Harpoon Grateful Harvest

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

Serve in Flute, Shaker

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12oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Pours a clear amber with a one finger tan head. Good lacing and head retention. Smell is of very tart fruit. There is a tiny bit of malt that comes through. The flavor is very tart. Way too heavy on the cranberries here. I cannot really detect any malt at all. The beer finished crisp and dry with no hops to speak of. Mouthfeel is light. This is just not my kind of beer. The cranberries and accompanying tartness is way over the top.

12 ounce bottle from Total Wine and More in Huntersville, NC. The beer itself starts out impressive: it pours a nice dark amber/copper color with a little bit of a tan head. Aroma is surprising. I was expecting to get a lot of cranberry nose in this beer, but it was all rather muted, just a little bit of malt and the cranberry seems non existent. Taste is fruity with some malt notes and then a little bit of cranberry sneaks in on the end of it. Aftertaste is from the malt lingering on your taste buds. Overall, this is a nice beer, but I am a little disappointed it. I thought this beer would be refreshing, instead it was just another fruit beer with nothing that makes it stand out from the rest.

Cranberries evident in the fruity flavor and aroma, as well as in the not-so-subtle tartness. The flavor more clearly reflects cranberry than does the more vaguely fruity aroma. The beer has a complementary reddish tint in the otherwise deep amber, clear ale. Some hop bitterness is apparent. Crisp, slightly astringent feel with near medium body and medium carbonation. My favorite aspect is the rather marked transition from sweet to tart and, with different timing, from tart fruit flavor to a more balanced and malty aftertaste: well crafted, but there may be only so far one can go with a cranberry ale.

Malt, grass, and cranberry in the aroma. Standard malty flavor, with some sweet, acidic cranberry in the finish. I don’t think this should be categorized as a fruit beer--it’s more a fall seasonal--but I still like this beer a lot. It’s a lot better than the vile cranberry lambic from Sam Adams, for example.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass. The label has a freshness date ("Best By" 01/15/11) and a description of the beer. It also mentions that Harpoon supports there local foodbanks from the sale of this beer. Appearance: The body has a reddish copper color with good clarity and a quick fading light off white head. Lacing is minimal and slick. Smell: The aroma has light scent with a mix of sweet/tart malts and cranberry. Taste/Palate: The flavor reflects the scent with a light to medium bodied malt sweetness with notes of caramel, sweet bread and pie crust. This is offset by light cranberry tartness and faint hop bitterness. Carbonation is light and the palate is a little sticky. Notes: For me this is just a good average beer. It’s not a stand out but it is more balanced then Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic.

12 oz bottle. Pours dark amber with a short lasting, thin, white head. Aroma is of dark fruit, cranberries caramel malt. Medium, crisp body. Taste is of dark fruit, cranberries, spices, caramel, brown sugar and earthy hops. Nice brew for Thanksgiving dinner.

12oz bottle pours a clear amber with a white head. Aromas of malts bitter cranberry and a weird bitter fruit aroma. Flavor is off settling kind of bitter kind of sweet. Body is light and finishes like the skin of a cranberry

From notes: Poured clear reddish-amber with a 1-finger bone-colored head. Biscuity aroma mixed with caramel and a touch of cranberry. Medium body with a touch of dryness in the finish. The flavor matches the aroma: biscuity and caramelly, with some cranberry underneath.

12oz bottle poured into a tumbler glass. Clear light brown and tea-like color with a small off white head. Fruity nose (grapes, plums, some berries) with caramel and floral hops. Sweet malt flavors, juicy caramel, some tart fruit, grape juice, mellow nuttiness and low bitterness. Medium bodied, kinda easy to drink and quite satisfying. Cool.

Amber color with thick white head. Slight yeast and cranberry aroma. Dry malty flavor with some cranberry. Tart finish from cranberries. Would go great with Thanksgiving dinner,