Harpoon Munich Dark

Brewed by Harpoon Brewery
Style: Dunkel
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Cask. Brown w/ thin ring of frothy tan foam. Very little carbonation. Malty aroma of dark bread & caramel w/ a hint of licorice. Juicy, resiny feel. Very sweet flavour of brown sugar & carmel w/ a leafy hop spiciness.

Personally, this is my (Ian’s) favorite of the five Harpoon year-round offerings. It pours a deep caramel color with a frothy, light-brown head. Good lacing over a murky body. We liken the appearance to that of maple syrup. Malty aroma with hints of grain, bark, toasted honey-wheat bagel, and caramel. Initial taste is sweet which carries right through to the finish. Short duration on the mouth. Creamy with soft carbonation once it’s down the hatch. Delicious.

Pours out a rich, deep brown in color, almost like mahogany wood. it’s got a good foamy tan head on it which stays around for quite some time, and didn’t completely leave the glass the whole time I was drinking. Traces remained on the sides of the glass all the way down. The aroma is clearly dominated by the malts, like sweet coffee with hints of chocolate and caramel. With a beer this dark, I usually expect a bold, hearty taste. Although I wasn’t quite disappointed, it wasn’t all I expected it to be either. The body and mouthfeel is medium where I would have expected a heavier brew. The taste of is coffee-like, as the aroma indicates, with hints of molasses, chocolate, and some fruitiness. What I didn’t really like was the finish. There was a distinctly sour and somewhat acidic taste in the finish. It also contains a healthy amount of carbonation, more than what I usually like. This coupled with that sourness on the finish really left a bad taste in my mouth.

Little head, dark brown. Full body malt aroma. Pretty good coffee flavor but seems watered down. Rests decently on the palate.

Blackish-ruby with tan head. Somewhat roasty. Heavily carbonated. Little aroma/flavor, mostly faint coffee. Too watery. Decent, but overrated.

A fair example of a dark ale, but this beer is NOT an authentic dunkel, as it is brewed with an ale yeast. It also lacks the sweet and nutty character of an authentic dunkel. Pours to a deep brown color, with a thick, white head, and a good bit of carbonation. The nose on this beer is nice, with some good sweet malt aroma. Palate is firm with flavors of sweet and dark malts, and a back drop of estery fruit. Finishes with more sweet malt up front, then ends with a touch of hop bitterness to balance. A tasty beer, but stylistically not a very good dunkel.

Beautiful garnet coloring. Powerful roasted malt/smokey nose. Initial taste of roasted malt,coffee and molasses with a hoppy kick at the end. Nice but the finish is thin - a little watery.

Bottle. Chocolate aroma but, a little bit musty. Dark with almost no head. Very malty, very heavy and, a bit creamy.