Again with the whiskey-barrel-aged brews...

Hailing from Lake Mills, WI we find Tyranena's Dirty Old Man...

This one is interesting. The majority of whiskey-barreled-aged beers are of the bourbon variety. Tyranena has stepped a bit out of bounds by aging 
their porter in a rye barrel. Oh. Nice.

Appearance: Pours coffee black with a brown—like melted vanilla ice cream with a bit of Hersey syrup mixed in sundae style—with a sliver-sized highlight at the bottom of the glass when held to light.  The head is a good inch and leaves a baby foam covering cap. 8.9/10

Body: Rich and viscous with a quasi-syrup quality that quickly expands and turns into this wonderfully foamy fluff that gracefully works the beer off the tongue. Full and efficient. 9.1/10

Nose: Nestle Quick mix, Worther’s Originals, Tootsie Rolls, Whoppers—the movie candy—rich, dense malt with chocolate overtones galore. Could you tell? Diced cashews and peanut shells. There are some smoky fruit notes peering over the olfactory fence, but the nose remains a Malt Club Event.  8.6/10

Taste: Much sweeter and fruity than expected. In fact, the chocolate takes a brief backseat to mingle with cherry, which lingers and lingers and lingers. It’s actually tart. Bizarrely tart. The cherry gives way to dark chocolate and the whole thing meanders away leaving you curious. Points for trickery. 8.5/10

Overall: 8.8/10

Backwoods Bastard

The old man saunters down the mountain with an old hip and a new beer...

Bourbon-barreled aged beers are all the rage. The barrels boost the alcohol, complexity and rarity. 

If, and I mean if, they are made well. 

Here we find Backwoods Bastard, from Founders Brewery in Grand Rapids, MI.

Appearance: Pours a deep ruby with a slight brown hue. Some fine sediment suspended in the glass. The off-white, 2 inch head is bulky and stays put for a while before leaving a fine ½ inch cap and some hefty lacing. 8.5/10

Body: Semi-lazy, but assertive carbonation rolls in and expands for a creamy touch. Medium to be sure, but thins out quickly. 7.6/10

Nose: Bourbon-drizzled caramel, oak-driven vanilla bean and unfortunately, an overbearing, seriously boozy note walks in and eclipses everything else.7.2/10

Taste: Sweet, malty with some minor fruit notes. Again the bourbon barrel has a ton to say, and trust me, it won’t shut up. The thin body doesn’t help and this beer falls a bit flat. I’m not dumping it out, of course, but I’m not buying it again. 7.1/10

Overall: 7.7/10

Life and Limb

There was some press behind this brew. Serious palaver. When was it coming? Who would distribute it? 

What will it be?

When it arrived--in quite limited quantity--the beer geeks and gals sped to their local beer retailers with the urgency of a chased lamb. 

What did they find? An ale with birch and maple syrup. 

For $13, it leaves a lot to be wanted. 

Appearance: Deep brown with red highlights at the bottom of the glass. Khaki fluff, pancake batter head of an inch that shrinks to a ¼ inch and remains covering in a tightly packed manner. Bit of stickiness on the glass. Everything in place. 8.7/10

Body: Subtle carbonation that fades gracefully, rounded silkiness, on the very light side of medium. For the ABV, pretty good. 8.3/10

Nose: Hmm. Rum soaked raisins, brown sugar, molasses, rootbeer candies and oatmeal maltiness. Feint melted chocolate. These aromas don’t jump out of the glass. I don’t mind…but hey, this is a $12 24oz. 8/10

Taste: Ok. I know this is a wild beer. Well, supposed to be. Birch syrup in the beer. I’m for it. Starts off sweet, then briskly shifts gears and gets bitter in the vein of hops and chocolate. The syrups make their way into the spotlight towards the end, but briefly. There is some booziness and I won’t dock the score too much. Life and Limb should be better with age. 8.3/10

Overall: 8.3/10

2 Turtle Doves

Tis the season to...drink Christmas beer. 

