Southern Tier Farmer’s Tan Imperial Pale Lager
Most people can imagine a standard American Lager, the good ones not the water ones. Clean, crisp, and most of the times devoid of any real flavor or alcohol kick. Now, imagine a good Pale Ale, hoppy aroma with a bitter snap, nice blend of alcohol with a mild to strong bitter after taste. Now make those two styles have a baby and you have Farmer’s Tan Imperial Pale Lager by Southern Tier.
This Frankenstein is no monster, in fact it smells just like a pale ale with great malt character. With the lager yeast and and the 9.0% ABV (now that is a kick) the alcohol isn’t over powering, its more like a nice stocking cap for your heart. This big bottle pours with a nice Golden Amber color and tops off the glass with a nice white head. There is still a lot of hop aroma and flavor in this one, enough to please any hop head but they just don’t stick around for an extra long stay.
Being from Saint Louis and growing up smelling Anheuser Busch brewing beer, Farmer’s Tan really reminds me of what I always imagined Bud would taste like as my folks drove me past the brewery. I drink a lot of Pale Ales and IPAs but I will go as far as saying this might be the best Pale I have had in a long time. One of my complaints about the style is that you can drink a couple and then you loose track of the malt character and your palette is wrecked. I had two glasses of Farmer’s Tan and have to say I was in malt heaven the whole time. Southern Tier knocked this one out of the park when it comes to a good beer with a great flavor balance. I would love to brew a home version of this one sometime. Perhaps I will call Southern Tier up and ask for the recipe, but until then I highly recommend you give this one a try. Hurry though, its a seasonal and that means you could miss out.
