Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #39 - Vermont Spruce Tip - Harpoon Brewery

Jason

Massachusetts

3.58/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

22oz brown bomber w/ a batch # on the label.

LOOK: Head is not shy at all and reaches three fingers high, clear amber color.

SMELL: Toasted bread, mild spruce, caramel, herbal hop, floral and fruity yeast, semi-clean

TASTE: Sweet, modest spruce, mild hop bitterness, herbal, earthy, caramel, estery, ripe pears, hint of hop oil, drying semi-bitter finish

Expected a bit more spruce on the palate or perhaps this beer could have been smaller. Still well balanced and a good quaff.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2012 03:33:08 | More by Jason

civicm87

New York

4/5  rDev +13.6%

05-19-2013 19:42:58 | More by civicm87

Kelp

New Hampshire

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

04-27-2013 09:47:17 | More by Kelp

Lare453

Florida

3/5  rDev -14.8%

03-24-2013 18:32:45 | More by Lare453

Huffs

New York

3.75/5  rDev +6.5%

01-26-2013 01:29:47 | More by Huffs

MNBeerNE

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

11-10-2012 15:30:47 | More by MNBeerNE

sendbeer

Georgia

2.75/5  rDev -21.9%

11-03-2012 14:06:54 | More by sendbeer

sgerwel1985

3.5/5  rDev -0.6%

09-04-2012 20:26:37 | More by sgerwel1985

Davepoolesque

Massachusetts

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

08-25-2012 20:03:38 | More by Davepoolesque

trevorpost

Massachusetts

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

06-27-2012 23:05:47 | More by trevorpost

Gambrinus1184

Connecticut

3.9/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 22oz. bomber into a NOLA Brewing pint glass.

A: Medium, copper amber color with a thick, foamy head of off-white foam which causes a small bit of lacing to build up around the edge of the glass.

S: Semi-roasted caramel malt sweetness couples with a spicy, fruity ale yeast complicated by a pine and woody herbal hop resin.

T: Sweet doses of fruity, caramel malts up front which lend a bit of body and alcohol to the flavor. Up next is the spicy hop bitterness brought upon by the piney, spicy addition of spruce tips. The finish is a bit viscous with a touch of booziness but also a hint of piney hop goodness thanks to the Chinook additions.

M: Full-bodied ale with some spicy, bitter notes imparted by spruce tips and dry, Chinook hops. Pretty satisfying and easy to drink.

O: This 7% ABV essentially "American Strong Ale" for all intents and purposes, was not half bad. It has some balance and identity issues, but on the whole, I liked the spicy, floral, fruity and piney effect brought on by the Chinook hops, yeast strain and craftsmanship. Not the best in the series but certainly a unique and tasty one.

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2012 03:59:07 | More by Gambrinus1184

chugalug06

Colorado

3.53/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

One of the clearest most clean looking brews I’ve ever seen. Decent lacing and great head build-ability. Head is slight off-white with think foamy appearance.

WHOA! Knock your socks-off spicy at first, but then it fades…still a great scent! Very mellow vanilla and pine. Slight citrus (orange) too. A bit too (caramel) malted.

The taste is far from the scent… very mellow and laid-back flavor. Not a forward presentation. Quite dry and quenching, but not much rounds out the flavor profile… Great carbonation and zero heat, but comparatively, the flavor lacks for the type of brew.

An awesome brew only a few steps away from being a winner, but it needs that extra kick to help push it into a different category. I think with less malt this brew would have been a masterpiece worthy of award. Subtly unique, worthy.

Serving type: bottle

05-30-2012 01:40:53 | More by chugalug06

frank12

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +13.6%

04-27-2012 07:57:57 | More by frank12

halo913

Connecticut

3.25/5  rDev -7.7%

04-22-2012 21:45:00 | More by halo913

dbrauneis

New Jersey

3.53/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a crystal clear amber in color with some very light amounts of visible carbonation. The beer has a finger tall creamy light beige head that reduces to a skin with a small thin patch and a thicker ring at the edges of the glass. Light to moderate lacing is observe.d

S: Overall the aroma is very mild and a little more subtle than I expected. Light aromas of caramel and spruce.

