Harpoon Celtic Ale

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

Pours a white, one finger-head that goes quickly leaving no lace. Nice clear amber color. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Nose is slightly malty. Starts smooth with more malts than hops, some sweetness finishes quietly with no aftertaste. $7.49 for a 6-pack of 12oz bottles from Fred’s Kwik Stop Concord, NH.

(Bottle 35,5 cl) "Hibernian" another word for "Irish" and in style this is a true Irish Red Ale - from Boston, the Irish capital of the US. Dark amber with a weak light brown head. Nutty smell and also nuts in the aroma with a touch of caramel and a nice, dry bitterness. Reminds me a lot of a typical British Bitter.

2005 bottle. Yikes, this stuff made the Harpoon IPA taste good (and that’s not a good thing). Weak, amber-orange color, more yellows than anything, with a quickly dissipating off-white head. Aroma of very mild fruity ale yeast, mineral water, very faint toasted malt in the background. Flavor begins dry, papery, bland and lightly astringent from the lack of malt. Dry, nutty flavor with toast, papery yeast and water. Would it have killed them to add some flavor to the beer? Yes, because then they couldnt sell this crap to the masses during St. Patricks day. Light body, little flavor. I’ve seen bad brewpubs make a better amber ale than this. Horrible forced carbonation and a watery, bland body will make the BMC drinker feel right at home. It’s official, I’m done buying Harpoon beers. P.S. Drainpour.

Smells like beer. Looks like red beer. Tastes like beer. Has a beer-like palate. Honestly, I couldn’t tell that this was a red except for the color. It definitely doesn’t seem like a winter seasonal. I actually liked it. But I like beer. It’s mediocre and unremarkable. I wouldn’t pay the extra dollar for this seasonal if I wanted Harpoon.

At tap at the brewery. Reddish copper color with frothy head. Malty aroma, toast. Flavor is a little bland all around, some toasted caramel malts and a bitter finish, hard carbonation. Tough to articulate the flavors here, an ok beer but nothing special.

I think my bottle was a little old. tasted slightly of stale malts. Sweet, and caramel with some munich but tasted slightly "off". I remember I had this a while ago when it was fresh but it still wasnt very apealing.

Bottle. I usually do not like red ales, however this is one I really enjoyed. Nice flavors, very nice. Smooth and easy drinking, yet gives you something to taste at the same time. Need to have again!

Draught. Mahogany red color with medium off-white head. Malty amber aroma. Flavor is malty up front with a long dry hoppy finish. Tastes like an Irish Red and I usually don’t like those kind, but this one has some good qualities. Fairly good.