This is my review of Southern Tier Choklat Oranj.

Southern Tier brewery…. from Lakeside, NY?  Odd.  I like to think we have come full circle with the whole Stout thing.  There’s too many things one can do with it.  As it turns out, this is one of the simplest styles of beer to make.  The flavors that go into it can range from subtle to intense, so realistically you can add almost anything to it and come out with a palatable product—except Sriracha.  For example, after four years of studying chemistry and STILL not learning how to make VX nerve gas, I took this up:

This is probably my third attempt at recreating something wonderful.  Back in Colorado, I threw together a now unknown mixture of chocolate malts, Champaign yeast, English hops, Rainer cherries and sprigs of vanilla.  It was amazing.  I gave it to a friend of mine who said it was amazing but he still preferred whisky and that he was keeping the bottle because the bottle was a convenient place to put excess screws and nails.

Why is it now unknown?  I left the ingredient list on a fruit based mobile device.  That fruit based mobile device was dropped on a tile floor by a child—my child.  I tried to restart it, I tried shaking it, and even pressed both buttons at the same time.  Nothing.  I took that device to the fruit based store and was told that I could purchase a refurbished fruit based mobile device, or a new one.  It was done and I was slightly poorer, but at least I still had my tunes.   

This one is rich, and has a nice milk chocolatey aroma to it.  There is certainly a nice citrus aftertaste to it.  It does indeed taste like a chocolate orange at first.  The reason I like it is because at 10% ABV, it tastes like something I made in my closet by accident.  This is best reserved for a cold winter’s night, which means I need to go outside and put my feet into my 55-degree pool to simulate a cold winter’s night.  I found this one at Total Wine.  Southern Tier Chocolate Orange: 3.9/5

Another thing brewers add is peanut butter.  Don’t let the name of this one fool you, you’re probably going to like it.  Even if you don’t care for the information in that fun map I left at the bottom.  This beer, being from California, reminded me of the podcast my wife played on a road trip.  I was driving, so normally I wouldn’t care, but given the subject was excise taxes, I grudgingly listened in.

Never mind the moral issues they said.  The argument they focused on was that excise taxes altered the behavior of the people taxed and thus were effective at achieving the ends of the state.  One of the examples they used was a tax on soda in Berkeley which did reduce the sales of soda—in Berkeley. They even conceded residents could still get cheap soda somewhere else.  Which is a bit of a no-brainer, and really didn’t get into the ill effects of excise taxes.  One of the ones they did mention was the taxes artificially reduced the supply of the taxed goods by pushing out smaller producers who cannot profit from the inflated price nor justify their product at the new price by reducing supply.  The price after all, is determined by supply and demand.  Because a producer cannot reasonably control demand, the consideration for the new market price + tax must come from a decrease in supply.  I would guess this assumes the product is not something like insulin.  It is outlined at this link here and honestly, I did not previously consider the angle presented.  I like the moral argument against excise taxes better–mostly because it’s easier for me to explain and it’s also more convincing.  

I probably shouldn’t pick beer based on its ability to irritate me.  Whatever you think of excise taxes and I think I know what you think of them, the beer is good. Mother Earth Brew Co. Sin Tax Peanut Butter Imperial Stout 3.7/5

 

Living in sin!!!