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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5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 5 Texture 4 Overall 5
(Bottle 35,5 cl) Hazy golden with a small, white head. Malty aroma with a fruity touch. Rather light body, starts almost pilsener like, but some banana esters eventually turns up. Dry finish. 220406
Tried from Bottle on 06 May 2006 at 17:00

5.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 5
Bottle. Hazy yellow color. Small white head. Fruity flavor, with a little bland flavor. Nice finish though.
Tried from Bottle on 29 Apr 2006 at 21:16

5.5/10 Appearance 4 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 4 Overall 6
An unclear dark yellow beer with a thin rim of white head. The aroma is wheaty with a good deal of citrus, and so is the flavor, but the body is thin. OK.
Tried on 23 Apr 2006 at 02:52

4.2/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 4 Texture 4 Overall 3
Boston Dec 05 Bottle purchased from local off licence. Brown in colour with a typically wintery Christmassy cake spicy aroma, Not in the least bit impressed with this beertrying to hard to force the spices on you not subtlety at all.
Tried from Bottle on 12 Apr 2006 at 01:32

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Pours a deep amber into a shaker. Rocky head with lots of lacing. Malt and nut aromas. Flat with toasty bitter lingering finish.
Tried on 11 Apr 2006 at 18:06

5.2/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 5 Flavor 5 Texture 6 Overall 5
2006 bottle consumed on 3/30/06, served in a tall weizen glass
Lovely crystal clear, unfiltered appearance. No sediment on the bottom of the bottle of this unfiltered beer, which I bought from the cooler. I’m sure it’s just a flocc’ing issue........
Goldenrod mixes with light pink to give it a soft, burnished copper and light-salmon-pink hue. Head is initially large, frothy and eventually diminishes to cover, with little to no lacing.
Muted, raspberry essence rises up from the glass, mixing with dry, creamy smelling wheat. Like a bowl of porridge with some raspberry essence in it. No hops that I can find. Not the most unnatural smelling raspberry note, but not overly natural smelling, either. Grains soaked in water, very dry, with a touch of vanilla. No esters or phenols that I can find.
The flavor is fully attenuated raspberry essence. No sweetness, not even really "tart" just more astringent than anything. Grainy malts provide no sweetness, while a hint of vanilla cream is barely perceptible upon warming. Very watery, with seemingly only wheat and raspberries as flavor. Heavy carbonation, no alcohol.
Tried from Bottle on 03 Apr 2006 at 11:13

6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
Bottle. Nice red color, with small white head. Slight malt aroma, but not in flavor. Pretty decent I must say.
Tried from Bottle on 19 Mar 2006 at 20:28

5.9/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 4.5
on tap-pours an offwhite head with cloudy gold/yellow color. Aroma is raspberry, wheat. Taste follows, malt, good effervescence.
Tried from Draft on 19 Mar 2006 at 16:29

8.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 9 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
on tap-pours a light tan head that becomes rocky and laces. Color is copper. Aroma is hops and bitter citrus. Taste follows, secondary malt. Stiff, in your face, pungent grapefruit, approaching an uber lager.
Tried from Draft on 19 Mar 2006 at 16:27

6/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6
on tap-pours a tan head with brown/red color. Aroma is sweet, malt. Taste is sweet, malt, coffee. Good carbonation. Not a session beer, good for sipping one.
Tried from Draft on 19 Mar 2006 at 16:24