Harpoon Leviathan Barleywine Style Ale

Brewed by Harpoon Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Snifter

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12 oz. brown bottle. A reddish brown with a small head. The aroma is sweet, candy, fruity, and grains. Not a bad aroma. The taste is barley sweet, and some fruitiness. This seems to be a really straightforward basic barleywine. It does go down fairly smoothe for the alcohol content.

A bit of a disappointment. Poured a nice amber-red color with a quickly fading white head. Looked to be very thin and watery. Aroma had a nice sweetness, some brown sugar and some caramel. Hops were decent, but not assertive enough. Hints of vanilla were present. Flavor showcased more of the sweet malts then anything else. Hops were mildly bitter and the alcohol seamed well hidden. Overall body seemed light.

12oz bottle in a snifter. Pours ruby/deep amber with a lacy, beige head. Aroma of caramel and cereal malts, floral hops, and light fruits. Flavor about the same with a sort of resiny flavor holding back potential of this beer, and a finish of hops. Smooth texture. A decent barley wine.

Not a big fan of the style but this was fairly quatrains. Pours a rich ruby color with a thin brown head. Faint aroma of spices on the nose. Fairly smooth taste that lingers nicely. Nice hints of pungency their as well

OK but I was expecting more. A hoppy aroma with a lot of rubbing alcohol starts this out. Looks good enough, amber with a small head. The taste is a bit sweet but dominated by bitter hops and the alcohol is a little bit too evident.

Malty aroma. Clear red orange color and a small white head. Moderate sweet beginning with a mellow finish.

Bottle. Pours red orange with an off white head. The aroma has light sweet malts, some fruity notes, and some nice resinous hoppy notes. The flavor is relatively reserved and well balanced, with sweet and toasty malts, resinous hoppy notes, floral notes, caramel, and some berry like fruity notes. Solid.

Location: 12 oz bottle from Buy Rite - Jersey City, 2/21/11

Aroma: The nose is fairly sweet, some caramel, dark fruits, spice, and a touch of booze
Appearance: It pours a clear mahogany-red color with a small white head and minimal lace
Flavor: The taste is fairly malty, caramel, toffee, ripe fruits, and with a spicy finish
Palate: The mouthfeel is slightly sticky, it has average carbonation, a long duration, and a touch of heat
Overall Impression: I thought this was a pretty solid Barley Wine. Definitely a more malty example of the style, but still pretty enjoyable. Another solid one from Harpoon’s Leviathan series.

Enjoyed from a 12oz bottle in a wine glass. The beer pours a deep copper/amber color, with a low just off-white head. The nose shows piney hop character, a slight note of alcohol, and a background raison malt note. The palate shows a medium-high to high English crystal malt sweetness up front, perhaps showing a bit of the sample’s age. Carbonation is beautifully calibrated. Alcohol is nicely hidden throughout the palate; impressive, given the content of the aforesaid of the beer. The finish leaves a lingering note of raisony malt sweetness, along with a very slight bitterness, and just a touch of alcohol. Overall, a really nice interpretation of the style, especially given the relatively tender age of the sample.

Pours ruby red with a tan head. Smells of dark fruit, some resiny notes, toffee, cognac, some warming alcohol presence. Tastes fruit with some toffee and molasses notes. Resiny elements emerge as the beer warms. Enjoyable.