Harpoon Brewery

Boston

Style: Rye IPA

ABV: 6.9%

Review: Named for founders Rich Doyle and Dan Kenary—and sporting a picture of them in their younger days—the Rye IPA is a bit darker than the brewery’s flagship Harpoon IPA, with a highly complicated nose. Maybe orange? Maybe biscuit. Very big aroma with a matching large mouthfeel. True to style, it finishes with a delightful tartness, making it a great introduction into the world of rye.

Harpoon Brewery

Boston

Style: White IPA

ABV: 6.2%

Review: White IPAs have a heavy responsibility to deliver. This one brings its game. Hazy with hints of orange and lemon in the nose.  It drinks very soft and has a certain comfortable mildness, finishing with a bit of spice sitting on top of some hoppy fruitiness.

Harpoon Brewery

Boston

Style: Imperial IPA

ABV: 10%

Review: The Leviathan series from Harpoon has always delivered incredibly complex profiles—big and robust. This monster IPA is true to its family. Hazy (as is often the case with imperial IPAs), the Leviathan throws off an orange and lemon fruity nose. It shows a bright golden amber and drinks very deceptively mild with a rich body. The spice and fruit in the finish sits on top of a caramel richness and a hint of alcohol burn.

Harpoon Brewery

Boston

Style: IPA

ABV: 5.9%

Review: A 20-year-old classic, Harpoon IPA pours with a decided commitment to malt. Could we say it’s the Northeast version of IPAs?  Beautifully golden in color. A lot of malt also shows up in the finish. Definitely not a West Coast fruit bomb. Very piney in the finish, giving it the sense of English hops. It has an amazingly light mouthfeel for an IPA, making it ridiculously refreshing.

Style: IPA

ABV: 8.4%

Review: Golden orange in color, this beer is very hazy. It has great head retention, a beautiful cream color.  This beer tastes slightly more like an ESB than an IPA with its very bitter taste.  A very earthy and herbal taste, with an extremely dry finish.

Aroma Coma is an India pale ale from Drake's Brewing Co.

Drake’s Brewing Co.

San Leandro, California

Style: IPA

ABV: 6.7%

Review: A beautiful yellow, golden straw color that is slightly hazy. There is a lot of pine in the nose, and a hint of honey. The first taste is bitter, with a peppery flavor and a hint of orange. There is also a very distinct taste of citrus and pine. The finish is very dry.  This IPA really showcases the hops used to make it.

San Francisco

Style: IPA

ABV: 7.6

Review: The color of the beer pairs nicely with the toasty, toffee nose. Has a very earthy, spiciness in the nose and a pleasant citrus hop. With a medium to light mouth feel, the hops support the malt, although the malt leads on the nose. This beer has a toasted, nutty flavor, with a strong lemon accent.

Frederick, MD

Style: Belgian-style dark ale

ABV: 10

Review: The nose has prune and molasses as well as vanilla and dates. The color is a beautiful amber brown. Very highly carbonated, with a little fig in the taste, finishing with a hint of heat.  St. Eadman is sweet, with a dried fruit taste. We recommend letting it warm up a little to get some of the carbonation out.

Bedford Park, IL

Style: Latin-style Witbier

ABV: 4.3

Review: Light and hazy in color, with a strong scent of passion fruit on the nose. Very tart and exotic in flavor, but also creamy and refreshing.  The citrus, lime, and tart flavors would go really well with big bowls of stuffed dishes. Other great food pairings include fish tacos, spicy chicken, grilled shrimp and other types of spicy food.

Escondido, CA

Style: Barley wine

ABV: 11.6

Staff Review: Every other year Stone breaks out their odd-year release. This one is a twist on their famed Old Guardian Barley Wine. The nose smells almost like mom’s breakfast, bacon and brown sugar. Right away we can tell that the hop bitterness is competing with the smoky malts.  As the hops try to give way the smoke takes over. This beer is a more of a tug of war with two very distinct flavors.  Lay this one down for a year or so and drink again when the hops mellow out.