Brewery: Harpoon Brewery
ABV: 5.5%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle poured into a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown, best by 3/15/11
I am now a Friend of Harpoon, which gets me. . . beer? I don't know, as I didn't really pay attention to anything while I was signing up. Kathryn told me that there are some Harpoon events coming up that you need to be a Friend to get into, and that was good enough for me. I hope that I get a little member card and learn a secret handshake!
So the first thing that I learned is that "Winter Warmer" is actually a style of beer and not a specific brew from Harpoon. This particular one is a clear amber color with almost no head at all. It has an aroma that makes me think of Christmas, with cinnamon and maybe nutmeg. I am not positive about what nutmeg smells like, so I have to go on instinct here. The smell actually reminds me of Shipyard Pumpkinhead a little bit, so I will bet that there are some overlapping spices.
I think that this particular bottle is not very good, but I've had this beer in the past and enjoyed it. Like last week when I had one at the Lighthouse. I will try to mix those memories with what I'm currently drinking and see what I get. Harpoon's Winter Warmer is super spicy. Not spicy like hot sauce, but spicy like there's a buttload of spices in here. If your tastebuds aren't overwhelmed by the spice factor, there is also a bit of malt flavor hidden underneath. It's not very carbonated, and it leaves a medium spice aftertaste.
Final thought - I am not sure what happened to this bottle of beer. I know I like this beer in general, but not this specific one. The spice level is probably too high to have more than a few of these beers, but those few are usually enjoyable. Just hope you don't run into a dud, like I just did.
-Jon
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