisp, pure, lightly grainy, faintly bready flavour of pale malt comes across the palate without the tiniest hint of corn, rice or buttery diacetyl. A snippy, grassy, lemon zest-like bitterness cuts the flavour off before it begins to linger in the form of an aftertaste (assuming it would be strong enough even to do so).

Start the lawnmower, Southern Tier's covered the refreshments. There was a time (pre-Prohibition) when hundreds of American breweries were crafting agreeable, unadulterated beers like this. While the style leaves much to be desired, it's still good to know there are again breweries offering pale lagers in their pure, traditional form.

Serving type: bottle

06-26-2010 18:31:27 | More by biegaman

bamadog

Kentucky

3.38/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Review is from notes taken on 5/10/2010 and poured from the bottle to a pint glass. Glad I finally came across this beer on a recent trip back home. Not nearly as good as some other beers from Southern Tier, but definitely solid enough in the end. Worth trying, but not necessarily seeking out.

Appearance: Pour is a pale golden/yellow straw color; starts with a one finger white meringue-like head with solid retention; body is very clear and shows very strong and fast carbonation; fair and dry looking washes of lacing hold on to the sides of the glass.

Smell: Some dry, toasty grains. Nose is very faint and not much coming out of it.

Taste: Not too shabby -- a little plain overall, but crisp and light toasty grains; a bit of a thin and sweet malty backing; very faint hop bitterness that's a little lemony.

Mouthfeel: Very light and crisp body with strong and lively carbonation; a very clean finish.

Drinkability: This is the kind of beer that could be drank all day, but it's really kind of plain and lackluster overall; not bad and a solid beer, and it's not as if everything has to be he huge or exotic or barrel-aged, but I think there are ultimately better offerings from other breweries that meet this criteria much better.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2010 15:20:02 | More by bamadog

kels

Virginia

3.98/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Thanks so much to bamadog for sharing this one with me. I'd like to get to ST myself one day and take a look around.

Pours a bright golden yellow with complete clarity, exposing tons of little bubbles rising quickly throughout. The 2 finger foamy, soft white head fades and retains well at a 1/2 finger solid skim. Lots of thick lace sticks to the sides of the glass.

Not much aroma to speak of at all. There's the slightest hint of the dry crispy grain, but that's a stretch to find.

Very tasty beer that's quite representative of its style. The grains are crisp, toasty and dry. They are complimented by a nice light lemony citrus hop presence. After the drink, the graininess comes through slightly nutty, but not heavy. Flavors are not too bold and are well-balanced, and when coupled with the bright, effervescent carbonation and fizzy, mouthfilling feel creates one heck of drinkable and refreshing tasty beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2010 00:39:40 | More by kels

aerozeppl

New York

3.45/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to bwyker for this. Long a bane of my wants list.

A: This is not an amber ale.Perfectly clear golden color. Nice clarity. Minimal white head. poor head retention

S: Tons of sweetness with not much else helping out. Not a good nose at all.

T: You do get malt which is a plus. Beyond that quite a bit of sweetness. Little touch of fresh grains. Finishes a little bit on the dry side.

M: Dry for the style. Different.

D: This should be an all malt lager. There is no way in hell this is an ale. A good example of the style however. In Chautauqua County this is king. I like that they took their own stamp on a style for a local market. On a hot summer day I could put back a few of these.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2010 00:28:36 | More by aerozeppl

riversider76

New York

3.68/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a hazy golden with a thin white head.Very little retention and just a bit of lacing. Aroma is of bready malts with some hints of fruit. Body is light and carbonated. Taste is of grain,and grassy hops.Hints of fruit,and a nice finish.Great session beer. Always good from Southern Tier!

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2009 22:31:36 | More by riversider76

bobsy

Ontario (Canada)

3.88/5  rDev +11.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 5

Viggo gave me this bottle in exchange for a Edmund Fitz or a Troegs Dead Reckoning after we got back from Buffalo. Like him, I was also surprised to see this on sale because I thought the geographic availability was far more limited. Anyway, cracked open a bottle to celebrate the start of the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

Pours a lightly hazed gold with a good two fingers of white head, which eventually settles to a thin film and then a sparse collar. A few spots of lace are left here and there, but the appearance is decidedly average for the style, and better retention would have been nice. The aroma more than makes up for this, though, with its gentle grassy and toasted malt notes. It smells like a session beer! Joining the party are summer berries, baked apples in caramel and a bouquet of fresh flowers. All of these subtly combine in the flavour, which while it will never wow you, does make for the perfect session brew. If I had to nail down the key flavours in play I'd probably highlight toasty malt, fruit and caramel. Its subtle, but its gone before I know it. Quenching mouthfeel with moderate carbonation.

Its not a big bruiser like some of Southern Tier's brews, but proves to me that they can make smaller beers just as well as the bigger ones. I could imagine this being a staple sixer if I wanted to kill some beer while watching a sports game.

Serving type: bottle

10-13-2009 14:08:54 | More by bobsy