

Mokah - Southern Tier Brewing Company


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1,346 Ratings

(view ratings)
Ratings: 1346
Reviews: 635
rAvg: 4.2
pDev: 11.19%

Brewed by:
Southern Tier Brewing Company visit their website
New York, United States

Style | ABV
American Double / Imperial Stout |  11.20% ABV

Availability: Rotating

Notes/Commercial Description:
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.

No notes at this time.

Beer: Ratings & Reviews
Ratings: 1,346 | Reviews: 635 | Show All Ratings:
Photo of chrisgn


3.2/5  rDev -23.8%

This beer has a pitch black appearance and thick head upon first pour that dissipates to nothing. The mouthfeel is think and creamy. There are some really nice chocolate and coffee notes in the taste, but to me, the flavor of the alcohol is not masked well. I can smell it in the glass and it over powers the other flavors of the beer. It is 11% so it is certainly a strong beer, but I do not like the boozy quality that only gets worse as the beer warms up. I want to work through the ST Imperial Series. I enjoyed Pumking and Big Red, but I do not think I will get this one again. I hope Chokolat, Javah, and Creme Brule are better.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2010 01:58:46 | More by chrisgn
Photo of TheSarge


3.2/5  rDev -23.8%

Pours pitch black, with a finger thick dark tan cranium that dissipates quickly.

Has aromas of chocolate, and coffee.

Chocolate dominates the flavor with a mild coffee backbone.

Mildly carbonated, full in body, and warming in the end.

Too much chocolate in this one... Needs to be balanced a bit better.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2010 23:03:00 | More by TheSarge
Photo of DIM


3.25/5  rDev -22.6%

a: Black body with a thick foamy tan colored head.

s: This smells like mildly diluted Choklat. I couldn't find any coffee behind the boozy brownie batter.

t: I wonder what the ratio of this mixture is. This seems to be heavy on the Choklat, it was through the power of suggestion that I might have tasted a little coffee. This was almost entirely bozzy cake batter. Looking back, I should have tried to tweak this with some Breakfast Stout or Joe.

m: Gentle carbonation and a fairly viscous body.

d: Jahva is a pretty good coffee stout. Choklat is a great desert beer in small doses. I was hoping hoping an artful blend would elevate both beers. Instead all I found was another syrupy sweet desert beer from ST. Creme Brulee, Oat, Choklat, and now this. Pretty good in small doses, but that signature ST sweetness wears thin after 6 ounces.

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2010 00:14:07 | More by DIM
Photo of Beerlover


3.25/5  rDev -22.6%

reviewed from notes.
"This beer reeks of chocolaty goodness, not much coffee in the aroma, hopefully more in the flavor...nope! this beer is ALL CHOCOLATE!! Even more so than "Young's double chocolate stout! Too much chocolate in my opinion, cant even really taste the roasted malts or any coffee either....

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2013 23:54:02 | More by Beerlover
Photo of harrymel


3.3/5  rDev -21.4%

Bottled: unk

A: pours a black ale with less than a single finger of transient light tan foam. This resides as a sheet of the same over a beer with limited clarity due to color. spotty lace. Looks thin.

S: Smells of chocolate, molasses and faintly of coffee. Smells sweet, as do all the black water series.

T: There's the coffee, and more chocolate, and some nice cherry flavors. Some marshmallow flavors as well. Kinda effervescent in approach. Sharp alcoholic flavor.

M: Oily and thin with slow carbonation. Sheet of slick around the mouth. Makes me phlegmee.

O: Better than some of the other Black Waters IIRC, but still just a sweet, savage, decadent treat to be savored only rarely. Very intense. I can say this for the beer: as usual, the name matches the profile quite precisely.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2011 14:51:59 | More by harrymel
Photo of homebrewhawk


3.33/5  rDev -20.7%


Serving type: bottle

Photo of TerryW

Ontario (Canada)

3.34/5  rDev -20.5%

Dark walnut coloured beer under a moderate head that leaves a lot of fine spidery lace. Head settles to a heavy film.

Big chocolate nose, very sweet bordering on syrupy. Malt in the background. Very soft on the palate to drink, but also heavy sweet. Too much syrup happening. Past the sweetness is some charcoal and a hint of bitterness. Lots of chocolate and coffee. However, overall just too sweet and syrupy to enjoy.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 22:10:30 | More by TerryW
Photo of ricke


3.43/5  rDev -18.3%






Serving type: bottle

Photo of bucklemyshoe


3.45/5  rDev -17.9%

22 oz bomber at 48 degrees into a Stone IRS tulip.

A: It pours pitch black with a finger of light tan head that dies quickly and leaves small traces of lacing.

S: Artificial chocolate and coffee, licorice, lactic cream, and caramel.

