Harvest (Southern Tier)

I'm continuing with my fall seasonal brew notes with this not-so-typical harvest ale. I picked this up as part of a build-your-own six pack just to try it out. Southern Tier is hit or miss for me. This one was in the middle.

General Thoughts
Look and Smell: This brew was very carbonated. It was a clear gold with a foamy head (already departing from your standard harvest brew). The head sticks around for a while. It smelled both sweet and hop spicy.

Taste: On my first sip I got a sharp hop oil with a caramel finish. I tasted passion fruit too. Hop...fruit...well caramel is typical of a fall seasonal. It was a like an IPA in disguise. They list is as an ESB, but I didn't taste the yeast or early-boil bitterness that a standard ESB has. I tasted hops and a bit of malt. Was it hops they harvested?

From the Southern Tier site:
Our celebration of the change of the seasons, a deeply comforting ale to usher in the sunset as the evenings get cooler. In salutation to that special moment in time when the year’s harvest is a gracious cornucopia before us, we take a combination of English hops, cracked barley, and hard work to brew a classic English style Extra Special Bitter of the highest order. Let Harvest’s deep ruby color take you away to a bright autumn mountainside where a warm sweater, a good beer, and the gratitude for the seasons are all you need.