Southern Tier Brewing Co. - "Warlock" pumpkin imperial stout

Greetings from vacation! Congress is in recess until September, so I'm visiting my folks up in Connecticut for a while, and I'm taking some time to drink great beer and write about it. Today's beer is one chose by my brother Dan, who's out here for vacation as well. It's Southern Tier's imperial pumpkin stout, Warlock. You may recall my intense devotion to all things Southern Tier; I've posted beers from them numerous times (Southern Tier also holds the distinction of making one of my favorite beers, the Pumking imperial pumpkin ale.)

The Warlock, an 8.6% imperial stout, is made with pumpkins and spices. The Warlock also falls in Southern Tier's Blackwater Series of dessert beers.

The beer pours dark, but has an interesting root beer / Coca-Cola color when held to the light. It's a deep reddish-brown color, which is rather interesting. The nose is of pumpkin and spice, rather aromatic at first but then dies down quickly. 

The taste is similar to Pumking, with strong, warm malts and spices. It has a thicker, almost-syrupy consistency, with warm pumpkin pie flavors developing midway through. The finish is smooth and alcoholy, with lots of tasty spice flavors.

It's definitely close to Pumking, which I love. But the Warlock is sweeter and smoother and less carbonated. Dan bought two of these, and I'm going to cellar one until next year. I'd suggest you serve this very cold - I had it when it had only been in the fridge for a few hours, and hadn't dropped down to temp. I imagine the flavors might open up a little more once you drop the temp down and then let it bounce back.

Anyways - more reviews to come this week. Rather than blowing up your inbox, I may post a few then send out a digest email at the end of the week. Stay tuned!