Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #04 - Barleywine

Formerly brewed at Harpoon Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Bottle. Pours an orange amber body with a tan head. Pine and citrus with a berry like malt body and vinous etoh latent fruit. Sweet and piney, decent.

Light copper in color, clear with a thick whipped egg white head (there’s also a touch of beige here). Light, but sticky lace. Sweet complex aromas of apple, pear, some berry and a touch of lemon. The hop smells are up front and also intriguingly sweet. Mmmm. Rich fruit flavors jump out first: again, apple/pear predominate. There’s enough hop to prevent the beer from becoming coyingly sweet although less pronounced than the aroma. This would be an awesome beer with strong cheeses or rich desserts. The mouthfeel is full-bodied, slightly oily (in a positive way). The carbonation is low but appropriately so. The aftertaste is as complex as the aroma with fruit sugars, hop oils and alcohol warmth finishing the experience. More bitter than most barelywines I’ve had; but frankly, I like that...a lot! As reluctant as I was to purchase a single bottle at $4.49 (22 oz.), I think it’s worth the price--an excellent beer.

This one has been aging nicely. When fresh it was a little light and had some odd bitternes. After a year or two it is much smoother, not cloying at all and has some nice flavor. 3.1 Fresh

2006 bottle thanks to Cletus. I think this has aged well. Light clear amberish copper pour with small foamy off-white head. Weak aroma, but hop presence is still there, with some hints of pine and citrus, but more sweet fruit coming from the malt. Light toffee and caramel notes overall and with a pleasant earthy bitterness. Very enjoyable.

06 Bottle. Pours hazy copper color with a thin white head. Aroma is floral and bitter hops, sweet fruit, light malt. Flavor is pine, sweet malt, caramel, floral, hint of spice. Palate is full bodied, medium carbonation, finished very bitter. Decent overall, but IMO does not fit the style. I’d like a little more sweetness in the backbone.

Courtesy of Dragonstout. Pours a light golden brown with almost no head. Aroma is mostly sweet apple. Tastes of caramel, light sweet fruit, little barley, floral, spice. Finishes with a smooth sweet syrupy feeling.

Bottle, 10.3%. Very weak aroma for ABV, spicy tea? Hazy golden colour, very small white head. OK flavourful, teaish bonbon flavour. Some bitterness, slightly rough. Not good enough for this ABV.

12 oz. bottle, the "Encore" release that was bottled in 2006, sampled in a snifter. L: Cloudy reddish amber hued orange with a compact off-white of creamy foam. Good head retention, settled into a thin sudsy lacing with very light amounts of splotchy dots ringing the glass. S: Citrus blossomy hops and freshly cut pineapple with an underling base of caramel malts. At the edges is traces of earth and estery alcohol. F&T: Smooth moderate body that has a nice malty creaminess in the mouth, well rounded and airy crisp. Tastes of sweet tropical fruits and pineapple, grapefruit juice and orange peel, as it progresses towards the end subtle banana and caramel flavors emerge. The hops turn spicy at the finish, helping to dry the sweet malty finale. A tasty and balanced barleywine, quite the pleasant sipper on a cold rainy winter night.