Also, Hanukkah beer...I guess. 

I'm not playing favorites. I love every religion that embraces drinking. It's fitting I was born into an Irish-Catholic family. 

Anyway, I'm getting into the season. Breweries across the world are releasing wonderful gifts for the tongues of the eccentric. I mean come on, who would drink a beer with cocao nibs and toasted pecans? Me.

Appearance: Coffee black with no light seeping through whatsoever. Beige head hits at about a ½ inch before quickly dropping to a thin cover around the rim of the glass. 8.4/10

Body: Oily, cheek-puffingly creamy, concentrated carbonation that delicately buzzes—truly spot on carbonation. Medium with elegance and balance. It has some weight, but just enough. 9/10

Nose: Smoked chocolate/fruit, dominant and very tart cherry, maple syrup, pecan pie, biscuit malt, baking spices. Great variety and harmony. Nothing seems out of place. Original and interesting. 8.9/10

Taste: Hey there cherry…tart cherry. Followed by dark chocolate. You know, those $8 jobs you find at Whole Foods. The chocolate/cherry attacks retreat into brown sugar and citrus/bitter hops. The pecans stay hidden until the very end, where their crumbly nuances meld well with the hops and lingering malt backbone. The carbonation really holds the whole thing together providing structure. 8.7/10

Overall: 8.8/10

Gueuze Beers

Gueuze beers, according to the Brewer's Association Guidelines is "old lambic is blended with newly fermenting young lambic to create this special style of lambic. Gueuze is always refermented in the bottle. These unflavored blended and secondary fermented lambic beers may be very dry or mildly sweet and are characterized by intense fruity-estery, sour, and acidic aromas and flavors. These pale beers are brewed with unmalted wheat, malted barley, and stale, aged hops. Sweet malt characters are not perceived. They are very low in hop bitterness. Diacetyl should be absent. Characteristic horsey, goaty, leathery and phenolic character evolved from Brettanomyces yeast is often present at moderate levels. Cloudiness is acceptable. These beers are quite dry and light bodied. Vanillin and other woody flavors should not be evident. Versions of this beer made outside of the Brussels area of Belgium cannot be true lambics. These versions are said to be 'lambic-style' and may be made to resemble many of the beers of true origin."

I happened to come across an extremely rare keg of Gueuze and scoffed when the bartender mentioned the $600 price tag. "There aren't many of these in the States." he boasted. Fair enough. I had to have one. It's called Boon Oude Mariage Parfait and it was made by this fine man. 

Now that we have a frame of reference, let's drink it. 

Appearance: Deeply hazy burnt orange with carbonation clinging to the sides of the glass in blotches and haphazard lines. A 1/3rd of an inch off white head sits and fails to recede. 8.8/10

Body: Paper-thin body and almost no carbonation. Light, but in an intriguing way. Soft edges, but not watery. 8.1/10

Nose: Funky cheese, sour cranberries, pickles, damp hay, horse blanket, wet earth. Interesting in the sense that most beers primarily derive aromas form their ingredients and this Gueuze reeks of the place it was made. 8.7/10

Taste: This beer is all about the finish. It touches down sour, but not over the top with the aforementioned fruit giving way to a sour/liquid triscuit/cheesy finish that lasts for a minute or so before shifting gears into a beautiful sweet, nutty, cereal malt note that lingers delicately. 9.3/10

Overall: 8.7/10

Comment: This is one of the strangest and interesting flavors I've ever encountered. Bizarrely good. You can buy it here. I Would. 

Sierra Nevada Estate

This isn't your average beer. This is an "estate" ale composed of ingredients grown on the grounds of the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, CA. Much like a Chateau where the wine in the bottle is made exclusively from grapes grown on the owned estate land and nothing else--it's common for company to buy wine or "juice" from several wineries and blend it. Breweries buy their ingredients and Sierra Nevada has broken new ground by growing their own. 

Read more here. 

Ok. Let's see if it was worth it...

