In this winter beer blog, we are going to get into another beer from Harpoon Brewery and it is their Gingerland UFO. If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this northeast craft brewery. If you have not, please, read them to get to know Harpoon Brewery. Let us get into this German style Hefeweizen style.
It has a cloudy slight golden color with a white constant head. The aroma has a ginger to slight yeast notes. The taste has a refreshing ginger to corridor notes. The aftertaste has a ginger to lemon notes. It does not last long. It is kind of drinkable.
It took a while for us to come up with a UFO beer that could withstand the darkest days of the year, but the warmth of ginger combined with the seasonal spice of cinnamon and clove form a perfect companion for a visit to Gingerland. Brewed, not Baked. Poured, not sliced. Inspired by a classic tale. Deliciously spiced. Welcome to Gingerland.
Description
Cinnamon, clove and ginger combine with an unfiltered wheat beer in this deliciously spiced, gingerbread-inspired beer.
Tasting Notes
Appearance: slightly hazy, deep orange
Aroma: ginger snap
Mouth feel: medium bodied and rounded
Taste: malty sweetness from the blend of cinnamon and Munich malt
In closing, it makes a ton of senses for Harpoon Brewery to take their UFO to the next level. They do have their ever popular Pumpkin UFO along with their Raspberry UFO Ale. It makes sense for them to do a nice brew for the Christmas and winter season. I am not a huge fan of it and this is not my kind of beer style. I can see this being pretty popular brew for the winter season. This brew will start a new trend in the craft beer world. I highly recommend this beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this fall beer blog, we are going to get into another Harpoon Brewery beer. It is their UFO Pumpkin Ale. If you read my earlier beer bog posts on their beers, you know the history of this craft brewery. If you have not, please, read them to get to know this craft brewery. Let us get into this pumpkin ale.
It has a cloudy amber color with a white constant head. The aroma has a heavy cinnamon to nutmeg notes. The taste has a nice creamy cinnamon to nutmeg notes with a cinnamon banana clove aftertaste. It is pretty drinkable beer.
It’s a simple story; we brew this beer because we like pumpkin (pumpkin pie, really) and thought an unfiltered pumpkin ale would be great, especially during the New England fall. Turns out it is.
Description
Imagine a pumpkin vine wound its way in a field of barley, and a brewer harvested it all to make a beer. Add Northwestern hops and a blend of spices, and you’ve got UFO Pumpkin. The malt combination provides a smooth body and slightly sweet flavor, which balances perfectly with the earthy notes derived from the pure pumpkin. And like all of our UFO beers, UFO Pumpkin is UnFiltered.
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Amber and orange with a slight haze
Aroma: Malty with hints of pumpkin and spice
Mouth feel: Slightly sweet and smooth
Taste: A solid malt backbone highlighting German Vienna and Munich malts with a nice dose of pumpkin and spice, reminiscent of pumpkin pie
Finish: Easy drinking with a lingering pumpkin aftertaste on the back of the tongue
In the end, I was looking to try this beer for many seasons when they made it to the Chicago market. It is average beer. There is better pumpkin ales on the market. I will say this beer is so much better than Blue Moon Pumpkin and Brooklyn Pumpkin Ale. I did enjoy this beer but I just feel it could be a lot better. I will try it again next season. I recommend it at least once. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this fall beer blog, we are going to get into Harpoon Brewery and the beer is their Octoberfest. This is the first time this beer is being featured on this blog. If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this northeast craft brewery. If you have not, please, read them to get to know this 1980’s craft brewery. Let us get into this Octoberfest.
It has a clear amber color with a white constant head. The aroma has a sweet malty to nutty notes. The taste has a slight sweet malty to nutty notes with a dry malty finish for the aftertaste. It is pretty drinkable beer.
Here is a description from the beer bottle:
This rich, full-bodied, malty beer – perfectly balanced with a generous dose of hops – calls out for lederhosen, dirndls, and oompah music!
Roll out the barrels!
And keep them coming, because this is going to be one festive, malty fall. Come to the brewery and celebrate Octoberfest with us! Prosit!
The original German Oktoberfest was brewed with one celebratory festival in mind. Harpoon Octoberfest is brewed with TWO festivals in mind; our Octoberfests at our breweries in Boston, MA and Windsor, VT. We love the style and it’s a great beer for the fall season. In true Octoberfest tradition, we threw our first festival here at the brewery in 1990. There were a couple thousand people here celebrating amidst the brewing tanks. We can’t quite fit everyone in the actual brewery now – last year nearly 18,000 revelers attended our Boston Octoberfest and nearly 7,000 joined us at our brewery in Vermont the following weekend. Prost!
Description
Harpoon Octoberfest is a malty tribute to fall, balanced by a gentle hop bitterness. In keeping with tradition, it is a Marzen-style beer, brewed with abundant quantities of Munich, Chocolate, and Pale malts. Those malts provide a solid, full body and create the beer’s deep color. It is a rich, flavorful beer.
