Harpoon Brown

Brewed by Harpoon Brewery
Style: Brown Ale
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Shaker

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   add pic

Part of Beer of the month selection. Not a bad brown ale but lacks a little something . Toffee and caramel flavors but all a bit muted. Drinkable but not special. Serving: Bottle

Pours a clear medium brown color with a small off white froth. Aroma is bready and slightly nutty with some chocolate roasted malt. A tiny hop character is noticeable but very background to the toasted grain. Flavor starts with a crisp malt bite that is followed by a more mellow chocolate and grainy sweetness. Some maple and honey in the finish which is abrupt. Medium body and active carbonation. Not a great brown ale. Decent balance of sweet to bitter but too thin and weak.

Bottle. Pours burnt red-orange with a weak head. Aroma of grass, minerals, and malt. Flavor is a anemic concoction of biscuits, malt and grass. Even by Harpoon’s standards this beer is forgettable.

12 oz bottle. Deep chestnut brown with a beige head that means well, but which quickly disappears. Malty sweet aroma: caramel, brown sugar, something vegetal underneath. Flavour is caramel, roast, a bit of sweet fruit, and a touch of chocolate. Nice bitter finish. A little watery. Nicely carbonated.

Bottle. Poured a chestnut brown color with a very thin tan head. Aroma of sweet malt and some caramel. Flavor is slightly nutty with a slight hop bite at the end.

Pours a deep amber, almost mahogany, into the glass, with a diminished head (from an initial tan fizz). The nose is of too-slight nuts and caramel... a bit weak. There is a mixture of indistinct malts on the tongue, with a semi-dry finish, somewhat nutty (against indistinct). The mouthfeel is light and bordering on watery. Carbonation levels are a bit lively. All-in-all, it lacks any real complexity or character, and "dumbs down" the session brew.

From a 12 fl. oz. bottle with a "Best by" date of 05/15/09-337. This pours an opaque mahogany-ruby-brown with little head. Aroma of sweet malts and hops. The flavor seems to have a vague chocolate taste along with smooht malts. It ends dry and leaves a bit of an after taste. It really isn’t all that bad.

THOUGHTS: Better than a macro. A nice session beer, but not great. I’d take a Troegs Rugged Trail over this any day. Something was just a little off in the flavor. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, light reddish brown with an average, off-white head that mostly diminished and left good lacing. The aroma was moderate nutty and caramel malts and very light pine hops. The flavor started sweet, bitter and slightly acidic, and finished bitter, a little sour and acidic with an average duration. There was caramel malt and nuttiness then a little piney hops along with a little burnt malt. The light to medium body was pretty watery and slightly dry in the back of the mouth with tingly carbonation and a slight metallic and very light astringent finish.

12oz bottle. Included in Harpoon mix pack. This is an OK beer for what it is. Not very strong with little character but it is very drinkable.

I thought this was a good brown ale. It has a very nice mouthfeel. Smooth and sweet. Caramel flavor with heavy malts. Harpoon is looing better with every beer I try.