T: More artificial chocolate and coffee notes, nuttiness, sweet dark fruits, and booze. It is similar to Godiva liquer.

M: It has a thick and syrupy body with lots of sweet stickiness.

O: This is probably good with vanilla ice cream or with tiramisu. Drinking the entire 22 oz bottle by itself, however, is a chore.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2011 18:50:33 | More by bucklemyshoe
Photo of aficionado

New Jersey

3.45/5  rDev -17.9%

Glassware: Orval Chalice

Dark brown on top, black on the bottom. Off white head that forms an iceberg in the center.

The smell is better than the taste. Choklat is the better beer all around. It's more balanced and less sweet than Mokah.

Mokah is quite sweet. It's definitely a dessert beer. Otherwise it has the same qualities of Choklat with double the sweetness, bitter dark chocolate, a lot of added coffee notes, and super sweet cola.

I feel full body on the tongue. It's definitely not thin, but the higher than usual carbonation for an imperial stout isn't helping this beer shine.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2011 02:36:11 | More by aficionado
Photo of Minkybut


3.48/5  rDev -17.1%

I poured this beer into my tumbler at 45 degrees. The beer was really black and poured a really this disappointing head. The beer smelled and tasted like oatmeal and was of course chocolaty. I liked the beer and will buy it again. It was expensive. The little bitty head was tan colored.

Serving type: bottle

01-23-2010 19:12:44 | More by Minkybut
Photo of TK5150


3.48/5  rDev -17.1%

A- Pours dark brown with a large beige head.

S- Brownie batter and Hershey's syrup.

T- Hershey's syrup is the biggest flavor, followed by brownie batter and dark fruits (prunes, raisins).

M- Full bodied, and average carbonation.

D- This beer is so sweet, it is ridiculously hard to put down after more than a few sips. I'm glad I split a bottle with one of my buddies. There is no way I could drink a bottle by myself.

Overall, an interesting experience. I have never had a beer that resembles chocolate syrup as much as this. Not very complex at all...very focused on the flavors presented. Somewhat artificial tasting. It is hard to drink after 3-4 sips. Very reminiscent of a desert wine where you really like the first couple sips, but almost detest the rest of the glass due to the sweetness. A hard beer to rate because of this.

I am interested/nervous to try their choklat after having this.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2010 05:41:45 | More by TK5150
Photo of OWSLEY069


3.48/5  rDev -17.1%

Pours deep amber to a black color, with a light tan head. In the aroma, sweet chocolate and a pronounced mocha flavor. In the taste, bitter mocha flavor, kind of like hot cocoa mix. A smooth and medium bodied mouthfeel, with a dry, bitter, hot cocoa mix in the aftertaste. Kind of like a sweet imperial stout with some Swiss Miss mixed in it, with a small bitterness.

Serving type: on-tap

09-04-2010 15:47:44 | More by OWSLEY069
Photo of CascadeConan


3.48/5  rDev -17.1%

I hadn't had an imperial in a long while so I decided to step it up a notch and I've been discovering plenty of east coast breweries that can throw down so I had no bicoastal qualms going with Southern Tier.

Poured from the tap into a tulip the beer looked like motor oil with thick brown head that never left.

The nose is heavily dominated by chocolate and just a bit of coffee if you give the glass a swirl.

After the first sip I set the glass down and had to think if the bartender was fucking with me or not. It was definitely an imperial, no ethanol taste but unmistakably warming. Heavy, viscous chocolate flavor and very slight coffee bitter but the knee-jerk flavor that came to mind was Tootsie Roll. A break to let it warm up a bit added a little depth to the coffee flavor but it still remained dominated by chocolate. If Willy Wonka and Milton Hershey decided to collaborate and brew one beer this would probably be their labor of love. Half way through my glass my head was swimming and all I could think about was all the Halloweens I'd had too many Tootsie Rolls resulting in sugar headaches.

This beer is an amazing imperial, a supposed 50-50 blend of Southern Tier's Blackwater Imperial Series Jahva and Choklat, it delivers the distinct qualities of chocolate and coffee in the body of a big bad ass imperial.

If this beer was a person it would be Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile when he played, wait for it, John Coffey. I would recommend splitting a bottle over dessert with 3 or 4 people.

Serving type: on-tap

09-23-2010 23:34:55 | More by CascadeConan
Photo of Blanco


3.48/5  rDev -17.1%

Pours a very dark, almost black color. small light brown head. smells is mostly of chocolate and dark stout malts. Coffee is almost undetectable, which is a shame coming from a stout that's supposed to have it. slight hints of tootsie roll in the smell as well.

Taste is very much of tootsie rolls, very strong chocolate flavor. again, coffee is non-existent. Malt and molasses is very strong. As the beer warms, the tootsie roll sensation starts to fade away and more of a "pure" chocolate flavor comes through. Slight warming sensation, but other than that, ABV is not really detectable.