Appearance: A clear medium red rose with a thick, voluptuous, buzzing, two-finger head that slinks some nice lacing around the edge of the glass. 8.8/10

Body: Medium and smooth with delicate, well-structured and restrained carbonation. 9.1

Nose: Clean wet hop nose. Pine sap, orange rind, grapefruit juice, sage and a hint of mint. The malt notes are on the toffee side with some caramel nuances. 7.9/10

Taste: Zesty hops kick off the flavor with orange bitters and are returned by the aforementioned toffee malts. Kind of “eh…”8.0/10

Overall: 8.5/10

Comment: I really wanted to love this beer. I absolutely love the concept and I want to support it but the beer simply didn’t delivery for $13. Now, this isn't to say I won't try the next release, just that I wouldn't bother spending the money to try it a second time. 

 

Sierra Nevada 13th Release Wet Hop Harvest Ale

Appearance: Dark chestnut with light ruby highlights and bright bronze when held to a light. No sediment to speak of at all. Pours a tightly carbonated, sustaining, light beige/vanilla bean ice cream 2 finger head. Sticky lacing grips the glass. 8.0/10

Body: On the lighter side of full with assertive carbonation balancing the slightly viscous nature of the fresh hop oils. 8.2/10

 Nose: Christmas tree farm hops with resin to boot. A douse of citrus, brown sugar, baked bread malt, pepper, lemon, orange rind, fresh lupulid invasion on the olfactories. 8.7/10

Taste: Lemony hops touch down on an—initially—malt-less runway. Bitter and soft citrus quickly fade into slightly sweet, biscuity malt. To be honest, it’s underwhelming.

Overall: 8/10

Comment: The nose and body are all spot-on for the style and definitely above-average. The problem is, the taste just falls flat and barely pays homage to the alluring nose. 

 

#2 Port High Tide

Appearance: pours an unclear, cloudy orange which pales around the edges when held to a light. A frothy and appetizing, 1.5 inch head takes a good while to dissipate. Lace all over the place.  9.1/10

Body: Medium full with a big round character. Fluffy creaminess expands elegantly with near-perfect carbonation--for the style—bolstering fading creaminess. 9.2/10

Nose: Piney, floral, grapefruit, expansive tropical fruit—lychee, mango, cool aid. The tropical fruit is absolutely wonderful. Makes you inhale deeper. Beyond well made. 9.4/10

Taste: Hello grapefruit…on steroids. Huge over-the-top bitterness intertwined with spicy orange and leman that tag-team for a finish that lasts and lasts and lasts. In the far background are some balancing sweet malt notes that add just enough to without bothering the hops. Great. 9.0

Overall: 9.2/10

Comment: Don't get me wrong. This beer is outstanding, but Three Floyd's Broodoo is just so effortlessly great. This beer beats your tongue, while Broodoo seduces it. 

#1 Three Floyd's Broodoo

Appearance: Seductively cloudy, deep flame orange with specs of sediment suspended like hop sand in a freeze frame. An apple cider hue, but a touch lighter. Candy stick lace seems to fuse onto the glass. The beer looks tasty. 9.2/10

Nose: Funk, dank, drizzly hops that actually smell viscid. Skittle fruit, tropical punch. Fresh mango. Orange sherbet. Wet grass. This nose has it all, but it isn’t all hops—close. Carmel doused malt notes superbly conflate with the fruit-hop-wonder that is Broodoo. 9.6/10

Body: The body is lush, rich and full with nearly perfect carbonation for the style with some soft oily nuances. Beats the tongue down with a hop cane.  9.5/10

Taste: Perfectly expressive, yet perfectly harnessed hops touch down with a bitter citrus bite, orange rind, and an excellent array of spice notes. Lemony. Delcious. 9/10

Overall: 9.3/10

Comment: An absolute joy to drink. Every sip is more fulfilling than the last and every sip provides a new nuance unnoticed before. Utterly compelling and master-crafted.  

