100 Barrel Series #28 - Glacier Harvest ’09 Wet Hop Beer
Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall

100 Barrel Series #28 - Glacier Harvest ’09 Wet Hop Beer100 Barrel Series #28 - Glacier Harvest ’09 Wet Hop Beer
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From:
Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall
 
Massachusetts, United States
Style:
American Pale Ale
ABV:
6.7%
Score:
82
Avg:
3.6 | pDev: 10.28%
Reviews:
71
Ratings:
81
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Oct 03, 2013
Added:
Sep 07, 2009
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
For the 28th session of the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series, we’re celebrating this year’s hop harvest with Glacier Harvest Wet Hop beer, a pale ale made with fresh Glacier hops.

Wet hop beers are brewed using fresh, “wet” hops instead of traditional dried hops—hops contain about 60% moisture when they are first picked.

Typically, when hops are picked they are quickly dried and refrigerated to increase shelf life and make them more consistent for brewing. Freshly picked wet hops, however, need to be used within hours of harvest or they will begin to degrade rapidly. Wet hops retain more of their natural aroma and volatile flavors that dissipate when dried. This gives wet hop beers a fresher hop flavor and aroma than that of beers hopped with processed hops. This yields an immersed, intense hop flavor in the beer.

Harpoon brewer Ray Dobens, creator of the beer, added a heroic dose of fresh hops the day of the harvest.The hop flavor and aroma from this copper-colored ale comes from a generous late addition of freshly harvested “wet” hops.

38 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by deanhead:
Photo of deanhead
Reviewed by deanhead from Vermont

3.65/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Orange in color, poured a nice fluffy head that reduced to a wispy lace around the glass. Beer is adequately carbonated.

Slight spicy aroma, but nothing that really stands out with this beer.

Almost a sweet and malty taste to it. This beer had a nice moderate body with a respectable mouthfeel. Could be a tad bit drier for my taste.

This is my second wet hop beer. Perhaps it's me, possibly the beers are older, or I just don't get it. Oh, wait I'm in VT and less than sixty miles from the brewery. Must be the beer.

I was expecting more of a hop wallop then anything else. At any rate it is a moderately drinkable beer given the style of being an American Pale Ale.
Seems this wet hop trend is, well just a trend or marketing gimmick. I'll have to sample a few more to garner whether or not I like this particular style.
Sep 29, 2009
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.75 by Kmlund from Massachusetts

Oct 03, 2013
 
Rated: 3.25 by Madfish85 from Rhode Island

Sep 18, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by Kelp from New Hampshire

Apr 27, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by brheuer from New Jersey

Mar 24, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by t0rin0 from California

Oct 14, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by Davepoolesque from Massachusetts

Aug 26, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by jongullotti from Massachusetts

Feb 19, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by THECPJ from Delaware

Feb 09, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by rab53 from Washington

Dec 01, 2011
 
Rated: 3 by brandoman63 from Illinois

Nov 29, 2011
Photo of Thorpe429
Reviewed by Thorpe429 from Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Reviewed from notes.

Served in a tulip glass. Pours a moderate copper-amber color with a white head. Touch of lacing on the way down. The nose is citrus hops with a bit of a caramel backing. The taste is far too much caramel and bread, especially for a wet-hop beer. Those flavors overwhelm the citrus hops that are there. Feel is nice with a very mild bitterness. Drinks well enough, but I wouldn't think that this is what they intended it to be, and I had this quite fresh.
Nov 13, 2010
Photo of bminor7
Reviewed by bminor7 from New York

3.58/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
22 from Savemore. Reviewed on 11/18/2009.

A - copper, sudsy head. some lacing

S - caramel sweet. banana. not much hop aroma

T - bitter component, followed by a harsh alcohol note from time to time. like a maibock in terms of bitterness

M - strong carbonation, good viscosity

D - not very good...i have not been impressed by the 100 barrel series so far...
Nov 13, 2010
Photo of claspada
Reviewed by claspada from New Jersey

3.48/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
A: A slightly hazy, copper-orange; capped by a two fingers of off-white head that leaves great lacing.

Aroma: Glacier hops, wonderful. Mild, floral and slightly fruity hops over a caramel malt body.

Flavor: Mildly bitter hops up front with a slightly grainy, biscuity caramel malt backbone balances everything nicely. Biscuity and mildly bitter in the aftertaste. A great balance of hops and malt.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, smooth, with good carbonation. Dry in in the finish, maybe from an English yeast

Drinkability: Easily quaffable, this wouldn't be a bad choice for a session, if your an average beer consumer

Overall: I hate when people expect every specialty/limited edition beer to be over-the-top ABV or malty or 1000 IBU, etc. Why can't a beer just be above average like this one was, a great example of a single hopped English Style Wet Hopped Ale, it's a tasty and sessionable, period.
Jul 27, 2010
Photo of Arenbeer
Reviewed by Arenbeer from Connecticut

4.15/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
22oz bomber into a snifter glass

A- Poures a golden orange with a a fluffier tan 1 finger head that leaves a good amount of lacing as it goes down.

