Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week:" Southern Tier Imperial Cherry Saison

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Mar 4, 2010 7:00PM

When it comes to wood aging beer the popular opinion is to use bourbon barrels. Somewhere beyond the cortex is a tiny voice whose mere whisper can silence an army of arguments. that small voice says, "Age with French oak staves." Which is what Southern tier does with their summer seasonal, Imperial Cherry Saison. According to the Southern Tier website the staves impart "overtones of spice, balancing the natural sweetness of the cherries." A handful of the lint pickers over at the Beer Advocate review forums have described Imperial Cherry Saison thus: "Ew. Smells like SweetTarts or maybe Pixie Stix," "the flavor of my dad's Campari, and nearly as boozy," and "Mouth death."

Gonna have to remember that last one.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. This is an experimental saison. Saisons are already spicy beers with some tartness so, if the staves are doing anything to the brew, it's mellowing the sourness of the beer itself. This isn't a spicy saison like, say, Jolly Pumpkin's Bam Biere. It's a more accessible version of the style along the lines of New Holland's Golden Cap. The cherries used in the mash are sweet, but not overly so. The mouthfeel of this beer isn't an overpowering cheery pie flavor, but light like the memory of eating cherries picked fresh off the tree. Foam on this beer fades quickly, with a nose dominated by oak and cherry, along with warm esters that tickle. This is a summer seasonal, but works very well paired with hearty sweeter tomato-sauce based pizzas or flatbreads.