Snow is falling, small children wobble down streets puffed and wrapped and the harvest is over. The corn is in the silo, the fat is in the fire. The city is hardening and so are we. Afternoons spent on balmy patios and ivy-walled beer gardens have faded into closed-curtain take out with Anderson Cooper and another 30,000 Americans destined for the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Trusted experts, medal-chested generals, consultants, geniuses, men/women-of-their-time(s), Valedictorians, by the boot strap types, pewter spoon-fed aristocrats all offer custom blades to carve the globe. One may do. Maybe all are necessary. We know this for sure: when the whittling begins, there's no turning back. 

 The same notion can be applied to the Harvest IPA. It's a dicey game. The day of the hop harvest brewers spend serious cash to have fresh hops delivered within twenty-four hours of being picked. The harvest decides the outcome. I've mentioned this style before, but man, they just kept coming and coming. Here are the two reigning champions of 2009’s Harvest IPA. 

Southern Tier Pumpking

Southern Tier's Pumpking was the first imperial pumpkin ale to hit the Chicago market a few years ago and it quickly redefined what the style could be. The folks who made this monstrosity say: 

"Pumking is an ode to Púca, a creature of Celtic folklore, who is both feared and respected by those who believe in it. Púca is said to waylay travelers throughout the night, tossing them on its back, and providing them the ride of their lives, from whichthey return forever changed! Brewed in the spirit of All Hallows Eve, a time of year when spirits can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent. Pour Pumking into a goblet and allow it’s alluring spirit to overflow. As spicy aromas present themselves, let its deep copper color entrance you as your journey into this mystical brew has just begun. As the first drops touch your tongue a magical spell will bewitch your taste buds making it difficult to escape. This beer is brewed with pagan spirit yet should be enjoyed responsibly. 
7.9% abv." 

Well, here's to Puca. 

Appearance: Pours a clear copper with an off-white head of an inch that recedes leaving no cap and a decent amount of lacing. An interesting, thin patch of swirled, tightly packed, bizarrely small bubbles is left in the center—I’ve never come across something like this. 8.5

Body: Medium, slightly oily, with sustaining carbonation. 8.4

Nose: Freshly baked pumpkin, cinnamon, crushed graham crackers, pie crust, vanilla wafers, cool whip…this is liquid pumpkin pie. No joke. 9.5

Taste: Big, sweeping sweetness, nutmeg/spice and brown sugar with a caramel malt boom echoed by buttered almond. The nose translates exceptionally with balancing hop bitterness carrying the flavor to the finish. 8.3

Overall: 8.7/10

Hoppin' Frog Double Pumpkin

The brewery says: "There’s a place just south they call Frog’s Hollow, with cauldrons afire in Fall, and they only speak in whispers of the name. There’s a brewery they say who has the secret, of spices picked just right. With a crying shout, they’ll knock it out, and hand you this Frog’s delight.

Recipe Information: Style: Double Pumpkin Ale
Alcohol By Volume: 8.4%
International Bitterness Units: 7.3

Serving Suggestions: Preferred Glass: Pint Glass
Preferred Serving Temperature: 45-50°F
Food Pairings: Dessert (Pumpkin Pie), Poultry (Turkey)
Cheese Pairings: Camembert, English Cheddar
Cellaring Notes: Enjoy within 180 days"

Your humble narrator says:

Appearance: Slightly hazy orange with a tightly packed vanilla bean white head of an inch, which fades quickly leaving no cap at all. 8.2/10

Body: Full, round, rich and viscous with medium carbonation. 8.3/10

Nose: The spices have more to say than the pumpkin, which is to be expected. Carmelized sugar, dense allspice, vanilla beans, gingerbread, cola. The conflated spices create an amalgam of pungent sweet notes. 8.7/10

Taste: The pumpkin emerges, but in the form of those mini pie pumpkins. Pumpkin ice cream—yes, it exists—coats the tongue before the spices anchor the flavor into a malt-ridden finish. There is a decernable flash of alcohol and this is the only blemish. 8.2/10

