Two from Southern Tier . . .

One of the cool things about drinking a variety of beer is finding breweries to add to your list of "I will try anything they make.

Southern Tier Brewing Co., in Lakewood, NY, has rapidly reached that level. It's not just the brewery's usual offerings that do it, but their Black Water big-taste series in 22-ounce bombers produced one of my favorite beers of last year.

I tried the following two as part of writing an article on pumpkin beers and another on chocolate beers. I hate to say this, but the pumpkin beer is not available right now, but I would expect it to be back in the Fall.

Perhaps the most fascinating of all the pumpkins I tasted last Fall -- and it was 10 at least -- was Imperial Pumking, “ale brewed with pumpkins,” from Southern Tier. "This is the real thing; as one intrepid taster said. “It tastes like pumpkin, and it tastes like beer.” That’s it in this one, all pumpkin, no spices, and it’s the better for it. A caramel brown, this beer fills your mouth, without much of a metallic taste at all, and for a beer that is 9 percent alcohol, it doesn’t taste nearly as strong as the Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale. It is an excellent beer for a frosty autumn night.

Later, into the Winter, there was Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout, described as "a stout brewed with chocolate."

I have to admit, I had very high hopes here, because their Pumpking, also from the Black Water series, was the best of the many pumpkins I had – so good in fact that my wife, who does not like beer, asked me to get more so we could drink and cellar.

Well, it’s not quite as exceptional as the pumpkin, but still the best of the chocolates so far. Very dark, as you would expect, with a thin head. Drinks easily for an “Imperial Stout.” Not as heavy as many others. Chocolate taste is smooth and clear right from the top. Kind of a milk chocolate, although it’s made with bittersweet Belgian Chocolate.

This is high-end stuff, 11 percent alcohol by volume, but it does not taste too much of alcohol. There is a touch of bitterness in the aftertaste, but it goes away as you continue to drink it.

I have had just about everything they produce, and I would drink anything new they come out with.