Harpoon 100 Barrel Series - Alt Ale

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 8

08.10.04 bomber. Pours a rather dark mahoganey color with a medium white head and silly lacing. Aromas have the wonderful alt salted pretzel smell. The flavor follows suit and the body is coating with a salty, coating feel. My only complaint with this beer is it’s lack of spice, that tongue raking bite that so often lingers with an alt. Not surprising, really, to think that Harpoon worked hard to rid this brew of that bite that might be thought of as an off flavor by the average consumer. So many of Harpoon’s brews fall into the category with Dewars scotch and Kendall Jackson wines...they’re all good, well made, and consistent, but none of them is willing to take the chance and push the envelope. Whatever, this beer works - but for five bucks?!?!

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

~ Session 05, Batch Date 3/31/04:

I first had this at The Great Lost Bear, where is was the special of the month. A nicely drinkable pint it was, but nothing that really left a lasting impression, to be honest.

Once I came home from a business trip in Maine, what should I find but a package from Dave and Carmen? And, even better, one of the two bottles was a 22-oz'er of this very-same beer. How cool is that, eh?

Poured the majority of this beer into my 0,5L Spaten glass, making sure to give plenty of room for the head. Good thing, too, since this was a little on the foamy side.

Nice burnt amber body (with some red highlights), and with a nicely ever-present layer of foam on top. Excellent lacing too.

A little subdued in the aroma, but with enough interesting things going on in the nose to be intriguing. Give this time to warm up a little, before rushing off to completely dismiss this beer's aroma, but don't be too surprised if it isn't overwelming, either.

For the flavor-profile, I'm torn between two seperate schools of thought with this beer. One part of me says that this isn't really bold enough to fit into the rather strict Altbier style guidelines, and as such I should mark it down. The other part of me says "screw the style guidelines", and to give this positive marks for simply being an enjoyable beer to drink -- nothing more, nothing less.

So, how about a compromise? Yes, it is true that this doesn't exactly fit into the Alt style, but..., at the same time, I found myself enjoying just the same. Nice sturdy malt body, with a clean and dry finish -- letting the (presumably) single bittering hop addition do it's magic. All of which leading up to a nicely quaffable beer IMO.

An Americanized Alt, or a German Amber -- you make the call. Regardless, a nice change of pace.

Cheers to Dave and Carmen for the sample! :)
//TB

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Medium brown color. Small white foamy had. Aroma is malty and fruity. A medium bodied alt. Malts are fruity and sweet, touches of orange and brown sugar. Hops are grapefruity and slightly spicy. Nicely balanced alt. Fresh and fruity. Light and refreshing. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.