Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #04 - Barleywine

Formerly brewed at Harpoon Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Like the nose, piney, bananna, sweet. Beautiful amber color, small head. I didn't care much for the flavor. Honey, with a dash of clover, old leaves, and maple sugar. I like the most of the flavors, but not the mix. Syrupy and sweet on the finish.

Dark Brown Color with Sandy Skin. Creamy Mouthfeel..Laden With Very Sweet Syrapy Malt...Particularly Candy Sugar...Nice Warming From Alcohol.. Lacking Some Depth But Hugely Enjoyable.

Pours a three finger off-white head that fades quickly to a ring leaving some lace. Crystal clear amber color. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Piney citric nose. Flavor is grapefruit and some malt, high ABV is not noticeable. Bitter after taste. $2.00 for a 12oz bottle from Capital Convenience Concord, NH.

Pours coppery with aroma of caramel malt, fruit, some cabernet. Tastes malty, fruity, with some hops in the finish. Not as good as I expected it to be.

Poured a clear orange with a reddish tinge with a large fizzy/creamy off-white head. Aroma is toffee, grassy hops, a bit of brown sugar and some orange. Flavor is bitter grassy hops, some light grapefruit, lots of peppery alcohol, a bit of biscuity toffee. Finishes very dry with some hoppiness. Very strong, and burns with in an intense alcohol warmth. Overall I’d say it’s a decent strong ale, though heavy and unbalanced. Unfortunate does not contain a lot of the refinement of other barley wines.

Bottle. Pours a light clear amber with a very decent whitish head. Nose is traditional barleywine fruit with some hop pineyness. Flavor is light for the style, a cross between a barleywine and their IPA. I liked the additon of the hops which made this into a crisper brew rather than the thick, and sometimes cloying sweetness. I seem to like Harpoon beers and think that they are overall underated.

[draft @ Bukowski’s] Clear amber color with a short white layer of bubbles. Aroma is piney, slightly alcoholic and sweet. Flavors are malty, with caramel sweetness, almost bready. Bitter, sort of astringent hops presence, lasts quite a while on the palate. Not bad, but not outstanding either.

Bottle. Thanks to kkearn for the bottle. Pours a clear golden body with big soapy ring around the snifter. Aroma is of soapy hops, alcohol. Taste at first is way too hot and hoppy. This warmed up to me as it warmed making it smoother than it was. Has a high amount of alcohol burn to it. Not too bad commming from harpoon, not sure on how this one would hold up.