Call me befuddled. Thanksgiving weekend I popped into Taco Mac to kick off the Christmas season and hoist a few holiday ales. I did just that, but I also sampled a bit of a beer that had just been tapped on Christmas Day: Harpoon Befuddler Kolsch. Befuddler Kolsch is a draft only specialty beer that seems as rare as hens teeth, but kudos to Taco Mac for always seeming to know how to get their hands on such beers.

That said, when I say I sampled the beer that weekend, I do mean sampled. I only tried a taster glass, but it interested me enough that I ordered a full mug on Sunday December 6^th when I arrived for an afternoon of football and beer. Befuddler is an apt name for this beer, a cross between amber ale and Kolsch, though really and truly I think it belongs more in the amber ale category. There’s not much information out there about it even on the Harpoon website, befuddling as that may be.

I can only tell you what Taco Mac has to say about it, and what it tasted like to me. The beer was tapped at 4PM Thanksgiving Day at the following Taco Mac locations only:

HARPOON BEFUDDLER – AN AMBER KOLSCH

•Windward

•Canton

•Crabapple

•Prado

•Duluth

•Mall of GA

•Peachtree City

•Douglasville

•Lindbergh

•Cumming

•Virginia Highlands

•Cumberland

•East Roswell

•Chattanooga, TN

See? They put Canton on that list just for me! They also say that Harpoon Beffudler Kolsch has an alcohol content of 4.6% by volume, and they say you should pay $5.50 for a mug, which I did.

My mug of Harpoon Befuddler Ale arrived a slightly dark amber color with a thick creamy head and a strong fruity berry and pear nose. Taking a sip, I get light biscuit malt with a hint of caramel in the palate then tons of the fruit the nose promised. As it warms, luscious apple notes emerge as well, suggesting a caramel apple at the fall fair. A gentle, grassy bitter finish seals the deal nicely.

Harpoon calls this a Kolsch, but I don’t. They got the malt here halfway between a delicate Kolsch and a caramelly amber ale, I think, but the light fruitiness of a Kolsch is totally lost: this is very fruity indeed. However, you peg it, I enjoyed it, a fine New England beer on a fine afternoon watching the New England Patriots. Who won, in case you’re wondering.



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