Overall: 8.4/10

Pumpkin Ales

I've never met a person who doesn't enjoy pumpkin pie. The luscious, melt-in-your-mouth-caramelized-crusted-whipped-cream-topped-wonder enters stage right this time of year and I don't mind at all. I hang on every line. My predilection for the rich dessert has engendered a new love: Pumpkin Beers. I have met some who don't enjoy these seasonal ales. 99% are released, you guessed it, around October each year and many are brewed with spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. For my reviewing purposes I'm not looking for a beer that tastes like pumpkin, but a beer that tastes like pumpkin pie--go figure. 

Our beloved friends at beer advocate lay out a succinct definition of what a pumpkin beer actually is..."Often released as a fall seasonal, Pumpkin Ales are quite varied. Some brewers opt to add hand-cut pumpkins and drop them in the mash, while others use puree or pumpkin flavoring. These beers also tend to be spiced with pumpkin pie spices, like: ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. Pumpkin Ales are typically mild, with little to no bitterness, a malty backbone, with some spice often taking the lead. Many will contain a starchy, slightly thick-ish, mouthfeel too. In our opinion, best versions use real pumpkin, while roasting the pumpkin can also add tremendous depth of character for even better results, though both methods are time-consuming and tend to drive brewmasters insane."

Now, there are standard pumpkin ales, and imperial Pumpkin ales--meaning above 8% in alcohol by volume. The former are more complex and flavorful, with huge sweet notes and often intriguing qualities. Enter stage left, Hoppin' Frog's Double Pumpkin. 

Flying Dog Oktoberfest Reviewed

From Frederick, MD

The Brewery says..."the origins of Dogtoberfest are shrouded in mystery, but scholars think it has everything to do with an insane German king and a crazed Oompah band. You can read the full historical record of Dogtoberfest below. Dogtoberfest is deep mahogany in color with an intriguing caramel finish and brewed with 100% imported German ingredients for a true German flavor."

Appearance: Pours a deep copper with light ruby highlights. A ½ inch beige head that recedes after a minute or so into a covering cap. 7.2/10

Body: Medium light and round with carbonation that attacks and retreats. 7.5/10

Nose: Crushed malt with a touch of caramel and some spice notes. 7.5/10

Taste: The malt and spice notes translate and linger before the hops enter on the sides of the tongue and wrap. There are some vague fruity notes that add some complexity but not much. 7.5/10

Overall: 7.4/10

Comment: Flying Dog emerges victorious. This isn’t a hit you over the head style, but that doesn’t mean it has to be bland. Flying Dog’s Dogtoberfest has a more compelling Nose and the overall flavor profile is more rich and satisfying. 

Spaten Oktoberfest Reviewed

From Munich, Germany

The Brewery says...Spaten Oktoberfest Beer is amber in color. This medium bodied beer has achieved its impeccable taste by balancing the roasted malt flavor with the perfect amount of hops. Having a rich textured palate with an underlying sweetness true to tradition.

I say...

Appearance: Pours a clear, light copper with some reddish hues. The head dissipates immediately leaving no cap. 7/10

Body: Light and dry with concentrated carbonation. 7.3/10

Nose: Sweet malt notes, feint caramel, baked bread and some earthy hop notes in the background with a touch of lemon. 7.1/10

Taste: A very dry beer, with malt leading the way with the aforementioned bread bolstering. The hops play a co-pilot role and balances the malt by providing some earthy citrusy notes. 7.3/10

Total: 7.2/10

 Comment: This is a drinking beer, a festival beer. A beer that you should be able to drink 5 or 6 of. A perfect football beer. A sausage pairing beer. 

Oktoberfest USA vs Germany Round II

A festival with its own beer. A beer with its own festival. How wonderful. According to my best friend Wikipedia Oktoberfest is "a 16-day festival held each year in Munich, Germany, running from late September to early October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year, and is an important part of Bavarian culture. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the Munich event.

