Harpoon Winter Warmer - Harpoon Brewery

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BA SCORE
73
okay
-
980 Ratings

rAvg: 3.14
pDev: 21.66%
Reviews: 605
Hads: 375

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Brewed by:
Harpoon Brewery

Massachusetts, United States

Style | ABV
Winter Warmer | 5.90% ABV

Availability: Winter. bottle (524), on-tap (78), growler (3).

Notes:
When you bring a glass of this dark copper ale to your lips to take your first sip you will notice the aroma of cinnamon. There is no aromatic hop added that might overpower the distinct spice scent. The medium body of this beer is formed from caramel and pale malts. These create enough body to support the spices without making the beer excessively rich. Bittering hops are added to counter the sweetness of the malt and spice. The finish of the beer is a blend of cinnamon and nutmeg. The combination of these two spices results in a balanced, pumpkin-pie flavor.

22 IBU

Reviews

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Reviews by ThisWangsChung:

ThisWangsChung

Maryland

3.54/5 rDev +12.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle into a pint glass.

A: Pours a crystal-clear tawny copper color that is honestly quite beautiful. The head is a one finger offwhite shade with great texturing and lacing. It doesn't retain itself the best, though.

S: The most shamelessly cinnamon forward beer I've ever encountered. It's almost as if Harpoon took a page from Southern Tier's book on "how to make something smell exactly like what you're advertising". Okay, so Harpoon didn't advertise this as "Cinnamon Bomb", but you get the picture. I don't care for super-spiced brews - still, I wish most scented candles smelled like this.

T: Flavor-wise, there was no chance in hell of living up to the aroma. Still, spicing comes through quite strongly on the midtaste and finish. Ultimately, the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and coriander overpower the timid malt base quite thoroughly. As a result, the balance is sorely lacking. But you know what? It's not bad - as a showcase for the heavy spicing, I'd even call it good.

M: Very creamy and almost lush. It slides down a bit sluggishly due to the thick texture, but becomes quite clean (not to be mistaken for dry) past the aftertaste. Carbonation is unintrusive.

O: Fairly underrated in my book. It's not great per se (nose notwithstanding), but I wouldn't be averse to having this again. In a way, I'm glad Harpoon went for the 'unsubtle, hop-devoid spice bomb route' with this instead of the 'wassail meets Arrogant Bastard' route. This is NOT for everyone, though.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2013 21:25:37 | More by ThisWangsChung