Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #13 - Kellerbier

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

Cloudy deep copper color. Light hoppy nose. Goes down quickly leaving a big hop bite behind.

BBB63 shared this with me at the Back Road tasting room over Memorial Day. Poured with a creamy whipped with a tan copperish body and lots of carbonaton. The aroma was toasted and nutty. Earthy, dirty hop aroma. The flavor is very toasted, woody with a touch of vanilla. Very crisp and easy drinking. Well rounded full on the tongue. What a great treat. Thanks Mike.

Bottle. Slightly hazy amber color with a small white head. Floral hop aroma along with some toasted malts and a bit of caramel. Flavor was pretty much the same as the aroma but with a bit of citrus as well. Nothing really bad here, just a bit thin bodied and somewhat lacking in flavor.

(22 oz bottle: Obtained 29-Apr-06 in trade with jjpm74, thanks John!) Having just tasted a imported Kellerbier from Germany, this American-made interpretation is much, much hoppier and bitter, and the hops are also fairly citrusy as well. The underlying grainy malt is all but lost here initially, but after many sips, somehow the graininess and breadiness begins to come out late in the finish of each sip and in the aftertaste. The nose is much grainer in proportion than the flavor as the hops aroma just doesn’t amount to much. Medium bodied with average carbonation and a rather crisp and clean mouthfeel. Orange amber in color and fairly cloudy. The impressive head quickly builds to over an inch on the pour and maintains a quarter inch layer for a long time. Dense, thick, ringed lacing sticks to the glass, but it’s a little too foamy to hit the mark perfectly. All in all, I don’t know how closely this adheres to the true Kellerbier style (probably not very), but it just wasn’t all that enjoyable to me. Still, I think it’s worthy of some praise that Harpoon even tried to brew a style of beer that very few consumers would have heard about.

Jimmack "06. I have been trying to try these signature brews from Harpoon. This had very little taste. Nothing great here.

Courtesy of Porterhouse. <!-- P --> Aroma holds a good bit of fruity citrus elelments and a grainy/hoppy presence that is whole some and inviting. Body is a lightly hazy yellow-orange and supports a lasting, finger thick, creamy white head. Medium bitterness in the fore includes lemon zest notes and is followed by a hearty malt base that is very bready and full feeling on the palate. Bitterness is maintained all the way to the finish where it lingers and is punctuated by notes of citrus, lemongrass and sweet bread. Very enjoyable brew with no real bad areas.

This kellerbier pours a orange gold color from a 750ml bottle, Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is fruity and floral. Medium bodied keller/zwickel. Malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are citrusy and bitter. Lots of grapefruit and grapefruit rind. Nice balance. Smooth taste. Decent beer, Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Poured a hazy amber color with a medium sized, off white head that left sparce lacing on the glass. Aroma of nuts, citrus, lemongrass, lightly sweet caramel, and a toasted douginess. Bready, yeasty, light citrus, grassy, with sweet toffee and a moderate bitterness.