Harpoon Brewery – Vermont

Harpoon Winter Warmer is introduced! A beer with cinnamon and nutmeg in it – are you crazy?! That’s mostly what we heard when we first started bringing Harpoon Winter Warmer to friends and family. It was, after all, the first craft beer seasonal brewed in New England. Although some people thought it was a little strange that we brewed a beer with spices in it, Harpoon Winter Warmer quickly became the beer synonymous with the New England winter, and our most anticipated seasonal every year.

A couple year’s later, we did another Harpoon “first” – Harpoon Octoberfest! When we decided to throw our first Harpoon Octoberfest at our brewery in Boston, it was considered a bit of a Hail Mary pass; times were tough and it wasn’t clear if we would be in business another year. We had always wanted to host a festival at the brewery as an ode to the great Munich fall festival, so we thought this would be one last hurrah. Much to our delight (and surprise!), the crowds rolled in. In fact, there were so many people, we had to call family members to come help pour beer! The party continues to this day, with Harpoon Octoberfest festivals at both of our breweries, chicken dancing, oompah bands and all.