Catamount Brewery
Microbrewery
in Windsor,
Vermont,
United States 🇺🇸
Owned by
Harpoon Brewery
Established in 1984
Closed in 2000
They released many beloved beers including Catamount Gold, a hoppy golden ale, which won gold at the 1989 Great American Beer Festival, as well as Catamount Porter and Catamount Christmas Ale.
Catamount closed its doors in the spring of 2000. Later that summer, employee owned Mass. Bay Brewing Company purchased the Catamount Brewery and converted it to the Harpoon Brewery, where it fulfilled the long held dream of Catamount by opening a full service pub and beer garden – and where it released limited edition batches of Catamount beers from time to time.
But Mass. Bay Brewing didn’t only get a brewery out of the deal – they also got Brett Simmons, a Catamount Brewer who still brews at that very brewery to this day.
In collaboration with Mass. Bay brewers (and avid Catamount beer drinkers back in the day) Ryan Thompson and Tom Graham, Brett brewed Catamount IPA to bring the pioneering brand back for a new generation of Vermont beer drinkers.
Every drop of Catamount IPA is proudly brewed at 336 Ruth Carney Drive in Windsor, VT – where it was originally brewed years ago.
You can find Catamount IPA on tap only in Vermont. Please come see us in Windsor at the tap room for a fresh Vermont brewed pint of Catamount beer, where you can also purchase Catamount IPA in crowlers and growlers to go.
Editor's Note: For current "Catamount" beers, which are simply Harpoon beers with a Catamount label, please see the Harpoon Brewery page.
Gripweed57 (8744) reviewed Ethan Allen Ale from Catamount Brewery 8 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6
From old tasting notes. Brilliant Amber orange color. Bubbly white head. Smoky malt nose. Interesting toasted malt flavor upfront hints at smoke and spice. Tangy midtaste.mmild hop finish and aftertaste.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
From old tasting notes. Bright Amber orange color topped by a rocky beige head. Earthy toasted malt aroma with herbal hops. Bittersweet malt flavor has a big floral hop balance. Hops dominate the palate throughout finishing with a tart grapefruit hop finish. A real good India Pale Ale.
Gripweed57 (8744) reviewed Pale Ale from Catamount Brewery 8 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
From old tasting notes. Deep Amber orange color. Rocky beige head. Aromatic spicy hop nose. Assertive bittersweet toasted malt flavor. Sharp hoppy finish.
Gripweed57 (8744) reviewed Amber from Catamount Brewery 8 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
From old tasting notes. Bright Amber orange color. Subtle fruity toasted malt nose. Nice toasted malt flavor with hints of fresh hops that linger through into the finish. Nice flavor and balance.
CoastGuardVet (6205) reviewed Ethan Allen Ale from Catamount Brewery 9 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
Another one from Kate.
Poured into a pint glass.
The appearance was a darker red color than the other amber I had by them. Head stuck around for just a tad longer too. Lacing just slides into the beer.
The smell malty rich through caramel, toffee, toasty/breadiness. Lingering.
The taste was basically the same with an herbal/slightly earthy British almost soapiness to it.
Light to medium bodied. Carbonation felt decent.
Overall, the better amber ale that was put up by these guys.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
Though long since retired as a brewery, luckily, I found the notes. Thanks Kate!
Poured into a pint glass, a deep red color with a quickly dissipating head shows no lacing.
The smell had caramel, toffee, burnt toast and crisp sweet corn.
The taste was basically the same. Thick sweet caramel aftertaste.
Light to medium bodied. Low carbonation.
As an amber/red ale, it kinda works. I didn’t mind it for me, but nothing over the top. I wonder what ever happened to Kate, the girl who sent it to me when I lived in Maine, years ago.
CoastGuardVet (6205) reviewed Wassail from Catamount Brewery 9 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Reviewed from notes. And this was fresh at the time. Holy moley, this review is old, and thanks Kate!
This was poured into a pint glass.
The appearance was a brown color with a thin off-white head that leaves immediately.
The smell had cinnamon, nutmeg, caramel, toffee, light cocoa powder.
The taste was mainly sweet through the previously mentioned flavors. Previously mentioned spices play a lower key. Light roast in the aftertaste.
Quick wet sweet finish.
Light bodied, with a pretty good sessionability about it. Carbonation felt low. Spices seem to hit fair on my tongue, seemed authentic.
Overall, as a winter warmer, it works, not sure what everyone else’s complaints were, maybe they just don’t like the style.
jgb9348 (11828) reviewed Pale Ale from Catamount Brewery 22 years ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 2 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 2
Golden colour with a 2 centimetre white head. Metallic aroma with a bit of malt and even smaller amount of hops. Very strong metallic taste, pretty offensive with some other tastes of malt and pepper. Aftertaste purely of malt and metallic bitterness. I thought that this was a deal for $1 at Trader Joe's but it turned out to be a bad deal! Definately not reccommended, and definately not in the APA category! Overall, way worse than the average APA. I bought my bottle at the same time as JonR888710, which might be understandable, because we both have low ratings. Perhaps Trader Joe handled our beers improperly...because this one wasn't good! I bought my 12 ounce bottle from Trader Joe's in Tyson's Corner, Virginia.