Brewery – Mt. Carmel
Beer – Harvest Ale
Style – ESB
ABV – 5.8%
IBUs – 55.6

Pay homage to the harvest with this smooth, full bodied, well-balanced ESB delivering a memorable dry hop finish.

Pumpkin beers… I love you.  Oktoberfest lagers, you make my heart sing every fall.  There comes a point, though, that you just start looking for something a little different.  Something that screams seasonal fall beer, but isn’t your typical offering.  Mt. Carmel’s Harvest Ale satisfies that need for me spectacularly.

When Jared Hamilton first took over brewing at Mt. Carmel from his predecessor, Anthony, he was tasked nearly off the bat with heloping to develop the recipe for Mt. Carmel’s final seasonal, this harvest ale.  The beer was inspired by the color of fall, the golden brown and reddish yellow hues of the changing leaves, from this vision came the recipe for what you’re looking at now (albeit through a few small recipe changes since then).

My Thoughts on Mt. Carmel Harvest Ale

I already told you what you expect from the appearance when you fill your glass with this brew.  It’s a fall seasonal in color… ruby golden brown with a big, thick light tan head that sits on the top of the clear sparkling liquid.

Aromas dance all over the earthy side, with hay, roasted grains, and a great earthy hop aroma coming to the front for me.  This smells like a warm fall evening outside around a fire pit with friends.

It tastes like much more than your typical fall seaonsal is supposed to be.  This has a hearty hop backbone that plays with the heavy malt body very well, with the two sides taking turns at showing their face to your palate.  This beer is a wonderfully refreshing addition to fall seasonals here in the city, and is certainly best enjoyed on a fall afternoon or evening sitting around Mt. Carmel’s pond with their massive fireplace warming all your newest friends on their patio.