Harpoon Celtic Ale

Brewed by Harpoon Brewery
Style: Irish Ale
Boston, Massachusetts USA

12oz bottle. Pours a deep, clear copper with orange and russet highlights and a thick, though short-lived, tan head that leaves little spots and specks of foam lace. The aroma is malty and sweet - caramel-covered toast with a thin layer of fig jam. The flavor is malt-forward - some residual sweetness and lots of bready and toasty flavors. By mid-tongue a nice spicy hop flavor and bitterness emerge. The finish is a little dry with a nice balance of spicy, earthy bitterness and toasty malts. The mouthfeel is slippery and medium-full in body with a slight sting/tickle on the front of the tongue from the crisp carbonation. Overall, a very drinkable session beer.

Bottle. Pours medium red colour, with large white head, which quickly disapates. Malt aroma. No real after taste, or tase at all. Not impressed at all. Pretty weak for an IRA.

12 bottle into pint glass. Amber red, small off-white head; no lacing. Simple aroma of sweet maltyness and a hint of hops. The flavor was pretty bland, tasting of hops water and nothing. It was smooth and light on my palate with a mellow and short lived hop drag. Overall: nothing special or interesting.

The creamy head and ruby-colored body raise expectations to levels not met by the dry aftertaste.

Strong caramel malt aroma. This is actually a decent smelling beer. The sweet caramel smell just dominates. I tell you this is a very pungent beer, and it took me by surprise. If the name Irish Style Red Ale is supposed to be indicative of the color, it does a poor job. The color is the plain caramel brown. The head faded away fast. Wow, this beer has an extreme caramel maltiness, but it is very dry. I thought this beer would be creamier, but it is far from it. The beer does not have a wide range of flavours. Very boring with flaavour, but a very strong and great smell. I wouldn’t pay the $7 or $8 for this beer. I bought this as a single for 50 cents, so I don’t feel cheated.

A medium, clear amber with a thin, tan head that sticks at a collar for the whole glass. Smells very, for lack of a better term, beer-y. Malt focused, with some adjunct, cereal, almost cooked vegetables. The taste is cardboard and bready, with some sweet malt notes. This is a very boring, bland, and typical beer.

Bottle. Reddish bown color. No head. Medicine-like cough syrup. spicy, cinnamon with chili hints. Somewhat vacant flavoring with dry hoppy finish. Distinctive from the normal domestic ambers you see in bars and on shelves, but not overly impressive.

12 ounce bottle- pours a perfect dark amber, clear with a strong wheat colored head. Aroma is complex-has a hint of banana (yeah, really). Creamy mouth feel with just a little bite. Slightly bitter taste with a nice finish. Average, or a little better.