Mouthfeel is medium-bodied.

Overall, this would not be quite so disappointing had it not advertised coffee. Otherwise, it's a decent chocolate stout that masks it's strength well.

edit: interesting that after writing this, the previous reviewer also noted Tootsie Roll.

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2011 00:25:29 | More by Blanco
Photo of Beerandraiderfan


3.49/5  rDev -16.9%

Poured out of a bottle picked up long ago in Olympia, WA.

Black and mostly dark brown color comes out, plenty of viscosity to this bad boy. Small lighter brown head on it, really tiny bubbles, inconsistent lace patchwork on the side of the glass. Aroma was a little more burnt malt and not enough coffee/espresso/mochawhatchacallit to cover up the substantial existence of alcohol booziness wafting up from the glass. But its good, but not great.

Taste, still plenty of heat. Cover up the heat, way too much acrid bitterness on this one. Mokah makes me think brown + cream, not burning acidity and bitterness. Smoov it out yo! The mocha notes are just not there. People should blend this with creme brulee if they don't like brulee's sweetness, because this one has none, and would benefit from more chocolate and sweetness. More coffee and lactose please.

I dunno about my score here. I was ultimately disappointed by a good beer. I think that stems from a few things:

1. The price. $10+ a bomber means you better be bad ass.
2. I know ST can and does make better stouts: See choklat/creme brulee. I dunno, maybe they thought those stouts big complaint was for being too sweet, so they decided to make this big and burly without the soft touches.
3. The coffee flavor was average at best.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2013 17:47:20 | More by Beerandraiderfan
Photo of russwbeck


3.5/5  rDev -16.7%

A: Pitch black pour with a nicely sized light brown head. Retention and lacing are both pretty good.

S: It blows my mind how much chocolate is in the smell. It's almost too much. Very sweet, not a lot of coffee.

T: I was expecting more balance here. But the thick, creamy, rich chocolate really over powers anything elthat tries to rear its

MF: Very thick. Carbonation is low. No hint of alcohol.

O: Sort of a disappointment honestly. Wanted a bigger more balanced flavor. Probably wouldn't get it again.

Serving type: on-tap

06-28-2011 21:49:27 | More by russwbeck
Photo of ms11781


3.5/5  rDev -16.7%

DOB 05/13/2011 printed on bottom of the bottle in yellow ink. 22oz bottle poured into a snifter.

Pours a deep, dark brown with orangish brown hues at the edge of the glass. The head is almost non-existent, even with a strong pour. The slightest ring of tan foam shows up around the glass but it's paper thin and disappears pretty quickly. A few tiny wisps of lacing stick to the glass at first but that doesn't last either.

Sweet milk chocolate is extremely dominant and by far the most prominent aroma in the nose. There may be a bit of roast at first when the beer is chilled but as it warms the aromas is exclusively sweet milk chocolate. It can be almost sugary sweet at times, smelling of sticky chocolate syrup.

The taste follows along with the nose. I get almost zero coffee, maybe a bit on the back end but, again, it's pretty much all chocolate. It's very sweet, not cloying, but very sweet. There is a touch of bitterness at the finish, perhaps from some roasted malt.

The beer feels a bit thicker than it looked when it was poured but a not as thick as it should considering the amount of sweet, sticky chocolate in the taste. The smell gives the impression that it would be syrupy but it really isn't. The carbonation is just a bit higher for a stout this big so perhaps that helps.

Overall this is an ok beer. The sweetness isn't overwhelming but it does become a bit much over time. No real coffee flavor as the bottle says but plenty of the chocolate. This beer would benefit from a nice coffee flavor to balance out the sweetness.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2011 03:51:28 | More by ms11781
Photo of Vonerichs


3.53/5  rDev -16%

It pours a dark brown color. I poured aggressively into a tulip glass and got about 1 inch of foamy coffee colored head that fully subdued within 1 minute, leaving behind some nice lacing.

Heavy on the chocolate smell with coffee in the backround, imagine that. The chocolate smelled like baker's chocolate.

Same on the taste. The chocolate dominated the coffee tones on this and has a Hersey Syrup flavor. It reminded me of a chocolate phosphate. The coffee is there with roasted malts, but both are muted by the sweetness. I was hoping for more balance with the coffee flavors but they were overshadowed by the artificial tasting chocolate.

This is a little thin, in my opinion, and the sweetness leaves a slightly bitter filmy feeling on my tounge. The aftertaste was a little bit of a turnoff for me.

This doesn't get any bonus points from me on drinkability. On top of being too sweet and leaving a bad aftertaste, the alcohol really shows up hard and clashes with the flavor. It does calm down a little as it warms, though.

