Harpoon Leviathan Barleywine Style Ale

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

Serve in Snifter

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12oz bottle shared by blankboy with me and garthicus. Deep copper-amber pour, smallish diminishing off-white head, tons of tiny floaties. Sweet pungent boozy aroma, sharp cereal grain. Taste follows, but weirdly it works- and a lot of fruit. Light, slick mouthfeel, a bit hot and dry with dry floral bitterness and drying alcohol in the finish.

Bottle. Pours a clear ruby orange with a large beige head. Soft caramel, sweet and floral on the nose with some nice pineapple notes. Smooth and lightly sweet at first with a bit of hops coming through. Big caramel and soft warm malt. Slow warming alcohol and a nice balancing bitterness on the finish. Nothing mind blowing but tasty and done well.

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.

My bottle [12oz] shared with HogTownHarry & garthicus. Pours a cloudy orange-amber with a snowstorm of sediment and a small diminishing frothy white head. Aroma of caramel malt, somewhat bready, along with floral hops, dark fruit and a bit of alcohol. Fruity flavour (grapes, apples and more) along with bready malt, alcohol, floral hops and a bitter, boozy finish, almost harsh. Medium bodied. Quite good but I’m glad I shared it, it’s a bit boozy and harsh -- I liked it though. -- Rated via Beer Buddy.

(draught) murky deep copper, soapy medium tan head. Nose of dark fruit, alcohol, apricot/pear, and sweet bread. Taste is creamy, dark fruit, toasty, dark brown sugar. Pretty smooth and creamy Palate. Solid, but a bit of an alcohol linger too.

Bottle:   Deep amber, fiery copper hue, thin to moderate tannish head, spotty lacing.   Sweet bready nose, slightly bananaish, touch of band-aid albeit its minor.   Almost a sweetish cherry or fruity cough syrup.   Citrusy, a little band-aid and plastic like on the back.   Smooth mouthfeel, moderate body.   Sweet finish, makes up for the band-aid and slight plastic.   Still was enjoyable.   Thanks Keith!

12oz. Bottle: Aroma of malt, slight alcohol, light dark ripe fruit, and some toasted sugars. Poured copper/amber in color with a small, tan head that diminished but lasted throughout as a film on top of the beer. Clear. Sparkling. Flavor is light to medium sweet and lightly bitter. Tastes of malt, light alcohol, light caramel, hops, slight toasting, slight brown sugar, and yeast. Medium body. Oily, then lightly dry and slightly sticky texture. Average carbonation. Malt, toasted sugar, hop, and caramel finish is lightly dry. 10%ABV is quite obvious in the flavor, and noticeable in the aroma. Not all that much flavor.

Bottle. Clear amber color/ tan head. Spicy caramel, toffee, mild pine sap aromas. medium bodied. Spicy caramel, molasses, pit fruit, mildly boozy flavors.

Bottle courtesy of the good Sir Drew. Served in a snifter. Pours a bright, clear reddish-amber color with a very thin off-white head that quickly recedes to a half-cap with a thin collar of bubbles. The nose brings some light cherry and other fruits. Flavor is moderately-sweet with some bread and light brown sugar plus a light amount of caramel. Malt dominates, though it’s not too integrated. Alcohol is impressively integrated. Medium body and average carbonation for the style. Pretty good. Serving type: bottle

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.