Review: Southern Tier Farmer’s Tan4
fact sheet
- Style: Imperial Pale Lager
- Serving: Bottle
- Volume: 22oz
- ABV: 9.00%
Summer, though it may not feel like it, is slowly coming to an end. This means that summer seasonal beers are on their way out at the fall seasonals are on their way in. I, for one, am not ready to admit that the seasonal change is upon us, so today I have the Southern Tier Farmer’s Tan Imperial Pale Lager, the summer seasonal of Southern Tier’s Imperial series.
The Farmer’s Tan pours a clear, pale, golden color with a medium amount of carbonation. Atop the beer sits a one finger white head that leaves some rings of lace on the glass. The aroma is light crisp and grassy with hops upfront and sweeter malts in the background. A good summery aroma for a beer.
The taste retains some crispness from the flavor but it is more dry than crisp. There is also a good amount of spice from the hops backed up by some citrus from the hops as well. Before it gets too intense, it is taken back by some of the sweeter malt characters. Thanks to having a 9% ABV, there is also a slight twinge of alcohol.
The Farmer’s Tan is more of an “intense” summer beer, but I don’t know if the overkill of the spices works well. It crosses the line from crisp and refreshing into the realm of dry and weak. If toned back a bit it could be a good summer beer, and the flavors could work well together but for now, it is unbalanced and doesn’t live up to its label.
Rating
out of 100
Mike Hoff is a Senior Writer for Passion Beer.
He is always seeking out the new, weird and wonderful in the world of beer. When he is not writing for the site, you can normally find him with a camera around his neck and a beer in hand.
Mike, you seem to be getting tougher on rating your latest beers. Or maybe you’re just picking out bad ones!
Do you think American beer enthusiasts such as yourselves are biased towards a few styles of beer (IPAs etc)?
I don’t think it’s necessarily being “biased” towards a few styles of beer. Everyone has their own palate and will favor certain styles over others, but as you can probably tell, we review a wide-range of styles on our site.
I don’t know if I’m getting harsher or that through trying and reviewing more beers I’m getting a better sense of the beer landscape so my ratings reflect that.
And as for being biased, what shane said. Everybody has their favorite style but you try and stay unbiased when doing a review. Rate the beer on its own merits.