The Munich Oktoberfest, traditionally, takes place during the sixteen days up to and including the first Sunday in October. In 1994, the schedule was modified in response to German reunification so that if the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or 2nd, then the festival will go on until October 3 (German Unity Day). Thus, the festival is now 17 days when the 1st Sunday is October 2 and 18 days when it is October 1. The festival is held on an area named the Theresienwiese (field, or meadow, of Therese), often called d’ Wiesn for short.

Visitors also eat huge amounts of traditional hearty fare such as Hendl (chicken), Schweinsbraten (roast pork), Haxn (knuckle of pork), Steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick), Würstl (sausages) along with Brezn (Pretzel), Knödeln (potato or bread dumplings), Kaasspotzn (cheese noodles), Reiberdatschi (potato pancakes), Sauerkraut or Rotkraut (red cabbage) along with such Bavarian delicacies as Obatzda (a fatty, spiced cheese-butter concoction) and Weisswurst (a white sausage).

Life already has too many options, so I've narrowed down a traditional German Oktoberfest beer and compared it to an American Oktoberfest. Round Two. 

The Oktoberfest beer is also known as Marzen. According to the reputable Beer Advocate... Before refrigeration, it was nearly impossible to brew beer in the summer due to the hot weather and bacterial infections. Brewing ended with the coming of spring, and began again in the fall. Most were brewed in March (Märzen). These brews were kept in cold storage over the spring and summer months, or brewed at a higher gravity, so they’d keep. Märzenbier is full-bodied, rich, toasty, typically dark copper in color with a medium to high alcohol content. 

The common Munich Oktoberfest beer served at Wies'n (the location at which Munich celebrates its Oktoberfest) contains roughly 5.0-6.0% alcohol by volume, is dark/copper in color, has a mild hop profile and is typically labeled as a Bavarian Märzenbier in style.

I'll compare Spaten's Oktoberfest to Flying Dog's. 

Great Lakes Weizenbock

From Cleveland, OH

The brewery says..."Named after the Glockenspiel of Marienplatz in Munich, Germany, which features 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures that chime and re-enact two 16th century stories each day." 

Also...A complex, plum-colored Weizenbock with spicy notes of clove and banana.

Interesting. For a moment, I'll suspend my nationalistic bias...

Stats: 8% ABV, 20 IBU

Appearance: Pours a Falu red with golden orange hues around the bottom of the glass. A thin beige head sits at a half cm before leaving the beer completely exposed as the carbonation meanders from the bottom leaving a small collection of active bubbles in the center. 8.4/10

 

Nose: Candied Banana Split, Collins cherry, vanilla, circus peanuts. 8.2/10

 

Body: A little oily, with fuzzy carbonation. Creamy, then soft, then thin, quickly. 8.1

 

Taste: Nutty malt leads the way with toasted undertones and toffee tinges. After the malt fades the fruit kicks in with cinnamon apple and, in a strange way, juicy fruit gum. The wheat makes itself known in a faint way, and the beer fades with some sweet citrus hop notes. 8.4

Overall: 8.3/10

Comment: The edge goes to Great Lakes.  

Plank Bavarian Dunkler Weizenbock Reviewed

From Laaber, Germany

I'd usually cut-and-paste some information from the brewery here, but the website for this brewery looks like it was made in 1996 by a drunk 8th grader in a computer class. Oh, it was also in german. 

In any regard, here is my review. 

Stats: 7.5% ABV

Appearance: Pours a rosewood brown with cloudy light brown highlights. The head is pancake batter off-white and bubbles accordingly. Vigorous carbonation buzzes. 7.5/10

 

Nose: Banana bread, plum, raisin, clove hints, brown sugar--molasses after inhaling deeply. 8.4/10

 

Body: You have to let the carbonation simmer. After the soda-pop intensity fades the body becomes pleasantly creamy with the carbonation concentrating at the tip of the tongue. 8.1

 

Taste: Immediate banana fruit followed by apple and plum, which are slightly tart. The flavor rounds out with hops rolling on through until the finish. 8.3

Overall: 8/10

Comment: A great beer for an autumn evening. These beers just hit the Chicago market but in a large capacity. Regardless, it is still a beer to seek out.

