Harpoon Brewery

Commercial Brewery in Boston, Massachusetts, United States 🇺🇸
Owned by Barrel One Collective
Associated with 3 Venues

Established in 1986

Contact
306 Northern Ave, Boston, MA, 02210, United States
Description
It all started in 1986. Sure, many things have changed since the early days of Harpoon, but much has stayed the same. We still love brewing beer and enjoying it with friends.

In July 2014, Harpoon became an employee owned company, with 48% of the company given to employees through the establishment of an ESOP. An E-what? ESOP stands for Employee Stock Ownership Plan. It is a mechanism by which a company contributes to its employees’ retirement by allocating shares to them which it repurchases…..yadda, yadda, yadda… Here’s what it means: we are employee owned, we are an independent craft brewer, and you bet we’re damn proud of it.

In 2024, Harpoon and Smuttynose merged, forming Barrel One Collective.

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5.6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 5.5
Black with a medium sized brown head. Brewed coffee, cream, toasty malt and a bit woody. Medium finish and body.
Tried on 12 Dec 2024 at 20:21

6.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 8 Overall 7
12 oz can, as Harpoon UFO Journey to Planet Pumpkin, 9/29/24. Unclear lighter orange color with fizzy off-white head that dissipates fairly quickly down to almost nothing. Light aroma of bready malt, grain, and pumpkin. Nutmeg and allspice in the background, but not overpowering. Earthy and a little herbal. Light, fairly simple. Easy drinking. A touch thin. Long pumpkin finish. One of the more sessionable pumpkin beers I can recall. Overall, this one is more of the vegetal / gourd style than the pie spice style of Pumpkin beer, which is a fairly welcome change. Not bad at all. 6/3/6/4/14
Tried from Can on 29 Sep 2024 at 18:52

5.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 4 Overall 6
s: hoppy - citrus - hay a: cloudy golden body - ugly white head t: mellow - wheat - grain p: light sugars - canned corn - mangoes o: super easy-drinking - soft citrus - mild hops 12oz bottle - GlenRo Spirit Shoppe: Monroe, Connecticut - purchased: 03-September-2023 - US$1,33 ($10,99/mixed six pack) - packaged: 23-February-2023 - sampled: 16-October-2023
Tried from Can on 24 Sep 2024 at 05:53

7/10
Decent, hoppy and bitter.
Tried from Can on 14 Sep 2024 at 21:53

8/10
Full on blueberry, like a good blueberry muffin. Good stuff. Youngest is 18 today, so should have been at the pub, but he's gone and got chicken pox of all things...
Tried from Can on 14 Sep 2024 at 18:20

5.9/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 4 Overall 6.5
12 oz. can from Total Wine. Pours an opaque applesauce color with a small white head and fair retention. Minimal lacing. Dominant strawberry aroma. Super sweet strawberry and lemon flavor. More strawberry than anything else. Tastes more like fruit juice than beer. Smooth and clean. Light body. Medium-light carbonation. Zero bitterness. Easily chuggable, but not really beery.
Tried from Can on 25 Aug 2024 at 23:37

5.5/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 5 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 5
Hazy gold with a large white head that lingered. Bitter, citric and a bit harsh. Medium finish and body.
Tried on 14 Aug 2024 at 19:23

6.9/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Pours bright clear gold into a tulip. White micro head with good retention recedes leaving pancake lacing. Caramel, bread and honey aromas. Soft with sweet caramel and butterscotch upfront turning to bitter earth and twigs in the dry, lasting finish.
Tried on 08 Aug 2024 at 21:33

6.8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Sample (thanks omhper!). Yellowiish colour, small white head. Aroma is floral, some fruits and mild malts. Flavour is floral, fruity, some citrus and some mild herbal and earthy. and mild nectary tones. Pleasant and refreshing.
Tried on 24 Jul 2024 at 18:15

7.6/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Mostly clear, but slightly hazy golden and peach coloured body with a nice one centimetre tall off-white head on top. Aroma of rye and deep grainy malts with some earthiness and a robust herbal kick towards the end, with some alpha acids and a light sweetness, too, in the nose. Medium-bodied; Crisp grassy and herbal notes show the strong rye maltiness with a pungent bitter quality and a light earthiness, with some alcohol noticeable towards the end and a lot of pungency from the hops here, that really shows up at the finish. Aftertaste is dry, herbal, floral and showing an assertive and old-school bitterness with a pretty well-balanced sweetness and some ever so slight citrus qualities. Overall, showing as a pretty nice old-school IPA with the obvious rye notes, but balanced and strong - enjoyable and great for rye lovers! I sampled this twelve ounce bottle, purchased from Giant Eagle (grocery) in Morgantown, West Virginia on 27-May-2023 for US$1,99 (part of a mixed six pack), packaged on 13-December-2021 and sampled at my house here in Washington on 05-June-2023.
Tried from Bottle on 09 Jun 2024 at 05:51