Harpoon Brown Session Ale
Harpoon Brown Session Ale is a year-round, Brown Ale that inexplicably showed up in my Harpoon Winter variety pack. Boasting 6 different malts, this beer is not a winter beer, in fact I would call it 3 season. It has some fruits that could make it enjoyable in the spring or summer. The brown color makes it blend in with the falls, but it is not at all hardy or spicy like I would expect a winter beer to be. Harpoon Brown Session Ale has an orange zest flavor and either a lemongrass or lime aroma. They also allege chocolate malt. This must explain the brown color.
Our friends at Beer Advocate (I use that term loosely, I’ve never met them), took a stab at defining the term “session beer”.
session beer n.
Any beer that contains no higher than 5 percent ABV, featuring a balance between malt and hop characters (ingredients) and, typically, a clean finish – a combination of which creates a beer with high drinkability. The purpose of a session beer is to allow a beer drinker to have multiple beers, within a reasonable time period or session, without overwhelming the senses or reaching inappropriate levels of intoxication. (Yes, you can drink and enjoy beer without getting drunk.)
Harpoon calls it complex, but I found it a little confusing given that it was in my Winter variety pack. I am going to have to try this again in the summer. It is smooth drinking. The finish is clean and I could see myself drinking more than one. See the video for REAL TIME REVIEWING ACTION!
