Southern Tier Harvest Ale

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

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy golden-orange with an average size lasting white head. Nice, slightly mild, hoppy aroma. Flavour has a good hop and malt balance, it’s quite refreshing and easy to drink. Medium bodied. A true session ale.

Draught sample at the Blue Tusk in Syracuse, NY, early October 2006. Pours a pale, bubbly yellow with just a trace of lasting head....massive hoppy-fruity, acidic nose, pungent with drying/rotting apricots and fresh barnyard scents, dry citrus.....on the tongue at first it’s quite dry also, a little dull and lifeless briefly but a nice light sweetness develops in the clean mouthfeel and huge bitterness shows up towards the finish....moderate to high carbonation, a bit boring at finish but on the whole this works.

(bottle - 12 oz) Dark gold in color with a thin white head. Aroma is lightly hopped with some citrus, pine, and resin. Flavor has a good amount of floral and bitter hops at the beginning, a pine and citrus flavor in the middle and a very dry and bitter finish. It’s been a while since I’ve had the regular Harvest Ale, but what’s the change? Still good though.

This was a nice beer but was thin bodied for a pale ale. Interesting though in that it packed all of the hop flavor of bigger beers. Well worth a try.
Earlier Rating: 10/19/2006 Total Score: 3.7
Very nice beer. Poured a golden orange color with a thin white head. Looks are deceiving with this one, as the taste is far from plain. A very good beer.

This is a great beer for fall. I really enjoyed tatsing this and likened it to when I first had a real micro brew. You will be happy!

Bottle (12oz). 2006 version: twist-off, a raised "06 near the base of the bottle, neck-label. Pale clear gold, small white head. Aroma of alcohol, citrus/spruce hops, a resiny tangy malt, almost a hint of turpentine. Taste of herbal/grassy hops with a strong background of pine & resin, very restrained, tangy lemony malt, alcohol, everything restrained, much alcohol bitterness in the finish. Watery body, astringent, slick, alcoholic mouthfeel, very silky yet the linger is almost teeth-squeakingly crisp. Very good, I think the alcohol would mellow and some woody character might come into it on aging.
Earlier Rating: 11/5/2005 Total Score: 3.9
Bottle (12oz). Rich, oily-looking gold with a thin white head. Aroma of rich, oily-resiny-grapefruit hops, yeast, some roast malt - very appealing. Taste follows nose, but is very muted - lighltly oaky, almost like a malty harvest ale, only alcohol-light. I find no flaws and it’s quite complex as it warms, average body and a nice oily mouthfeel. This one’s eminently drinkable.

A gift from a traveling friend. When I poured this I was expecting a pumpkin beer. A nice slightly redgold pour. When this beer arrived I thought it was a pumpkin beer. I was pleasantly surprised to catch an aroma of citrus almost lemon with a nice touch of hops. A big hops flavor dominates but it has a citrusy whang with a tad of malt. Very hoppy for the style but very very nice.

Bottle, thanks to a buddy. Pours out a nice clear light copper color with a small white head. Floral hops on the nose. Nice mouthfeel with a good complex taste. Very good balance, grassy/floral hop taste with some caramel and slight nut flavors with a bit of a hop kick on the finish. Very solid beer.