Demon of a Brew - Even In the Wrong Season

Southern Tier Krampus Imperial Helles Lager
Southern Tier Brewery, Lakewood, NY
22 oz capped bottle
9 percent ABV
Sampled: August 2, 2009

Drinking a beer named for a German Christmas Devil might seen woefully ill-timed in August, but if we can continue to sell barleywine in summer, I can dive into this imperial helles lager from southern New York.

The whole idea of Krampus seems like one American’s would be eager to embrace – essentially, he takes Santa Claus off the hook for punishing the bad by handling them on its own. He goes a little further than lumps of coal, beating naughty children with sticks and chains – OK, maybe the cruel and unusual punishment factors makes Krampus a little much for mainstream America to bear. Plus, he's something of a pagan holiday holdover, and you know how Americans deal with those.

Chinook (kettle) and Willamette (dry) hops might not make this the traditional Bavarian style, but Krampus offers few concessions to tradition. Rising from an ice-cream-thick head, the nose is highly florid, with notes of spice and pepper furthering the complexity.

A week ago a new Nashvillian entered the store seeking Southern Tier, and I could only say, "I wish." He told me I was the first person who even knew what he was talking about. After that exchange, I gleefully checked my "cellar" and found this Southern Tier had survived three months in the dark.

This is the last of the Southern Tier brews I bought in Ohio during my May trip. I had no intention of keeping it until Christmas, but the customer’s comments reminded me I had one last sample from Chautauqua Lake’s finest to taste.

There’s a surprising amount of lush red fruit in the body, with apple and plums buffered against some citrus tones. With four malts mingling together – 2-row pale, debittered black, Munich and caramel – it’s a credit to Southern Tier that they never collide unpleasantly.

Krampus finishes sweet, with only residual amounts of pepper alluding to the alcohol content. The malt provides a stiff backbone to all those varying fruit strain it exhibited earlier.

Really, it isn’t reminiscent of those Bavarian session lagers in any way. That doesn’t take away from this monumental lager’s accomplishments. It’s a monster, but a beautiful one, even this far from its intended time of consumption. Lagers this strong won't go bad in a few months, Krampus in Summer sacrifices none of its potency.

Rating: 9/10