Harpoon Grateful Harvest

Brewed by Harpoon Brewery
Style: Fruit Beer
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Flute, Shaker

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I’ve seen this on the shelves the last few years and never thought once about buying it. This year someone left a bottle at my house, so I guess this is the year. Pours a medium copper color with a good sized white head that displays moderate retention and lace. Smells malty with caramel and brown sugar and that distinctive aroma of cranberries. Smell is sweet and fruity and not bad actually. Taste is exactly what I expected from the aroma. Brown bread, syrupy, caramel, cranberry sauce. It was fun at first, but about half way down the glass I got real tired of the fruity sweetness. Medium body with a spirited level of carbonation, sweet almost syrupy mouthfeel. One sweet and fruity beer that I’m glad I got to try, but that I can pass up again next year.

This was better then I thought but i thought it would be gross. Kind of boring with light cranberry tartness on a background beer that tasted a bit like a vienna or marzen.

A malty base with some sweetness to it, caramel and a very light hint of fruit. Odd finish like modeling clay.

From a bottle marked Best By: 02/15/12-278. It pours a reddish brown with a frothy but short-lived head that leaves plenty of clinging lace. Those cranberries are pretty evident in the aroma along with a sweet malty character. The body feels about medium. The cranberries seem to lose their lustre in the taste however. They’re there but harder to recognize. There was tart aftertaste.

THOUGHTS: I’m about five months behind on entering ratings. The temptation is to drink this one cold, because warm cranberry juice is pretty harsh. But if this beer is too cold you can’t taste the cranberry at all. Nothing special. Pleasant base beer balanced by the lightly sweet and rather bitter cranberries. Might try this with Thanksgiving dinner this year if they put it out again. Just enough fruit to make it interesting. Overall it’s nice for what it is. The base beer would probably be a decent session ale. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a flat, light brown with a large to huge, off-white head that diminished very slowly and left excellent lacing. The aroma had light to moderate toasted, nutty and caramel malts; light grassy hops; light yeast; and cranberries. The initial flavor was light to moderately sweet and lightly bitter; while the finish was moderately sweet and light to moderately bitter with a slightly longer than average duration. There was caramel malt, cranberry, maybe some grassy hops, but that might have just been the cranberry, some toasted malt and slight nutty malts. The nearly medium body was a little dry and then rather dry like cranberry juice with fairly fizzy carbonation and a dry and slightly astringent finish.

Bottle at home. tulip at fridge temp. pours a 1 finger creamy head that doesn’t fade. Looks like burnt plums in the body. candied cranberry fake syrupy taste. tart on the nose. semi-sweet. Taste is very sweet up front, tart and dry at the finish. Middle is like cough syrup.

Bottle. Pours clear ruby red with a small off-white head. Aromas of caramel malt, red berries and sour cherry, and wet gym socks. Flavor is a little sour malt, raisin, and slightly tart cherry/grape; a little cranberry in the aftertaste. Medium carbonation, thin, and dry. Not great.

Amber and clear - very good head. Taste is almost sour with nuts and then there’s the bits of cranberry. Described here as a fruit beer, but reminds me of a Vienna lager with the cranberry throwing it off a bit.

A very tasty and easy drinking clear light amber brew from Harpoon. Proceeds go to charity. How fitting. Aroma is light biscuit, almost lager-like. Flavor of the cranberry is subtle but evident. Nicely balanced by some light malts and bitter-spice hop finish. Well worth a try.

12oz bottle - pours medium/deep amber with tan head. Nose is berry. Flavor adds cranberry and some sort of malt base. Sour/tart. Tried it because I’m a sucker for fruity beers, but this reminds me of unripe berries. Interesting but will not revisit.