An unexpected yet wonderful phenomenon has occurred since becoming the Beer Bites columnist: All my friends want to give me beer. All the time.

I discovered this last weekend when I went home to Buffalo, NY. Buffalonians, or at least the ones I know, seem to be having a love affair with Southern Tier Brewing Company right now, which explains why I was gifted four different varieties of it in a matter of two days.

Southern Tier’s brewery is about one and a half hours south of Buffalo, so about three and a half hours from Syracuse. Phineas DeMink and Allen “Skip” Yahn, two regular guys who just really seem to love craft beer, founded the brewery in 2002.

Fast-forward 11 years and Southern Tier is available nationally — and globally — and I’m proud to see that a (basically) Buffalo-born beer is so popular. Also, I totally saw Piper’s brother in “Orange Is the New Black” sipping a Southern Tier India Pale Ale in one episode, so it must be cool.

So I hope everyone likes Southern Tier, because I have a few more varieties — in 22-ounce bottles, no less — to try in the coming weeks. The two I did manage to drink during the weekend were the 2XIPA and the 2XStout, two of the year-round standards.

You may be curious why I, a total novice when it comes to India Pale Ales, thought I could take on a double IPA. Honestly, it had to do with some coercing on my dad’s part (read: taunting) and the feeling that if my parents are encouraging day drinking before Sunday dinner, I should probably take advantage of the opportunity.

After a few sips, I was happy I tried it. Sure, it’s brewed with four different varieties of hops, for what Southern Tier calls a “feverishly hoppy” experience, and yes, the ABV is 8.2 percent. All in all, I was in over my head.

But I was able to appreciate the subtleties of the beer. The hops were kind of citrusy and fruity, and there was just a slight hint of bitter grapefruit. All around, this beer was extraordinarily bitter, but thirst quenching, and I was able to down my baby-sized glass without too much wincing.

Next up was the 2XStout. Believe it or not, I’ve been a big fan of stouts ever since I had my first Guinness. They’re rich and flavorful like an IPA without the bitterness, plus they taste like dessert — think chocolaty malts and the taste of roasted coffee infused in a beer.

Southern Tier’s double stout was definitely one I’ll drink again. The beer contains lactose, which — as anyone who passed 10th grade biology or pops Lactaid like candy can tell you — is a sugar derived from milk. This beer is thick, dark and sweet, and it almost felt like I was drinking something good for my body (I wasn’t).

But now that I’m such a fan of Southern Tier, I’m disappointed I only have two more kinds to try. So if any of my friends want to give me more beer, I wouldn’t be mad about it.

Published on October 16, 2013 at 8:14 pm

Contact Avery: avhartma@syr.edu | @averyhartmans