Tasting Notes
Appearance: garnet-red color with a firm, creamy head.
Aroma: hop aroma, (not overpowering but present)
Mouth feel: full-bodied, smooth, and malty
Taste: gentle bitterness to balance any residual sweetness
Closing, I like this beer. This beer gives you something different then the rest of the Oktoberfest on the market. Most Oktoberfest are very sweet with a heavy caramel notes. There is some with a heavy malty notes. This one is like this year’s Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest. This beer is true to the classic beer style. I love how it echoes the fall season which it should. I will be picking up some more bottles before the end of the season. I wish I could get this in cans. I would to take this out to cook outs or tailgating. This is a great beer and I recommend it. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this beer blog, we are going to get into the second brew from Harpoon Brewery. It is their Rye India Pale Ale. If you read my beer blog post from two days ago, you know the history of this East Coast Craft Brewery. If you have not read that beer blog post, please, read it to get to know Harpoon Brewery. Let us get into the beer.
It has a clear copper color with nice white head on this Rye IPA. The aroma has a spicy hop notes. The taste has a slight carbonated spicy citrus notes with a dry hop finish. It is pretty drinkable beer.
Here is a description from the beer bottle:
A new take on IPA style, this beer has a dry, subtly spicy character derived from the rye malt, and a complex body balanced by a marked hop flavor and aroma. Cheers!
After 25 years of running a brewery, Harpoon founders Rich and Dan thought it was high time they brewed a beer together. Truth be told, they didn’t want their name on it. Truth really be told, they have a running joke as to whether it’s Rich and Dan’s Rye IPA or Dan and Rich’s Rye IPA. Regardless of the order, the point is the same: they’ve been friends for three decades and still love having a beer together. It’s a testament to great beer and friendship, and it made sense, in this case, to name names. Grab your pals and toast to friendship with this Rye IPA!
Description
This beer is brewed with hops, a variety of malts, our proprietary yeast – the same yeast we’ve used since first brewing Harpoon Ale – and more hops. A lot more hops. Centennial and Chinook, and the dry hop addition of Falconer’s Flight add a multidimensional hop character, and the combination of Pale, Rye, Caramel 60, Flaked Rye, and Vienna yield a complex malt body that stands up to the spiciness of the rye and the pronounced hop flavor.
Tasting Notes
Appearance: hazy, deep orange with a reddish hue
Aroma: citrus, fruity aroma with an underlying spice note
Mouth feel: medium-bodied, slightly chewy
Taste: the spice from the rye is balanced by the malt blend
Ending, Rye IPA are fastly becoming a very popular and growing beer style in the India Pale Ale styles. It gives the craft beer and hophead drinker something else then the normal India Pale Ale. White IPA, IPL, and Rye IPA are new and growing. There are craft breweries pushing the limits of their brewery to give the craft beer drinker something different. I like this Rye IPA but I know there are better ones on the market. This one is in my top five of Rye IPA’s. Unlike most Rye IPA’s on the market, this is one of the few that is available all year-long. I highly recommend this brew. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
In this beer blog, we are going to sample the first beer on this blog from Harpoon Brewery. It is their Leviathan IPA. I have been meaning to get around to write reviews on this brewery. I am a fan of their IPA. Harpoon Brewery was born in 1986 by Rich Doyle on a piece of paper while in Harvard Business School. He teamed up with Dan Kenary and George Ligeti to start brewing their beers. Harpoon Brewery brews several different beer styles and cider. They are best known for their IPA and Hefeweizen. Let us get into this beer.
It has a clear copper color with a nice white head. The aroma has some tropical fruit notes. The taste has some tropical fruit notes with a nice malty backbone. The aftertaste is a bitter hop finish. It is not over overpowering. It is a sipping beer.
Here is a description from the beer bottle:
Massive and complex hop additions yield a powerful bitterness that is steadied by sweet malt backbone in this colossal IPA.
We welcomed the challenge of brewing a 90 IBU Imperial IPA that would showcase glorious American hops while maintaining a multi-dimensional character. Bring on the hops!
Description
This Imperial IPA is brewed with loads of pale malt and just enough caramel malt to provide a sweet malt backbone to balance the hop intensity. We used a mix of our favorite American hops including Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe, and Amarillo to create a complex hop flavor and lingering bitterness. Harpoon’s proprietary yeast lends fruity esters, while dry-hopping at the rate of over one pound per barrel produces this beer’s massive aroma.
In the end, Harpoon Brewery did a great job on this brew. I love the color and aroma. The aroma comes from the hops that kick off some nice tropical fruit notes. The drinking experience is the same as the aroma. The presentation is nice from the color and head on this Double India Pale Ale. I really enjoyed drinking this brew. It has everything that a hophead could want in an Imperial IPA. I highly recommend this brew. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
DJ Weiser 