Harpoon Black IPA - Harpoon Brewery

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BA SCORE
84
good
-
199 Ratings

rAvg: 3.73
pDev: 13.67%
Reviews: 66
Hads: 133

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
Harpoon Brewery

Massachusetts, United States

Style | ABV
American Black Ale | 7.00% ABV

Availability: Rotating. bottle (54), on-tap (12).

Notes:
Harpoon brewer Matt DeLuca took over the brewhouse for our 40th 100 Barrel Series offering. A newly released specialty malt from Briess called Midnight Wheat gives this beer an almost stout-like appearance without the overly roasty attributes often associated with traditional dark malts. Flaked barley is also used in the malt bill for head retention. An intense yet diverse hop addition schedule is executed during the boil that results in a well balanced offering.

On top of the Chinook, Simcoe, Cascade, and Citra hops is an ample addition of Ahtanum hops that provides a fruity aroma to complement the earthy, spicy bitterness of this dark ale.

67 IBU

Reviews

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Reviews by Thads324:

Thads324

Connecticut

3.68/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a dark brown, barely see through. A bit of ruby on the edges. A small tight tan head dissipates quickly, just a hint of lacing. A light citrus hop aroma with some zest. Only a bit of sweet malt. Starts watery, followed by a hit of hop juice. The hops are a bit piney, black pepper spice, some citrus and more resin like pine. Very little malt at all. Mouthfeel is medium-low body with a high carbonation.
A lot of hop in this bad boy with a malt profile simply to carry the hops. Tasty but could use a semblance of malt flavor. Still very nice

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2012 01:23:29 | More by Thads324

More User Reviews:

MLKincer

Ohio

4.25/5 rDev +13.9%

05-24-2013 01:32:11 | More by MLKincer

iCabaLLero

Georgia

4/5 rDev +7.2%

05-18-2013 21:04:59 | More by iCabaLLero

ajtorres311

Florida

3.5/5 rDev -6.2%

05-16-2013 17:25:18 | More by ajtorres311

hphilip456

Massachusetts

3.75/5 rDev +0.5%

05-16-2013 03:36:11 | More by hphilip456

Bones10

Illinois

4/5 rDev +7.2%

05-08-2013 13:40:52 | More by Bones10

cadaugherty

Illinois

3.75/5 rDev +0.5%

05-08-2013 00:53:14 | More by cadaugherty

cmoses

Ohio

4.25/5 rDev +13.9%

04-23-2013 15:04:09 | More by cmoses

bcm75

Illinois

3.25/5 rDev -12.9%

04-23-2013 03:08:40 | More by bcm75

bmosh99

Michigan

2.75/5 rDev -26.3%

04-21-2013 01:15:51 | More by bmosh99

Eeroomnhoj

Virginia

4.24/5 rDev +13.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Homemade pizza and beer. I don't have a fancy beer glass (yet) so I poured it into a juice glass.

Read the reviews and agree with tdm168 about the color and smell. Dark dark brown, almost black. We enjoyed the smell and definetely smelled citrus (can't detect chocolate yet, maybe I need to drink more beer). Overall I enjoy this beer and was surprised I found this at a Costco.

I would enjoy this in the summer or winter.

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2013 21:50:22 | More by Eeroomnhoj

tdm168

North Carolina

4.19/5 rDev +12.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A - blackish brown with reddish edges; soft, brownish head that fades quickly

S - roasted malts, pine, citrus, chocolate

T - huge, intensely piny hops dominate that front end; smooth chocolate and roasted malts follow through to the end; intensely bitter; some faint citrus and sweetness throughout

M - medium bodied, well carbonated

This is a really nice black IPA. It has an amazingly forward hop character that should please any hop head. It also has a nice, well rounded malt character that balances nicely. It's also a very easy to drink beer that refreshes. It's definitely worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2013 01:08:23 | More by tdm168

Wortman1998

New York

4.5/5 rDev +20.6%

04-17-2013 20:10:04 | More by Wortman1998

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.85/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

i enjoyed this a few times so I figured I would take some notes on the last bottle, enjoyed chilled from the 12oz into a cervoise.

The color is the darkest brown approaching black and opaque in the middle of the vessel with thick medium tan cream with average sized bead and good retention/lace. The smell is a heavy dose of pine hop esters with an accent of grapefruity aroma with mild toffee note from the malt. The feel is good with a bit of bitter and acidic hop influence up front with mild astringency from dark grain and moderate carbonation with slight roast texture and mild warming of alcohol.

This hop taste is familiar but not quite sharp with some citrus and tropcical fruit with mostly pine taste in the first sips with some caramel in the malt coming through after the swallow and light tannic roasted almost char taste in the malt giving an acrid flavor in the finish with subtle alcohol influence. Overall a not bad example, a decent ale and has enough hop flavor to accept the bitter roasted taste, pretty drinkable in general.

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2013 01:20:10 | More by Slatetank

tfsimpkins

Florida

4/5 rDev +7.2%

04-15-2013 00:12:21 | More by tfsimpkins

6thstreetbrewpub

District of Columbia

3.75/5 rDev +0.5%

03-31-2013 00:23:44 | More by 6thstreetbrewpub

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.8/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Taste at the Harpoon Brewery in Boston.

Dark brown, nearly black where no light shines through. Small, but lasting head. Ample lace.

Elements of darker porters start the aroma. Not burnt, more dark chocolate. Little hop.

Less bitter than most IPAs, but that may be from the stronger roasted malts. Full bodied with an above average carbonation level. Overall, less IPA and more deeply roasted Porter.

Serving type: on-tap

03-30-2013 16:38:51 | More by smcolw