Originally posted on July 4th, 2014.
During the summer time the store shelves are filled with light, fruity, hoppy, wheat and less malty beers. But one day I was in the grocery store and found a beer that you wouldn’t expect to find. This Southern Tier, Blackwater Series, Plum Noir, 8.0% ABV. This is an imperial porter brewed with Italian plums. Southern Tier also uses 2-row malt, caramel malt, barley flakes, chocolate malt, puréed plums, Chinook & Willamette hops. Plum Noir pours a very dark color, nearly black. But as I held it to the light I found a little brown hue to it. There is a one finger tan head that stays a while and make somewhat nice lacing. I found no light coming through the glass with no carbonation bubbles. The aroma is a coffee-like bitterness with a very faint chocolate aroma. The entire aroma on this porter is mostly the coffee like bitterness. The taste on Plum Noir is a mild coffee bitterness followed by a little mild chocolate sweetness. You don’t get a lot of the plums on the taste, but you do get a very little but faint plum earthiness in the back of your mouth. Plum Noir has a toasted grain with hints of caramel in there as well. The mouthfeel is medium with a little mild roasted finish that leads into an aftertaste of bitterness with chocolate. Southern Tier’s Plum Noir could be better, so it is receiving a B-. The sweetness could be a little more, but just a pinch. The plums aren’t really there but what I did taste was good. I like this porter. It sounds really interesting, but doesn’t taste as such, but still a good effort. I wouldn’t have this again but not right away. It is a good beer and something a little different for this time of year and all the summer beers. So go and try this one and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
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