Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #03 - Abbey Style Ale

Formerly brewed at Harpoon Brewery
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Appropriately cloudy with a slight dark golden color. I like the creamy white head although it dissapates quickly and leaves scant lace. Citrusy wheat aromas, this smells similar to a hefeweizen. Strong carbonation at the front of the taste. The first impression is a neutral malty flavor that quickly gives way to a complex array of citrus, malt sugars and a bitter floral hop touch. The beer seems to be heading to the wheat flavors, but stops short. Instead, the flavors become creamy and sour. This lingers through the aftertaste. The only real distraction is the high level of carbonation. In many ways, this abbey ale has less of the undesireable characteristics of its mentors--less barnyard aromas and flavors.

this bottle lasted the best out of the bunch quite delicious .tasted like a true belgian

Considering what I went though to track a bottle of this one down (finally found a bottle tucked away in a dark cooler in a small bottleshop), I found this to be a pretty poor example of a dubbel. Pours copper with a thin white head. Smells more like a simple white beer with coriander and other orangey notes present. Taste is very orangey with some coriander and banana notes. Disappointing.

1 PT., 6 fl. oz Bottle (Session 03, Batch Date: 9/8/03) – Sampled late January 2005: clear, sun-struck copper with an off-tan tightly bubbled foam. Yeasty esters float above the glass with orange-banana alcohol, bubblegum, and peach fuzz. Bready flavours with loads of thick grains, pale malt and buttered dough. Flecks of pepper are noticeable right before a short, slightly dry finish. The carbonation is a bit harsh, and though this ones leaves me wishing for a bit more complexity, it was a decent dough/yeasty treat.

Appearance: clear, bright peacy color, with a big, thick, foamy white head. Nice looking, but from the name "abbey ale" I expected something different. Maybe more like a dubbel or a tripel? Aroma: sweet, candyish, fruity, citric, I’m really picking up a witbier vibe in this, and I also, as others have mentioned, can easily discern that "bubblegum phenol" that’s all over this...a little unsettling, actually. Taste: smooth, easy, and shallow in the arena of complexity, I’m sorry to say. Quite quaffable, with that sweet, candyish character remaining throughout. Very light in body, with minimal texture, and a forgettable finish. It’s a good solid beer, but hard to categorize, feeling like a cross between a witbier and a tripel, without containing the better parts of both.

08.14.04 bottle. Maze and orange pour with middling head. Smells like a Belgian ale light. The body of this brew reminds of a dubbel, but everything else is like a watered down trippel. Pretty peppery and spicey. Sharp effervescence adds to a dry, Belgian yeasty finish. The finish seems dramatically out of place with this subtle and light brew. Only Harpoon could make an ’abbey style ale’ (what is that?) that is so markedly diluted and over-refined.

The bottle is dated 9/8/03, so this one must have been sitting in the store for quite a while. The beer has a light peach color, with a short, white head that dissipates very quickly. There’s a slightly yeasty aroma, but it’s not as strong as most other belgian style ales that I’ve had. There is a surprising amount of carbonation; if you pour it quickly there is quite a bit of fizzing. The flavor is fruity and sweet with some tanginess, but it’s still a little too bland. I think a bit more yeast would be nice, and more maltiness to give it a richer palate. Overall it’s pretty good, but in the future I think I’ll just stick with Allagash when I want this kind of beer.

The beer after extravasates the 22 ounce brown bottle set in the glass an opalescent and slightly hazy orange, the head is moderate in size, creamy in texture and a toothsome light tan. The nose is sweetly malt, fresh crisp and clean with a slight hint of yeast, a nice sniffable beer, start is sweet and pleasingly malted, the top is middling in its feel to the palate. The finish is sternly acidic, the hop pleasing and relatively mild, quite dry aftertaste that lingers long on the palate.