I've never tried chokolat, but I have tried jahva and I think jahva is much more enjoyable. I did like this and was glad I tried it, but it had too many distractions along the way.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2009 02:14:46 | More by Vonerichs
Photo of BeerImmediately


3.55/5  rDev -15.5%

Poured from 22oz bottle into snifter.

1/2F tan head hovering over a deep, dark brown body. No lacing.

Smell was, well... chocolate. Milk chocolate bar, and unfortunately nothing else. Until it warmed, then an alcoholic quality picked up.

Flavor was slightly more complex. Toffee, dark chocolate syrup, and Baileys (milkey liquer).

Mouthfeel was pretty smooth and thick, with very little afterburn considering the ABV.

Sip-purs, no doubt. Take your time with this. Ok, but far too one-dimentional to be one of my favorites.

Serving type: bottle

11-20-2009 03:31:25 | More by BeerImmediately
Photo of vince4953529


3.58/5  rDev -14.8%

Poured a very very dark brown, to the point it amost crossed the boundary between brown and black.

Tasted a bit of mustiness, a faint hint of female vagina. But also a pronounce taste of tootsie roll. It's an interesting mix. The name "Mocha" is right on target as if you are drinking a cup of mocha from the cafe that sells, um... mocha.

It's easy to drink, but not without consequences. As you gulp down this baby, your get dizzy, peachy, rosy, and finally sleepy...

Serving type: bottle

12-04-2009 20:25:25 | More by vince4953529
Photo of Onenote81

North Carolina

3.58/5  rDev -14.8%

Bottle of this received as an extra from a generous trader awhile ago. I apologize for my lack of memory at this time...

Split this with a friend. Poured my allotment into a snifter. Poured black as sin, extremely viscous and thick. Capped off by a dark mocha head resting on top. Retention was fair, but it left little-to-no lace. Strong scents of booze, fresh coffee, and chocolate cake. Definitely one of the more sweet-smelling beers I've experienced.

Very creamy mouth on this full-bodied beer. This was a sipper for sure. Slight chewy feel at the back end. The booze quality was a bit on the strong side, unfortunately. Strong hot alcohol right away, but as I continue to sip, more of the sweet chocolate comes through. Finishes with a subtle vanilla creaminess that is pleasant. Aftertaste of roasted coffee.

This beer sure hit everything spot on. All of the expected flavors come through in one way or another. I'm glad I split it with a friend though, as I would have struggled to finish the bottle on my own as the "hotness" was a bit strong for me. Still, this would make a great dessert beer.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2010 15:39:34 | More by Onenote81
Photo of kfsv034


3.58/5  rDev -14.8%

A - Pours black with a thin tan head that lingers just briefly before turning into a ring around the edge of the glass

S - Chocolate wow. Sweet and bitter chocolate, smells similar to hot chocolate

T - Chocolate is the mainstay in this brew. Sweet chocolate with a bitter finish could be bitter chocolate or the coffee. I dont really get to much in the way of coffee unless that bitterness at the end is due to it.

M - full bodied, milkshake like

D - At 11% and fairly syrupy idk that i could drink more than one 22oz bottle im on the second half of the bottle and its getting hard to drink

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2010 03:06:22 | More by kfsv034
Photo of CaptainIPA


3.58/5  rDev -14.8%

Part of Southern Tier's Black Water Imperial Stout series. Presented in a 22 oz. bottle. Sipped slowly in a Hennepin snifter.

Pours jet black with a thick and foamy crown of khaki-colored head. Predominant aromas of cocoa powder, chocolate malts and vanilla.

Velvety smooth mouthfeel. Opens with layers of cocoa powder, choco milk and bittersweet, dark Belgian chocolate. Where's the coffee? Moves into suggestions of caramel malt and vanilla. Finishes with the faintest trace of roasted java.

At 11% ABV, Mokah isn't exactly sessionable, but...YAHOO!

Although I was anticipating more coffee flavor, Mokah provided an interesting and complex taste profile that has inspired me to taste Jahva and Choklat, the Southern Tier Imperial Stouts that were combined to produce this offering.

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2010 23:11:21 | More by CaptainIPA
Photo of rtepiak


3.58/5  rDev -14.8%

an intense syrup of coffee and chocolate. Pours a thick black with a finger of head. Nose of nothing of quick's chocolate. Palate is like a candy RIS with a rich sugar. Lean feel with body backed in sugar and non-fermentables. Not really something with an intense body to back the alcohol but sugar to high the broad somewhat aggressive abv. Warm but no palate abrasiveness due to the dulling carob cocoa.

Serving type: on-tap

09-20-2010 04:18:12 | More by rtepiak
Mokah from Southern Tier Brewing Company
94 out of 100 based on 1,346 ratings.