Winter Warmer
Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall

 

A bottle poured into a stemless snifter.
Tea colored with high clarity, a weak head and little lacing.
Mild caramel malt flavor with vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg notes. Some fruit flavors in the background, apple, pear. Also orange & banana to a much lesser extent.
A pretty good holiday warmer.

Pours a clear bronze amber color with two fingers of white foam with minimal lacing from a twelve ounce longneck bottle into a nonic pint glass. Aroma of crystal malt and candy syrup and flavors of quality kilned malts and honey, with some winter spices restrained but evident. Overall quite nice.

Nice offering by Harpoon. Years ago, I remember this being on cinnamon overload. I believe they've corrected this as there is a nice balance of caramel, light cherry, cinnamon, and nutmeg where all things are in sync. The over arcing flavor is quite sweet with lively carbonation bringing the rest along. Not my thing, but I enjoyed revisiting this as a one off

Harpoon Winter Warmer, presents with a brassy / bronze rich color beneath a modest off white head. Fragrant spiced nose wafts over. Tasty this flavor of cinnamon is sharp, think Red Hots Candy. The 6% ABV, kicks in slowly, making this a decent brew. Nuanced flavors mouthfeel and sweet more than any bitter. Semi dry finish.

This is a solidly unspectacular winter warmer. In my opinion that makes it better than most. So many variations on this style are over spiced or have too much honey. This one is nicely balanced. Almost subtle. Even sublime. Nailed it

Had this on tap at a restaurant. Decently pleasant to look at, clear deep amber color, small head that disappeared quickly. Smell is distinctly caramelly. Great wintery flavor, slight spicy hint of caramel but no overwhelming spicy profile. Feel is average, decent carbonation. Nice beer for a winter night.

Deep chestnut color , medium beige head. A lot of spices in malty aroma, light hoppy notes. Malty , caramel taste with cinnamon and other winter spices. It's a decent seasonal beer.

Pours a nice, clear reddish bronzy color with a short and short-live tannish head that doesn't last and ends up as a thin ring.

Not much on the nose. Very faint sweet, bready malts and even less of the spicy stuff.

Unfortunately, the taste follows. This seems quite bland to me. There's a little bready malt and caramel sweetness. Very faint cinnamon and maybe nutmeg. A bit of a peppery finish.

Mouthfeel is thin and a bit watery. Minimal bitterness, slightly dry.

Overall, they missed the boat on this one. It just doesn't have much going for it from the flavor, aroma, or mouthfeel perspectives.

12 ounce bottle poured into a goblet.
PKG 10/21/24

L: Very clear caramel brown, one inch off-white head, fairly persistent but eventually reduces to wispy cap and thick collar.
S: Dark bread malt at first, then light baking spice aroma, whiffs of nutmeg.
T: Caramel malt, baking spice, nutmeg coming through as in the nose, mild flavor, not sweet or bitter.
F: Medium bodied, frothy feel, medium carbonation
O: Straightforward and subtle, easy drinking.

 

December 2024. Athens. At first it seemed pretty good but then became kind of boring and redundant slightly multi a little sour. It was OK but I would not buy a six pack of it.

 

Poured into a shaker pint: color is copper, transparent, head is light tan with fine bubbles, head presents 1/4 inch thick, head then dissipates to thin top, some spotty lacing.

Smell is caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg, toffee lightly, earth and herbal hop notes.

Taste is moderate spice but well placed for a winter warmer - caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg, earth, tea, toffee and light cocoa, maybe light grass.

Mouthfeel is moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, moderate spiced bitterness, lingering spice dryness on tongue.

Overall a classic winter warmer - high spice, moderate sweetness, drying finish.

2023 fresh bottle. 36th year for this beer and while it's no Anchor Merry Christmas (RIP) that is a good run of consistency.
Medium amber in color, nicely clear with a weak head of off white with no drape of lace.
Aroma is quite nice and beer-like for a cookie spiced ale. The nutmeg balanced by the cinnamon in a light malt sweetness.
Snickerdoodle in a bottle but not a great one.
More balanced but timid flavors of caramel and cookie spice. No real hop character except a mild bitterness on the finish,
I've never quite understood why these pumpkin and spiced beers sell so well but I do know that many who drink them in winter don't drink much beer the rest of the year, and those are also the folks who buy it as gift and to bring to parties believing they are doing well by the recipients. It's the thought that counts right? But please, just bring me the cookies instead.

 

 

On tap in Jersey, pint glass.

Nice Winter brew look; dark but clean copper amber color with a touch of dark caramel. Slightly off white cap color with good sticky lacing.

Mild aroma, light spice and a bit of cinnamon as described.

Caramel soaked malt flavor with cinnamon and spice. Creamy nut bread.

Solid medium body. Pleasant hop chop on top of the malt bounces out the sweetness.

It went down smoothly and for me, better than its average rating.

Acclimated to 48°F and poured into a goblet.

Pours a hazy, the color of a vintage penny, with a 1.5 finger custard colored relatively quickly dissipating head. Looks like someone stepped in the floor bed of a lake

Initial aroma is ginger (which it doesn't contain), a smooth and sweet aroma promising a pleasant spice burn. A little bit of 50ish% dark chocolate and maybe a hint of lemon peel? Additionally I can't cast the smell of clove gumdrops from my mind's eye as I inhale.

Initial taste is alcohol fumes (a pleasant alcohol burn one would expect from a winter drink), followed by light spice warmth. This is the taste you get from eggnog, and the key to that is nutmeg (this is brewed with cinnamon and nutmeg.) So, nutmeg happens to be my favorite spice by a long long shot, so this is right up my alley. It's interesting that it really does taste like eggnog, it even has a creaminess to it. The maltiness and ABV are perfect in my opinion, higher than your average lager but not at all daunting.

Mouthfeel is cream. Creaminess in taste as I stated previously but in texture as well. It's smooth but not lavishly so.

Will surely buy again! I really enjoyed this primarily because it reminded me of eggnog, which I adore. I also love the texture, and slightly boosted maltiness and ABV. As an overall package it achieves in flavor, alcohol, and richness, without boasting opulence.

Noteworthy is that I am enthralled by the entire genre of winter spiced foods and drinks, so my rating may be high, but consider.