Weizenbocks: USA vs Germany

According to the German Beer Institute Weizenbocks are...Comparable to the barley-based regular Bockbier a Weizenbock is the strong version of an unfiltered Weissbier or Hefeweizen. It is usually made with 60 to 70% wheat malt (German law requires that a Weizenbier, regardless of strength, be made from at least 50% wheat). The other 30 to 40% tend to be so-called Pils, Vienna or Munich malts. These are pale to amber, and sometimes slightly caramelized barley malts that give the beer a full-bodied mouthfeel, a rich and satisfying malty finish, and—depending on the barley malt's color—a more or less opaque appearance. While regular Bockbiers are lagers, Weizenbocks are all ales. They are fermented with a special yeast that gives the brew a slightly spicy, clove-like flavor.

Well, leave it to the experts. The truth is, these traditional German styles have been interpreted by American brewers and some keep it traditional, while others expand and elaborate. Let's compare. Shall we?

Harpoon Glacier Harvest '09 Wet Hop Ale Reviewed

From Boston, MA. 

The Brewery says... "Harpoon brewer Ray Dobens, creator of the beer, added a heroic dose of fresh hops the day of the harvest.The hop flavor and aroma from this copper-colored ale comes from a generous late addition of freshly harvested 'wet' hops."

The name is derived from the Glacier hop which was released for the first time in 2000 and generally used to add aroma to a hop profile. This is the second round for Harpoon with this beer, as it was brewed at harvest last year with the same hop--and the exact same description on the website. 

Stats: 6.7%ABV, 38IBUs. 

I say....

Appearance: Pours a copper--some lighter red highlights--with a frothy inch-high head. Some nice lacing adorns the sides of the glass as the head dwindles leaving a 1/4 inch covering cap. 6.5/10

Nose: I wasn't expecting prominent hopiness--considering the low amount of IBUs--but there are feint grassy, fresh and juicy harvest hops in front of canned peaches--like the Mott's I had as a kid--and candy malt. 7/10

Body: Medium, touch oily, light carbonation. 6.4/10

Taste: The hops jump out quickly and fade quickly. A bitter burst of orange/tangerine citrus supersoak the tongue, then take off. Some caramel sweetness tries to break through, but never does. There is, however, some pepper that manages to do so, and this adds some enjoyable complexity. 7.1/10

Overall: 6.8/10

Comment: I believe Harpoon wanted to allow the hops to speak, and for us to listen and be content, but, I'm not. Sure, trying a freshly harvested single hop beer has its merit, but I can't help but notice how other similarly styled ales surpass Glacier Harvest with ease and in every category. 

Founders Harvest Ale Reviewed

From Grand Rapids, MI 

Stats: 6.1% Alcohol By Volume(ABV), 

70 International Bittering Units(IBU) 

Appearance: Golden yellow hue with an off-white that recedes quickly leaving some lacing.

 

Nose: Hops. Aggressively pungent hops. Citrus fruit city. Grapefruit and resinous pine, cut grass, hint of lychee. Bit of pepper.

 

Body: Initially creamy becoming a bit thin. Minimal carbonation.

 

Taste: The nose leads you to believe the beer will be a hop bomb, exploding and lingering until every taste bud scorched under the heat of wet hopped goodness. This is not the case. The beer is very balanced—a plus—with the hops touching down with a caramel sweetness followed by the aforementioned grapefruit taking charge before spicy-bitterness dawdles down the throat.

Score: A: 8.5, N: 9, B: 8.7 T: 9

Overall 8.8/10 

Comment: I've met some people who love hops more than Jesus and this beer gives them a decent reason. Truly lush and complex. A limited amount was produced and a very limited amount made it to Chicago. Hurry.