T: This beer has a fairly strong malt body that contributes some caramel sweetness upfront. That is fairly quickly followed by some very light lemon citrus and some spruce. The beer finishes with a slight amount of hop bitterness.

M: Medium bodied with moderate to heavy amounts of carbonation.

O: Easy enough to drink and an interesting brew... Not sure that I would want to drink this as my session beer but on the other hand the beer goes down quite easily. I do not think I will be likely to get this one again but not sorry to have tried it. I was expecting and hoping for a more pronounced spruce in both the taste and the smell and that aspect was slightly disappointing (though I can see how a little too much could have made this taste like a Christmas tree).

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2012 20:25:59 | More by dbrauneis

JRPritt

Connecticut

3.75/5  rDev +6.5%

04-07-2012 20:35:56 | More by JRPritt

tenacioustomato

Rhode Island

3.5/5  rDev -0.6%

03-22-2012 20:27:39 | More by tenacioustomato

UltimateLivewire

South Carolina

3.75/5  rDev +6.5%

03-12-2012 04:59:05 | More by UltimateLivewire

Eastsideinside

Connecticut

4.25/5  rDev +20.7%

03-10-2012 18:04:32 | More by Eastsideinside

Jammer42

Maryland

2/5  rDev -43.2%

03-04-2012 22:11:51 | More by Jammer42

AleWatcher

Illinois

3.58/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

My last blind beer from Shogo...

Beer #12.
Bomber served in an imperial nonic.

Phil left the cap uncovered on this one and it has a big Harpoon Brewing 'H' on it... So unless this is a homebrew that re-used a cap...

Anyway-- pours a reddish orange copper color with a head the color of that belonging to Coca-Cola. Pretty weak retention and virtually no lacing. Very clear.

Nose holds some caramel malt, some odd fruity ester notes, and something I associate with Xmas. Is this a spiced Xmas ale?

The beer starts off sweet with a decent dose of caramel malt before the Xmas tree vibe takes over and dries it out. The finish is dry and somewhat bitter with an odd lingering resiny vibe. Pretty noticeable boozy note in the finish too. It almost makes me think the was aged on wood or perhaps put in a barrel for some period of time.

Feels pretty decent, medium body with a bit of an oily feel. Lots of carbonation leaves me belching between intermittent sips.

I am thinking this must be some sort of spiced barleywine or strong ale, perhaps even a winter warmer? If it is spiced, it is done so sparingly...

REVEAL-- Harpoon 100 Barrel Series; Vermont Spruce Tip.

Wow-- this is called an herb/spice beer. And it's only 7%... I would have guessed more than that!
Well, after reading the description (and the name!) I totally see that 'Xmas trees' as a flavor descriptor wasn't too far from the mark.

Am interesting beer, as I don't know that I've had a beer made with spruce tips before, but this is not one I'll have again.
To be fair, the booziness I was getting now seems to be more of an abrasive resiny dryness on my tongue than a true boozy bite.

Now that I know what this is, here are my ratings;
A-3
S-4
T-3.5
M-3.5
O-3.5

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2012 03:06:43 | More by AleWatcher

brewandbbq

New Hampshire

3.15/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

22oz bottle.

Pours clear amber with an inch-plus head of white. A partial skim coat and dotted lacing throughout the glass.

Aromatics lead off with biscuity, chaulky malt with a hint of spicy hops. No spruce to be found.

Medium bodied with a slightly tacky, crisp mouthfeel.

Malt and a kiss of bitterness starts the palate. A minerally, drying character runs underneath and the beer finishes quick.

A malt-forward English style pale ale with zero Spruce character. False advertising or an extreme failure?

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2012 01:10:33 | More by brewandbbq

de322

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -0.6%

02-20-2012 02:33:56 | More by de322

meiiska

New York

3/5  rDev -14.8%

02-19-2012 18:45:28 | More by meiiska

chrispoint

Connecticut

2/5  rDev -43.2%

02-18-2012 08:20:57 | More by chrispoint