Harpoon Leviathan Barleywine Style Ale

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

Serve in Snifter

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Courtesy of Carl. Dark brown pour with a small head. Notes of caramel, biscuit, and slightly muted citrus and pine resin lead to a carmel oriented flavor. More biscuit with a grassy hop profile. The palate is a bit thin for the style, with low carbonation and a supple mouthfeel.

Pours an orange-amber color. Aroma is bold and alcoholic. Flavor is strong, dark fruit notes - plums, currants, etc. Pretty darn good, but flavor that packs a monster of a punch.

12 oz bottle. Pours a clear, dark amber/brown with rich beige head. Aroma of strong malt, notes of honey and strong fruity esters with a touch of alcohol spice. Flavor is very much the same and sweet with fussel notes, candy sugar, pepper and strong bitter finish. Mouth feel is heavy body with medium-high carbonation. Overall, not bad.

Pours a clear very dark amber with decent khaki head. Sweet caramel and alcohol, with some dark cherrywood accents. Fairly tasty, but could use some age.

Glowing Port like pour with a thin fizzy offwhite head. Aroma is alcohol, lady fingers, some fig, brown sugar. Mouthfeel is medium, with a bit of alcohol harshness on the tongue. Flavor is very young, boozy barleywine with brown sugar, raisin and fig. Despite the booziness, this is actually very easy to drink. Showing great potential.

pous a very dark amber color with about a finger of head. nose is thick with sweet, brown sugary molasses, hops, and alcohol burn. yum. lol taste is about spot on with the nose. Very sweet, with a strong brown sugary molasses flavor. Alcohol on the finish is definitely there, but the burn is not too bad due to the hops and the sweet making it pretty smooth. Makes me wonder what this would do in the cellar... a little thin for my tastes, as the barleywines I have been liking lately have been pretty thick. But, overall not too bad an attempt.

The beer pours a reddish-amber color with a white head. The aroma is heavy on the brown sugar with some caramel malt and piney hops mixed in. The flavor is more of the same. I get a lot of sugar as well as some pine and orange notes. While there is some hop flavor, there is very little bitterness resulting in the beer being very sweet. The alcohol is barely detectable. Very easy to drink. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Very nice overall.

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.

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.

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.