Harpoon Brewery
Commercial Brewery
in
Boston,
Massachusetts,
United States 🇺🇸
Owned by
Barrel One Collective
Associated with 3 Venues
Established in 1986
Contact
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.
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.
6.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 5.5
Can. Hazy, orange, lush yellowish foam. Aroma: orange, tropical fruits and sweet nectar. Taste: a little watery, mango and other fruits, orange, drinkable.
Tried
from Can
on 16 Jan 2022
at 09:33
6.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Can. Orange, hazy, yellow foam. Aroma: mango, nectar and honey, sweet, other fruits. Taste: mango and nectar, sweetness, a little aspirin.
Tried
from Can
on 16 Jan 2022
at 09:30
6.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Tap. Yellow-gold, hazy, yellowish foam. Aroma: sweet, orange, a little coriander, wheat and Fanta. Taste: sweet, orange, zest, orange soda, a little coriander.
Tried
from Draft
on 15 Jan 2022
at 18:14
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Deep dark and brown coloured body with a great brown head that starts off at about three centimetres in height and fades very quickly, but leaves a nice cap on top and a bit on the sides. Aroma of very strong sugars with some molasses, grain, earth, nuts and of course, bunches of chocolate and yes, even some graham scents with vanilla here, too and bunches of lactose. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong nutty and very earthy flavours dominate up front with a lot of rich body from the grain and a pleasant sweetness from molasses, lactose, cream and chocolate, of course, with a healthy dose of vanilla here that tempers the deeper flavours a bit. Aftertaste is very rich with a ton of flavours from the sugars, with a fairly bright and pervasive alcohol and yeastiness without any breads, but some pungency comes out towards the end and leaves a nice deep and robust flavour throughout that is balanced fairly nicely. Overall, a surprisingly nice and balanced, rich, pungent and robust beer that has good sweetness, a lot of creamy and milky notes and a lot of complexity from all the aspects coming together, while not being cloying and being relatively easy-to-drink. I sampled this sixteen ounce, pint-sized can, purchased from Wegman's in Lake Manassas (Gainesville), Virginia on 16-May-2021 for US$1,99 (part of a mixed six pack), sampled at my house here in Washington, on Christmas Day 2021, 25-December-2021, with my family.
Tried
from Can
on 14 Jan 2022
at 21:53
4.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
From a bottle it looks like al fine wild brewed, off pale brew. Maybe a little orange, maybe a little red: Both slight tints on pale. It's quite dull on the taste buds but at least its mildly wild, mildly tart. I think it's a little uninspiring without that penetrating wild aspect. But hey, my wife says its OK for a beer? What do I know? Well, at least its not an IPA, I know that is what she's thinking. Stupid-ass ubiquitous IPA, this is much better than any IPA. Yea, the finish is not bitter hop offensive, but its not quite wild, even tho it masquerades a sour. Sure, not offensive yet it lacks that slight penetrating tartness that is typical of real wild noted brews.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Jan 2022
at 22:42
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Pours clear deep amber into a tulip. Bright white conglomerate head with excellent retention recedes leaving spidery sheets. Pumpernickel and vanilla aromas. Medium bodied with hot rye whiskey and caramel upfront turning to pumpernickel sourdough and earthy pith in the lasting bitter finish.
Tried
on 11 Jan 2022
at 22:39
4.5/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 3
Texture 6
Overall 4
Bottle, slight sweet fruit nose. Light orange tint on a clear pale brew. Somewhat surprising bitter beer with a dull mango middle. That uncalled for mildly sharp bitter ale character keeps finding its way to the front. Its almost like the immature craft feel I get around these nano brewpubs. A little metallic on the finish. At least it has decent carbonation.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 Jan 2022
at 21:10
6.3/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 6
Flavor 6.5
Texture 6
Overall 6
Gammel rating som ikke kom med fra RB. Smaking på Trym, Sørumsand.
Tried
from Can
on 08 Jan 2022
at 10:20
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
0.33 l can from a Systembolaget in Eskilstuna. Hazy golden, small off-white head. Moderately hoppy, tropical, stone fruit, candy. Soft lychee, ripe mango, very pleasant. Spices. Strong, tart, slightly bitter, fruity, slightly perfumy. Drinkable, moderate carbonation, fresh, moderate finish.
Tried
from Can
on 07 Jan 2022
at 15:48
7.8/10
Tried
from Can
on 02 Jan 2022
at 20:42