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 - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
2004 bottle. Pours a good ruddy reddish-brown with a touch of haziness from a light layer of sediment. Big creamy white head. Smells of light hops (fresh and floral, little bit of veggies) with some pale malt. Flavor is big time pale malt, light crystal malt, some low alpha hops like perle or EKG or something. Good even malt base. There were some light fruit esters, but pass that off to an interesting yeast and then you get some soily, yeasty, dry notes. It’s got a great medium body, no thinning. I thought this was a wonderful rendition of an EPA or a ESB (the difference gets quite grey).
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed 3B from Harpoon Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
2004 Draught @ Belgian beer Fest. Light brown with some auburn highlights and a small off-white head. Smells of lightly sweet brown malts, touch of bourbon and sharp woody notes. Flavor proves to be much better than the aroma; plenty of lightly sweet brown malt makes up the base, but then you’ve got a wonderfully balanced light belgian yeast presence, followed by a dry nutty middle with hints of bourbon, ending on a dry spectacularly woody finish. Medium bodied, but very flavorful for what it was. Moderate carbonation.
Silphium (4310) reviewed Ale from Harpoon Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Clear amber body, thin off-white head. Tangy, almost sour body with little going on; I pick up some nutty flavors, a hint of fruit and maybe a bit of toast but not much else. Has a slight hops bitterness that persists through the sip. This is pretty dull.
Silphium (4310) reviewed UFO Hefeweizen from Harpoon Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Cloudy yellow-orange pour, thin off-white head (more of a carbonation ring). Tangy, slightly sour wheat aroma with hints of orange and banana. The body is very tangy and fruity (oranges, lemon, a touch of banana), even fruitier than Bell’s Oberon. There is also a grassy wet hay aspect. Finishes a bit biscuity. Fairly unique and somewhat difficult to rate.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
An amber beer with a small disappearing orange head. The aroma is of sulphur, fruit, and malt. The flavor is malty with notes of caramel and hints of alcohol. The sulphur reminds me of an Eastern European Beer.
Silphium (4310) reviewed Dark from Harpoon Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Deep sanguine body, thin clumping tan head. Aroma of grapes, toast, and earthy hops. Body is richer than expected with toast, red wine, graham cracker, figs and cigar smoke. Plenty of tannins. Good beer!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
2004 draught. Kinda cool trying one of these single batches on draught (at least I thought it was) as I have like the last few that I have tried. Anyways it pours a good enough dark caramel brown with a creamy yellow tinged white head. Aroma has a surprising amount of yeast, lightly sour with some deep roasted malt appeal and even some alcohol. Some very sweet nutty notes as well. Flavor begins with a big dose of bittersweet malt, slightly oily/syrupy, somewhat fluffy/carbonated mouthfeel though (which seems like a contradiction). Hmm, not terribly complex, it’s got some toffee/molasses in there, wouldnt mind some smoke malts, of which I tasted none. Sweet/sour chocolate and yeast on the finish. Definite bitter hops apparency throughout which really detracts from the style.
Ungstrup (52101) reviewed IPA from Harpoon Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
An orange beer with a small but disppearing white head. Both the aroma is slightly sour, malty, and slightly hoppy. I loved this beer before I joined RateBeer, especially when I had it at the brewery - but 2 years and 2500 beers later it has become boring - it is a little sad, but also shows how much my world of beer has improved.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
2004 bottle. Pours a dark brownish copper, with some lighter magenta and rusty orange colors. Big light beige colored head. Aroma of light nutty grains, hints of dry toffee, a touch of black licorice perhaps and some earthy hops. Flavor is bigger than I expected from the aroma; sweet and malty, but has a deep earthy roast quality that is very subtle but pleasing. Soft hints of light red fruits mingle with caramel and a touch of yeast. Finish remains full flavored. Palate is medium to medium full bodied and lightly spritzy. Very drinkable and very good, though perhaps a bit more sweetness and fruitiness than I would like from this style. Give me a little bit more yeast and earthiness. Still, this is one of the better alts I’ve had (not that I’ve had many).
Clarkvv (16327) reviewed Dark from Harpoon Brewery 21 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
2004 bottle. Pours a dark black with beige swirls. Looks roasty and caramelly. Good beige head. Aroma of oily roast, maybe a hint of brown sugar and some lightly bitter hops. Flavor is big and spicy with plenty of roastiness throughout and climaxing at the finish. It almost seems like it’s a bit too much with the roast. Light sugars arise as it warms. A strange bitter almost old yeast flavor towards the end as well. The flavor was certainly unique and not altogether pulled together, but though I could get around that, I couldnt forgive the huge amount of artificial carbonation that seemed to sting the palate and break up the flavors.
Brewery Stats
| Score | 6.62 |
| Beers | 391 |
| Ticks | 2790 |
Top Reviewers (Not including batches)
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