S- Sweet citrus hops up front, with caramel malts and a slighty fruity backround. Not sure what though.

T&M- Smooth caramel malts hit the tounge first but finishes with nicely carbonated earthy hops and a slight yeasty flavor but not to bad. Also leaves a citrusy orange taste in the mouth at the finish that I am really liking. Medium bodied and really smooth overall. Not to much carbonation and only a slight bitter ending. The alcohol comes out a bit in the smell and the taste as it warms but not enough to throw me off but definitely apparent.

Overall this so far is probably my favorite of the 100 barrel series, they really hit the nail with this one making it a solid and some what sophisticated APA.

SkÅL!
Feb 24, 2010
Photo of jujubeast6000
Reviewed by jujubeast6000 from Texas

3.78/5  rDev +5%
look: 3 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Reviewed 1/12/2010 (Bottle Session 28):

Pours a burnt orangish amber color body, small whitish head, diminishing. Hoppy dusty aroma, green. Some frutiness, maybe citrus. nutty fruity taste. Not hoppy. Biting aftertaste, acidic. Light pale ale, not as hoppy as the aroma.
Feb 21, 2010
Photo of beer2day
Reviewed by beer2day from North Carolina

3.53/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3
Pours fairly bright orange gold. Nice 1-finger head with very good retention. I still have ½ finger 2/3's of the way through my class. Pretty nice lacing, too. Very active carbonation.

Stale toast and pine resin mainly come through. Not much fruit at all. What is there is a faint whiff of pear. Interesting.

Slight bite of sour apple on the hit, but that fades quickly. Get a touch of apricot in the finish, but very faint. Really not much taste here at all. Decent PA finish, but I'm not terribly excited about it.

The bright spot of this beer is the body. Good, creamy texture that would have gone very well with a nice hoppy profile. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Very easy to drink, but there's really no point in doing so.
Feb 16, 2010
Photo of BeerMasterD
Reviewed by BeerMasterD from Connecticut

3.94/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Thnx to ARenbeer for a glass of this.
Poured from a Bomber bottle into a pint glass. Poured a lightly cloudy honey color with a good 2 finger frothy head riddled with bubbles and lacing down the glass. Light citrus and hop nose with some caramel, the smell of this brew had me snorting beer, it waz awesome and i couldnt quite put my nostril on some of the aromas, but i liked them. Tasted hops, malt, very balanced and lightly fruity. The mouthfeel waz light-medium and slightly warming. This had me drinking quickly and wanting more. Overall i waz pleased and i am glad to have tried this limited edition brew, i could drink this all day.
Jan 30, 2010
Photo of alleykatking
Reviewed by alleykatking from Indiana

3.26/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Poured from 22oz bottle. Got in SS09 BIF from ballewblake. Thanks again for everything Blake!

A- Pours a light coppery amber color. Hard pour gets a two and a half finger tan blob of a head. This stays around for a while leaving some nice light lacing on the sides of the glass skirting on the way down as I drank it.

S- Nice citrus hops still in the front end of the nose. There is a light caramel malt backbone to this as well. Sadly there is some light oxidation that comes through the ending of the aroma. Not really distracting but a little annoying.

T- Nice citrus hops come in the front of this rather nicely. They are not quite so in your face but it works for the beer. The malts work in the middle with a light sweetness and some bready qualities. There is a light alcohol presence in the middle to end of this beer. The ending sadly is almost ruined by oxidation. Big metal and bitter hop bite in the tail end of this one.

M- Medium mouthfeeel. Carbonation is good for the style. Metal and light sweet citrusy hops are left on the palate with a metallic taste dominating the aftertaste. Sort of creamy in the mouth as I was drinking it.

D- This beer without the oxidation I feel would have been at least a point better on almost all the scale ratings. I would love to try this beer again if they make it. I think if it was not oxidated this beer would have been a lot better (of course) but more enjoyable to what I think of as the style.
Jan 22, 2010
Photo of jwc215
Reviewed by jwc215 from Arizona

3.63/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Pours light copper with a frothy creamy head that thins and stays. A second pouring has lacing retention (more than the first).

The smell is of tropical/citric fruitiness but with a metallic (dirty penny) touch.

Bitterness strikes me as more than 38 IBUS (though not that much more). Fruitiness waves in and out but there is an aspirin-y, metallic (dirty coin) taste as well. It does have bready (sweetbread?) and a toffee-like sweetness balancing it. Finishes with a minerally dryness.

The feel is light-side of medium. It has an almost airy texture, with tight-bubbled carbonation (that is not fizzy). Flavor coats palate long enough to be satifactory.

The alcohol is very well hidden, and this one can "disappear" quite rapidly if not being mindful. Not crazy about the mettalic character, though it's not strong enough to put me off from it. Glad I had a chance to try it - a hoppy, though balanced, APA!
Jan 10, 2010
100 Barrel Series #28 - Glacier Harvest ’09 Wet Hop Beer from Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall
Beer rating: 82 out of 100 with 81 ratings