Harpoon Brown Session Ale
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Drinking a beer was the last thing I wanted to do this evening.
I’ve nursed a headache most of the day, and this evening it erupted into a full-blown migraine. For the past few hours, I’ve been flat on my back in the dark.
So for a couple of hours tonight, the integrity of this year-long project rested on my wife’s shoulders, who delicately checked to make sure I didn’t nod off for the night and forget to drink my beer. Everyone should have such a caring partner, especially one who reminds you to drink beer.
I grabbed a Harpoon Brown “Session Ale” from the refrigerator because 1) it was already cold, and 2) I wasn’t expecting much from this beer and therefore wouldn’t feel bad if the article you’re reading came across as thin and lifeless as I’ve been feeling this evening.
The Harpoon Brown Session Ale poured a dark amber color, with a soft but fluffy head. The aroma was flat, a one-dimensional caramel malt. The taste is also fairly light, but not bad. It actually reminds me of a mass market brew — watery and sweet, with caramel malt as the dominant flavor.
The Brown Session Ale is simple, drinkable, and light bodied. I think I grabbed just the right beer for tonight. It lives up to the label “session ale” because it would be easy to drink several of these without getting silly or tired of the taste.
But for my purposes, Harpoon Brown seemed to help with my headache. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to write this much without the headache shifting into the background.
Restorative power of beer? Not likely — it feels like my brief reprieve is coming to an end. See you on IPA Monday.
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3 Comments
March 2nd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Drank this bastard about three days ago. After really enjoying the harpoon IPA, and freaking loving the Harpoon Celtic Ale (get that on here fast), I was surprised this taste had so little distinction. I appreciate a beer that, upon hitting the tongue, puts flavor onto the whole surface of the licker. Then, after a mouthful has taken a moment to sink in, it puts highlighted flavors into different spots and makes the flavor unique and calculable (distinction). This beer does very little of that. Where some beers are busy forcing a overly wide variety of flavors at your (a common illness in craft beer), this beer does little more than provide a sugary malt in cold fluid. I found it wanting, as did Old Man Paine, whose palate operates as a rusty sledgehammer pierces ears.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 am
Bruce, there’s nothing going on with the brown ale worth talking about. Calling it a Session Ale is the marketing team putting the best face on things. I think the brew came in the same Wintry Mix pack as the ill-fated Chocolate Stout but I can’t remember…
Oh, and remind me never to let Old Man Paine pierce my ears.
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:45 am
I got it as a single bottle at Big Red. I think they probably had some variety packs that did not sell so they put the stuff out on the shelves as individuals. It was with the harpoon varieties next to a bottle of the Munich Dark.