Krampus (Imperial Helles Lager) - Southern Tier Brewing Company

Jason

Massachusetts

4.03/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

22oz brown bomber with no freshness date. Love the theme of having Santa's opposite, getting a lump of coal sounds good compared to what Krampus was capable of doing.

Dense two fingers of head leaves a nice rim of lace on the glass. Bright amber color. Big juicy aroma of pungent hops that run form wild flowers to grapefruit rind, some caramel maltiness make it to the nose as well. A think beer with a mild smoothness. Huge wad of hoppiness on the palate, not a bitter as I anticipated but certainly more than enough to overcome the brawny malt character. Hop flavor lends suggestions of hemp seed oil, grapefruit rind and spearmint. The alcohol is warming but does not flash 9.0% anywhere. Maltiness comes in first with a toasted, almost biscuit flavor then broadens to more of a caramel sweetness until the hops in the finish flatten most of that down. Finishes hoppy and a little sweet.

Its not the alcohol that makes this a sipper, its the sheer amount of hop flavor and a good amount of malt crammed into this beer. Your taste buds can only handle so much but I love that beers like this are pushing the limits.

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2009 05:55:24 | More by Jason

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