Harpoon Brewery
Commercial Brewery
in Boston,
Massachusetts,
United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: Harpoon Brewery
Established in 1986
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.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
[At RBSG 2005] An amber beer with a small beige head. The aroma is very malty combined with light notes of hops. The flavor is sweet malty with notes of wood and cararamel, leading to a slightly hoppy end. A great interpretation of a Maibock.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
[At RBSG 2005] A brown beer with a light brown head. The aroma is sweet with primary notes of caramel, but also some over ripe fruits, and so is the flavor. I don’t really pick up any alcohol notes.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
On draught at Redbones, 10/26/2005 with Crosling. Served a dark, coal black with a dark grayish-beige head, small but fairly well retained, probably because this is so fresh. Certainly not because it’s thick. In fact, it’s another filtered one in the series. After the carbonation settles out, the beer is actually fairly clear when held to the light and takes on a tan-chestnut color. There is no lacing present. Aroma shows roasted barley bitterness, but well-restrained, with some light baker’s chocolate dryness, a smattering of fresh floral hops and a bit of sweet, toffeeish malt. Flavor begins with a good dose of dark chocolate coupled with lightly salty roast. Moderately flavorful hops (floral in nature) come in to play, adding a balancing bitterness to the sweet toffee and buttercream malt sweetness. Touches of roasted bitterness grace the edges of the palate while a lingering mix of creamy sweet malt and more chocolate build. Finishes with a well-controlled hops bitterness, lightly fruity, mostly floral and dry, with buttercream and chocolate. Body is medium for the style, with a moderate amount of carbonation and a rather smooth, if somewhat uninspiring mouthfeel. Though at this point, being so fresh, it hasnt begun to grow watery or thin. But I have no doubt that it will. It’s a very light example of the style.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
On draught at Redbones, 10/23/2005. Served a glassy, copper-to-deep-yellow color with a rapidly receding white head and no lacing. Smells quite hoppy still, lots of citrus and resin with a strong note of alcohol, some strong esters and lots of thickly packed in caramel malt. Pretty unadventurous, yet well-done aroma. Flavor is a slap in the face with bitter, resinous hops, thick, nearly syrupy caramel malt and alcohol. Warming, estery alcohols burn and fight all the way down, while the hops make me cringe on the end. Light fruitiness adds some complexity, but this stuff is pretty well an uncomplex shot of monstrous proportions of yeast, sugars and hops bittering. Good mouthfeel, low carbonation, not quite syrupy. Has a tinge of sourness on the end, and coming stronger as it warms. May just have been the alcohol interplay with the malt, but it grew more and more until it was quite unpleasant drinking by the end. Almost a bready/sourdough flavor. Sweet, monotonous caramel followed by drying, bready sourdough and alcohol, with a huge dose of bitter, resinous (but not flavorful) hops.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Red copper ale with a thin white head. Good carbonation. Fruity sweet malt in aroma with notes of dry candied fruits. Rich malt and caramel and citrus and good bitter notes. Rich with light alcohol notes in finish. (Spring 2005)
jcwattsrugger (14779) reviewed IPA from Harpoon Brewery 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
12 oz bottle packaged 6/30/05-pours a thick creamy light tan head that reduces. Color is clear yellow-gold. Appearance of the beer is minimal carbonation. Aroma is hoppy-malt. Taste is hoppy with nicely balancing of malts. Good carbonation. This beer is much better out of a glass than the bottle. *210627 canned 4/26/21 Maybe 3.0
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 3.5
Why do I keep trying these Harpoon 100 Barrel beers? Would I continue to patronize a restaurant that served me a steak covered in live fly larvae? Nay! And yet I continue to imbibe these half-baked, masturbatory "experiments." Anyway, to the beer - pours a dark cloudy red with a fizzy head that disappears completely, leaving it looking like a glass of kool-aid - rather full aroma of fresh raspberries, some melon and a hint of musty, earthiness - thin and watery in the mouth - kind of tastes like watered-down fruit punch - sour raspberry flavors hide underneath a kind of stale grainy flavor - the finish is chalky, with the distinct taste of sea salt - raspberry-infused brine - probably the worst in this series so far.
shrubber (15736) reviewed UFO Hefeweizen from Harpoon Brewery 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
Bottle. Slightly sweet orange-lemon aroma. Pale orange-yellow color with small head. Very mild lemon with sour-bitter finish. Another typical American wheat mislabelled as a Hefe - not bad, not great.
Frothingslosh (18912) reviewed Dark from Harpoon Brewery 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6
This is a fairly mediocre beer from a mediocre brewer. Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer pours a very dark brown color with a small tan head. The aroma is sweet toasted malt. The flavor is light roasty malts and coffee. It is mildly sweet with a crisp floral hop undertone. The finish is roasty. The palate is moderately smooth.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle shared with Capflu, DumDum, Lubière. Poured a pitch-black color beer with small dark head. Aroma of sweet fruit with some whiskey. Taste is quite particular with some soy-sauce feels, fig like sweetness and a great body. Alcohol is very well hidden. Very different from usual barley wine, which I guess, makes it even more interesting.
Brewery Stats
| Score | 6.62 |
| Beers | 391 |
| Ticks | 2790 |
Top Reviewers (Not including batches)
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CosmicCharlie | 133 |
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AdamChandler | 97 |
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Mrf33n3y | 83 |
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Frothingslosh | 72 |
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Drake | 69 |
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Jow | 62 |
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CLW | 53 |
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jcwattsrugger | 50 |
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cheap | 45 |
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ben4321 | 45 |