Harpoon Leviathan Barleywine Style Ale

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

Serve in Snifter

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Thanks for giving me this one, Harold. Nose is big alcohol, some vanilla and caramel/toffee and a touch of citrusy hops. Pour is brown with a short lived head. Taste is heavily alcoholic, some big caramel, sweet. Very warming. Fun to drink. Not bad, just too hot.

In short: A strong but smooth amber ale with strange spiciness and stale water. Meh.
How: Bottle 12oz, consumed a few months after purchase.
The look: Partly cloudy golden-amber body topped by a medium off-white head.
In long: Nose is sweet pastry, moldy bread, stale water, dog fur, unexpected herbal spiciness along with some strange cinnamon-like notes. Taste is soft soggy bread, soft pastry, cereals grain, caramel, sweetness under control, some alcohol warmth, spicy candy, herbal spiciness, dry leafy hops. Becomes hard to separate the herbal spiciness sensation from the grassy/herbal hops. Spiciness and stale water in the comeback. Very pleasant mounthfeel with a comfortable full pillowy texture. A few things I didn’t like in this beer but it doesn’t really matter because overall this beer wasn’t very tasty at all More an inoffensive boozy beer than anything else. It was easy to drink the full bottle although it not something I want to have again. Another Harpoon Leviathan I should not have bought, I keep forgetting that these beers always disappoint me, my memory is as bad as those NASCAR drivers who need to be reminded at each race to start their engines.

12oz bottle, backyard birthday style porno poor
Appearance - Clean amber, silky lacing
Aroma - Honey, hops, sweet oranges
Taste - Cherries, dried oranges, nutty, toffee, bitter hops

This beer was heavy as hell and fun to drink. Aggressively complex with surprisingly well hidden alcohol attributes. This one will only get smoother as it ages.

Nose of candied fruit, toffee. Nice blend of flavors, on the sweet side but far from cloyingly sweet or sticky. Really well balanced. This one took me by surprise not having heard much of Harpoon’s Leviathan line and not being the biggest Barley Wine fan.

On draft, served in a snifter, 2010 per the menu. Has a great color, with decent head. Has a great nose, and the palate is sticky. Taste finishes slightly bitter, but has great underlying malt base. Good beer, but didn’t blow me away.

Yes, this is one great tasting barleywine maybe it is a tad watery and pricy however I could drink this one all day and night. It is simple and sometimes simple is best. I enjoy all of Harpoon’s offerings.

Nice copper color; Medium creamy body; Aroma of sweet malt, caramel/toffee, & dark fruit; Flavor of sweet malt, caramel/toffee, syrup, spicy hops, and dark fruit; Warm finish with some alcohol; Fairly well balanced; Overall, surprisingly not too bad.

Aged 2 years (2010 vintage): The very first thing I noticed about this beer was how well the aroma survived over the period of two years. Its sweetness was noticeable from the mouth of the bottle even before I poured it. Once it’s in the glass, it’s color is a soft, dark orange and its head is off-white, still well-formed after aging. Carbonation is still present, but light and still enough to liven up this (no doubt) sweet and alcoholic brew. Its aroma is very nice. The sweetness of crystal malts, light alcohol, and floral, earthy hops dominate the nose, and has held up to the years pretty well. It’s smooth and just a little mellow - there’s no doubt this beer could easily survive at least four years in the cellar before dropping off a cliff. In the mouth, it’s less sweet and more mellow, with alcohol taking the stage - so much so that it almost feels like a liquor in the mouth. Don’t let me fool you, though, it’s still a sweet, tasty brew. At finish, there’s a sensation in the throat that’s almost unpleasant, leading to a dry, fruity white wine-like lingering flavor in the cheeks - but with an odd bitterness. I’m not sure if additional aging would help this phenomenon, but I’d be willing to find out. Overall, it has a tease of classy smoothness, but still has some awkwardness to it - and I can’t tell if under or over-aging is to blame. Still, a heck of a good beer and much better aged than straight off the shelves.

Picked this up yesterday in a 12oz bottle at Harpoon Brewery in Windsor VT. Enjoyed at 60 F in a Snifter. Deep brownish amber with 3 finger tan head that fades to 1 finger with very decent lacing. Scent is ultra sweet. Smells just like a barleywine. Some hints of spices and honey. Taste slightly bitter with English and German hop profiles. Also a nice balance of sweetness, bitterness and solid malt backbone. some pineapple and peach tastes and some brown sugar. Medium carbonation, heavy body.

Sinister scents of medicinal booze-soaked fruit and breads. Deep amber orange. Some suspension - guess the age at two years. Taste is semisweet chalk and alcohol burn. Heavy syrupy stuff here. Had this at a now closed joint in NH for the first time two years ago, for $3. Costs at least that in the store down this way.