Southern Tier Harvest Ale

Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Lakewood, New York USA

Another very drinkable brew from the local boys. Nice hoppy aroma. Hoppy flavor balanced by carmel malt and some bready earthy flavors. I like it a lot.

Bottle. The pour into a lager glass initially disappointing in its standard looking macro-lagery-ness. Basically gold, bubbly and with a surrendering foamy white head. However, thereafter comes a pleasing aroma of bright citrusy and grassy hops above wafery malts. Flavor was light and clean, almost wheaty cereal malts with a decent infusion of hops, leaving some refreshing citrusy bitterness on the finish. Not as caramely in the malt like almost every other APA, here instead concentrating on the hop side, which is a nice change of pace. Quite the drinkable light yet hoppy session beer. This is going very well with football.

Anything by Southern Tier that I have not had a chance to try yet is an immediate purchase for me at this point. After being blown away by their imperial series and impressed by everything else (except the raspberry brew), I am all for trying another production. Pours a crystal clear straw gold with a nice white head that has some staying power. Nose is perfumed floral hops in abundance, but not shoving it all down, errr...up your nose. Flavor has a nice balance to it, though it is a bit hop forward. Mild bitter tone there. More than mild, but not overly pronounced leafy character as well. Feel has a pretty full carbonation to it and a decent liquid body. A definite fall time brew. Even though it is still summer weather, I drink this on and feel like fall is almost on me. Another good one by ST.

On tap @ Coles, Buffalo NY. Nice hop aroma. Medium body & hop flavor. Piney some grapefruit. Good APA

12 oz bottle. Clear, then cloudy, yellow brown with a bubbly, off-white head. Peachy caramel and grass. Medium body with a honey mouthfeel. Soft carb buzz. Vanilla, toffee and candied orange peel play off pine and juicy grapefruit. Barleywine light. Sweet but not cloying. Very nice.

Potent hop aroma - coupled with floral notes and a nice grassiness. Highly filtered, barely a head at all. Very mild in flavor, with lots of flowers and hops. Clean and tasty, easy to drink.

Thanks to Eugene for recommending this beer; I would have passed it up otherwise - completely clear pale golden beer with a small ring of lace (could probably pass for a pale lager based on looks) - spicy, peppery hop aroma, with some buttery notes and light floral touches - the flavor is a strong, grassy, spicy hop showcase, with just enough malt sweetness to keep the beer from being too dry - the beer remains crisp and finishes rather clean, keeping the hops the star of the show all the way through - a nice, flavorful quaffer, perfect for late summer or early autumn.

Date: 10/27/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Trade

hazy orange, whispy head, sweet piney malt aroma with a bit of grapefruit, thin body, lots of lingering bitterness, touch of piney sweetness but not enough to bring balance, too thin and bitter overall

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4