Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #12 - Imperial Stout

Formerly brewed at Harpoon Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Boston, Massachusetts USA

(22oz bottle) Purchased at RSVP in Portland, ME. I’m really surprised by the response to this beer - its strong and oily coffee flavour and mild ABV flavour should make this an East Coast main-stay, no? Pours a dissipating, foamy brown head with a pure opaque body. Nose of iodine, coffee grounds and porto. Fizzy gritty finish that is bone dry and alcoholic hot. That’s a lot for a 7.7% ABV beer from Boston, no? Am I alone here?

100 Barrel Series Session 12, Sampled April 2006
Pours with an opaque black color, yet does not pour with as much viscous heft as I would perhaps expect. The head is a lightish chocolate brown color that is initially one-finger thick, yet seems to disappear quite quickly. The aroma is a mix of rum, raisins, plums, and roasted espresso. Mostly the aroma is made up rich dark malt aromatic notes.

The taste is quite sweet, in fact disproportionately so considering that the body of this beer is not super thick for an Imperial Stout. Finishes with a bit of a sharp bitterness that tends to linger on in the tongue. Despite this bitterness it does not quite balance out the saccharine sweetness that is found up front. There is a bit of roast character here, actually quite a bit, but again just not enough to hold back the sweetness. As it warms up it begins to become slightly more balanced, but the saccharine sweetness in combination with the lightish body, just cannot be overcome.

22 oz bottle, "100 Barrel Series Session 12". Pours to a deep brown to black color, with a thick and creamy head that fades, and a soft carbonation. The nose timid for an Impy, with light aromas of dark malt, dark chocolate, and mild roast. Palate is a bit thin for the style as well, with flavors of dark malt, chocolate, mild roast, and light hints of black currant. This beer finishes with more dark malt, and chocolate flavor up front, then ends with some mild bitterness, and a touch roasty. A nice enough beer, but as far as Imperial Stouts go, dissapointing. Lacks the peppery alcohol, and robust roasty character of a well done Impy. Harpoon could have done much, much better with this one.

7.7% for an impy stout? That’s usually not a good sign. Pours a medium black, but not too dark, with some amber highlights and a thin tan head. Aroma is sweet light coffee, some chocolate and some acrid burnt black malts. Sweet flavor, caramel, toffee, molasses, but lacking on that nice dry roasted acrid maltiness. Not really complex and there is some depth that is lacking.

Bottle, 22 oz, 100 barrell series, #12, served in snifter: poured a delicious special dark chocolate, opaque, little to no head, notes of coffee, cocoa, plum, raisin, malts, everything roasted. Tasted sweet, alcohol, cocoa, coffee, roasty, etc. (no caramel though), Mouth felt smooth, medium bodies, not as thick as like imperials to be...well done for Harpoon.

Thanks to dickinsonbeer for this… Appears black with brown edges and scattered lacing around the glass. Smell is of black grapes, plums, Belgian chocolates, and rich cream Taste is of butter infused cocoa and butterscotch with some dark fruits and nuts. Mouthfeel is buttery and smooth. Slightly cloying sweetness.

22oz bottle shared courtesy of dickinsonbeer (thanks!). Poured a dark black color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of roast, chocolate, smoke, and some dark fruits. Tastes of plums, raisins, roast and chocolate. Struck me as a bland and mellow version of a RIS.

Poured a dark mahogany color with a thin, tan head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malt, chocolate, alcohol, light caramel, and faint nuts in the background. Taste of chocolate, roasted malts, nuts, and sharp alcohol in the finish.