Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #13 - Kellerbier

Formerly brewed at Harpoon Brewery
Style: Zwickel/Keller/Landbier
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Courtesy boboski. Hazy amber/light brown with a ginormous, frothy, rocky off white cap. Very nice pour. Aroma of bicuity malt, fresh grains, and some cardboard. Flavor adds caramel, light toastiness, and some grassy, lightly herbal hops in the finish. Good, but I’d like a keller to be more crisp. Medium body is soft, carbonation is balanced. Very drinkable, decent brew.

Amber body, leaning towards the orange end of the spectrum. Lightly cloudy and unfiltered, it’s got an appealing glow. The carbonation is fizzy but tightly compacted, a definite Americanized twist on what otherwise looks like a pretty authentic Kellerbier. Not very much noticeable sediment though it is evident in the bottom of the bottle. The head fades quickly and upon departure minor sticky lacing is strewn about. Hefty grass, honeycomb and hay notes fight for supremacy in the aroma. The pilsner malt smells great - it’s bready, fresh and abundant. Plenty of fruity esters are noted, with oranges and pear leading the way. Alcohol is available for an assesment, moderate and sweetened. Sufficient earth-tone hops take up the rest of the space in the nose. A very pleasant aroma that unfortunately won’t score higher due to too much penetrating alcoholic warmth rising from the glass. The flavor initially hides behind a satiny curtain of carbonation that reaches in bands from one corner of the mouth to the other, very much unlike a softer, typical Keller/Landbier. When the flavors proceed, fruity and malty flavors pair up with a grand hoppiness, moderately bitter and lightly to moderately astringent. Some of the astringent, lighter fruit notes remind of acrid lemon oil, similar to spiking this with Pledge. An addition of tart citric grapefruit and sweet melon enters the fold late into the sip. The finish is bready, lightly bitter and drying from the overstated alcohol. For my tastes, a beer in this style is often made or broken by the mouthfeel; it’s so important to the overall enjoyment of a typically docile libation. Here, it’s overcarbonated but remains pleasant and smooth, so it feels mostly neutral. Pretty good beer, far from feeling authentic.

Bomber. Poured slightly hazy amber with a bumpy off-white head. Craggy lacing. Sweetened honey cereal/ light caramel malt aroma with noticeable apple/plum fruitiness in the nose. Lightly sweet malt flavor offset somewhat by a fruity tartness and hop bitterness. Nice balance in flavors. Peppery hop bitterness lingers a bit on the tongue. Medium bodied and fairly easy drinking, though tended to become watery tasting after a while. I bought this primarily because it was one of the styles I had yet to rate. Decent enough, but not worth buying again.

22oz bottle: Pours a crystal clear light amber color with medium sized creamy off white head. Aroma is a bit dusty, notes of cherry and toated caramel, very faint hint of apple. Flavor is malty, fair amount of caramel, bit of crisp apple, with a balanced finish. A nice brew overall.

Pours with a hazy amber color. It is well carbonated and forms an initially four-finger thick, dirty tan colored head that has quite some staying power. As I inspect this beer I get a soft berry like fruitiness, but this dissipates pretty quickly. The nose seems to be a mix of caramel notes and herbal / spicy hop character. All in all the aroma is fairly light. The notes I can pull out remind me of hay, soda crackers, and some definite green herbal notes. Actually there is a light fruitiness to this beer, in fact towards the end I definitely notice something that reminds me of plums.

The beer is fairly full on the palate, meaning it has a medium body to it. Caramel character malts seem to be the main contributor to this mouth feel. A dry, grassy, almost astringent note plays a definite role here. This note couples with a noticeable bitterness that flows from beginning to lingering end. The malt character here almost has an earthy note to it, perhaps even something that reminds me of moist earth, though it is just a hint. This beer is quite a bit hoppier than I was expecting, though to be honest I was not quite sure what to expect from this American interpretation of a Kellerbier. There is a soft sweetness to the malt character which seems to accentuate a very light, soft fruitiness that reminds me of red apples and plums.

Interesting, I am not quite sure what to think here. It is definitely tasty and interesting enough that I would want to drink this again. There are earthy and even grassy / hay-like notes here that I don’t quite understand. Do they play too big a role, not enough, or are they just out of place. Interesting, that is the best I can do.

Bomber from porterhouse; Caramelly, yeasty, and hoppy nose; hazy copper wiyh a medium, long-lasting, beige head; flavor some back ground malt with some nicely balancing hop bitterness! Tasty and seems well balanced!

Pours a two finger smooth white head that fades slowly leaving a good lace. Almost cloudy amber color. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Slight hoppy nose. Starts smooth and balanced, some sweetness some dryness, slight hoppy/citric finish. $3.99 for a 22oz bottle from Smiley’s Beverage Dover, NH.

Malty aroma comes from a brownish orange body with a huge off-white head. The palate is a little thin and watery. Taste starts off with some bitter rye-like flavors. Lots of malt and a big tangy, bitter hop finish. Very light hints of citrus in the aftertaste.