Harpoon Leviathan Imperial IPA

Brewed by Harpoon Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Appearance is lighter than most Imperial IPAs. Good head and lacing. Smells wonderful. Big citrus and piney hops in the nose. Tastes of grapefruit and chewy hops. Huge mouthful on the hops. Very little alcohol burn for this style. Surprisingly clean finish. This is an exceptionally drinkable, hoppy treat. Well done Harpoon!

Pored into a tasting glass from the tap. The color is an orange/amber, with a foamy white head. The smell is fruity, hints of orange, and grapefruit The taste was a bit hoppy, fruity with orange, mango maybe and a few others I could not place. Has a bit of a bitter finish but not too strong of an aftertaste. I was not sure if i would end up liking this beer. It was a little high in ABV and not sure what to expect from an Impeerial IPA. In the end I think this beer was well made. It was a bit like Harpoon’s good IPA that they brewed before but with the volume turned up a bit.

In short: An easy to drink honey-sweet and hoppy (well balanced) american IIPA like many others. Typical but good.
How: Tap at Vermont’s Brewers Festival 2009
The look: Clear golden body topped by a long-lasting medium white head
In long: The nose has pleasant citrusy and grapefruity hops. The beer is very sweet and the malt profile has a old-honey-turning-sugary flavour. Really crunchy sugary pils-like malts used in a way I’m not too crazy about. Fortunately the hops save the day with a fruity and slightly resinous smooth bitterness. Despite its alcohol level, sweetness and amount of hops I found this beer to be surprisingly not very tasty. I can’t imagine anyone truly disliking it nor can I imagine someone finding it fantastic. This is the kind of standard sweet American IIPA like we’ve all had one million times before and at the Vermont’s Brewers Festival it won gold medal in the category Most Likely Not To Win Gold Medal.

Pours gold with 60 second head that started two inches tall. The aroma is up front grapefruit hops, some mild pine hops, grassiness and aged malty sweetness. The taste begins with a fresh pulse of grapefruit and tangelo hops. The sweet malts are there the whole time too but take over midway as the hops recede into the background. It ends with fading malt and caramel sweetness and a persistent grapefruit and orange peel hop bitterness. Pretty nice malty IPA below average IIPA.

Location: 12 oz bottle from Norm’s, 7/30/09

Aroma: Grassy hops, citrus, grapefruit, caramel, really dominated by the citrus hops
Appearance: Orange color, creamy white head, lots of lacing
Flavor: Nice juicy hop taste (orange, citrus), a good amount of hop bitterness, light caramel/honey malt backing, just a bit of yeast character as well
Palate: Relatively full body, decent duration, hides alcohol well, kind of a silky mouthfeel
Overall Impression: This is an interesting beer, I really like the citrus character this one brings to the table. A nice beer, enjoyable, and does a nice job of hiding the fact that it is 10%. Pretty tasty beer, and something a hop heads and non-hop heads alike can probably enjoy. (Though hop heads admittedly more.)

A golden beer with little head. Aroma was very nice with fruit, grass, citrus, & pepper. Taste was the same as the aroma with a big juicy hop taste. The aroma & taste is so boldly fresh making this an impressive beer.

Bottle as shown. Pours a clear copper gold with a medium creamy white head that diminishes quickly leaving behind good sticky lacing along the glass. The aroma is a piney hops with grass and caramel. Thin mouthfeel with a nice bitter hop taste with citrus and floral with a nice sweet finish. Hides the alcohol very well making it very easy to drink. A very impressive IIPA from Harpoon.

Thanks kiefdog for the share. This beer kicks ass. Pours yellow gold with a white head. Nose is caramel, grass, honey, floral hops, and mellow citrus. Flavor is nice: caramel, sweet citrus, and a nice hop blend. medium-bodied and beautiful. Very nice IIPA. Mounds of sweetness offset the hops that have a tremendous citrus character complimenting the hops.