Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #05 - Alt Ale

Formerly brewed at Harpoon Brewery
Style: Altbier
Boston, Massachusetts USA

22oz bomber. Thanks Will Blake. Orange and clear with a tan head. Malty aroma. Clean tasting. Malty flavor with a touch of bitterness. Dry finish. The malt is thin and then fades quickly on the palate. Ok.

22 oz bomber. Thanks Willblake!. Orange, clear, tan head. Malty aroma, rather clean. Smells a touch like a homebrew of the past. Flavor is malty, with a touch of hop bitterness. Malt seems thin and fades quickly on the palate. Dry finish. I have had much better alts than this.

Series # 05. Batch Date: 03/31/04. A very original-tasting beer. Biting at first with a burst of nutmeg immediately upon the palate. Also some cinnamon. No strong aroma. Hearty amber in color. Cream-coloured thin head. Definitely a "sharp" tasting ale. A fairly weak finish with aftertaste of lemons and hickory. To be honest, I expected a bit more.

Session #5 3/31/04: Pours deep amber with a firm rocky tan head. Aroma is lightly spiced and buttery, some cream and wood. Bolstered with a good amount of hop in the nose. The hops don’t carry over to the palate as strong as the other aromas do. Nutty and roasty malts. Pretty sweet. Long clean malty/toffee finish.

Thick creamy head, medium carbonated, light brown amber looking beer .Aroma was quiet hoppy for an alt, fresh, clear nose. Light spicy finish. Flavour: malt based, light woody feel with spiced touch. Some late bitter touch. Not really an alt as I would imagine but decent ale it is.

Crystal clear deep copper body and an uneven sudsy off-white head that hastily faded away. Big grapey nose plus dark bread crusts. Screams Munich malts. Aroma also has a leathery quality plus hints of clove spice, nuts, chocolate and Noble hops. Malty flavor has an odd phenolic-metallic property that leads into a bitter finish. As that sensation subsides, the appeal of this beer grows. Medium body with a fairly clean finish. Overall, this is a nice rendition of an altbier.

Decent if unspactacular. Aroma is nice but light with significcant malt and a hint of fruity essence. Appearance is nice mahagony, with a large off white head rapidly diminishing. Palate is a little disapointing. Watery to light bodied. Flavor is initially lightly sweet with a little bitterness in the finish. Decent, smooth but not very bold in my opinion.

2004 bottle. Pours a dark brownish copper, with some lighter magenta and rusty orange colors. Big light beige colored head. Aroma of light nutty grains, hints of dry toffee, a touch of black licorice perhaps and some earthy hops. Flavor is bigger than I expected from the aroma; sweet and malty, but has a deep earthy roast quality that is very subtle but pleasing. Soft hints of light red fruits mingle with caramel and a touch of yeast. Finish remains full flavored. Palate is medium to medium full bodied and lightly spritzy. Very drinkable and very good, though perhaps a bit more sweetness and fruitiness than I would like from this style. Give me a little bit more yeast and earthiness. Still, this is one of the better alts I’ve had (not that I’ve had many).