100 Barrel Series #04 - Barleywine
Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall

100 Barrel Series #04 - Barleywine100 Barrel Series #04 - Barleywine
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From:
Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall
 
Massachusetts, United States
Style:
American Barleywine
ABV:
10.3%
Score:
86
Avg:
3.82 | pDev: 14.92%
Reviews:
73
Ratings:
80
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jul 18, 2015
Added:
Dec 28, 2003
Wants:
  3
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ShamasUVA:
Photo of ShamasUVA
Reviewed by ShamasUVA from Connecticut

2.74/5  rDev -28.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
12 oz bottle, into a snifter. Light colored, great nose of dried fruits. The big problem with this beer is the mouthfeel, it is much too light for a barleywine. As a result, there is not a richness in the mouth, and even the flavor is not quite as good as some of the better in this style.
Feb 05, 2007
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.84 by outoffocus from Pennsylvania

Jul 18, 2015
 
Rated: 3.25 by NHbeerfishing from New Hampshire

Dec 07, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by WOLFGANG from South Carolina

Jul 14, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by mikeincharleston from North Carolina

May 23, 2013
Photo of Seattleman
Reviewed by Seattleman from Arizona

3.97/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Encore - bottled in 2006 and poured into a tulip.

Appearance: light cloudy copper with a quickly disappearing head.

Smell: brown sugar smell with a hint of floral.

Taste: malty with hints of hop that give it a slightly bitter aftertaste. Slight hint of fruit.

Mouthfeel: oily and boozy mouth feel.

Interesting and solid barleywine. Much more crisp and light than usual barelywines, making it more drinkable despite its high abv.
May 15, 2012
 
Rated: 2.5 by jfcaa193 from Canada (QC)

Feb 18, 2012
 
Rated: 1 by WassailWilly from New York

Feb 09, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by Rochefort10nh from New Hampshire

Dec 06, 2011
Photo of Wasatch
Reviewed by Wasatch from Colorado

4.35/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Thanks goes out to Mess for this brew.

22oz. Bomber
Session: 04
Batch Date: 7/01/03

Eight years on this bottle.

Poured into a chalice a very nice cloudy dark peach color, nice carbonation, nice little fizzy off-white head, with a nice big oil slick in the middle of the glass. The nose is malty, with a nice little hop note, slight dark fruits, slight citrus. The taste is malty, slight hop note, raisins, grapes, plums, figs. Medium Body. This one is still holding up very well after 8 years. Very Very tasty still. Thanks Chris!
Aug 13, 2011
Photo of Urbancaver
Reviewed by Urbancaver from Ohio

3.92/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Bottle from 2006 opened on December 22nd 2010

Very light in colour. Pale orange/yellow. Smells fruity and a bit hoppy Tastes smooth and malty with very little hop presence. Boozy on the tongue with just a hint of bitterness underneath. Very tasty :)
Dec 22, 2010
Photo of hoppymcgee
Reviewed by hoppymcgee from Maine

4.05/5  rDev +6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 5
Poured from a 12oz. Encore Series bottle dated 2006 into an Ommegang tulip glass.

A: Yellowish-orange color that glows and has plenty of carbonation left.

S: Surprisingly I still get a boozy whiff, with wheat, peanuts, and barley.

T: Fruity and nutty. This is unlike other barleywines in that it is not rich and caramelly.

M: Carbonation is still in full force. The overall feel of the beer is a little slick and oily, but on the thinner side.

D: The best feature of this beer. Although booze was evident in the nose, the taste does not give way to it. An easy beer to take down for 10.3%.

Overall, a beer that's still worth seeking out if you can find it. I love seeing beers age, and this one held up. Please note that this review most likely does not speak for the 22oz. bomber bottles of this beer (which are much older).
Aug 11, 2010
Photo of mikey711
Reviewed by mikey711 from New Jersey

3.48/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
2006 bottle

A: Light orange/amber color, cloudy, with only a faint psst when opened and a touch of head that sits on top.

S: It smells slightly like cardboard, but there is some sweet caramel and toffee notes. Also a touch of smokiness and leather

T: It is just about to be completely undrinkable. It reminds me of a very old bottle of fred. There is some leather notes, caramel sweetness, but it is just about to turn into teriaki

M: It is actually pretty smooth, with a good mellow creamy feel.

D: I am happy i split this bottle as i dont think much more than half it would be enjoyable
Feb 15, 2010
Photo of TheManiacalOne
Reviewed by TheManiacalOne from Rhode Island

3.35/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
2006 release, poured from a 12oz bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a cloudy light golden brown color, with a thin off-white head that fades quickly and leaves a thick lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is of fruit, brown sugar, caramelized malts, some spice, some hops and a significant amount of alcohol.

T: The taste is very sweet up front with flavors of citrus, honey, caramel and brown sugar. There's also a very strong alcohol sting. The malt character is hearty but not too heavy. The hops presence is weak for the style but this beer was bottled well over 2 years ago. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Crisp but not that smooth, medium body, light-to-medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

D: A little tasty, goes down ok, not too filling, strong kick, decent representation of style, it's a decent beer to sip on for a while but there are several other beers in the style that I would choose first.
Mar 16, 2009
Photo of BuckeyeNation
Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa

3.58/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Note: the original Harpoon Barleywine was bottled in bombers in July '03. This 12 ounce bottle is one of the 100 Barrel Series Encore beers and was bottled in November '06.

Sparkling topaz with a great deal of tangerine too. This is one of the paler barleywines that you're likely to run across. The upper half of the snifter is filled with a splendid looking crown of pearl colored foam that leaves little squiggles of lace as it melts.

The aroma delivers pale malt and golden fruit, with a drizzle of honey and a suggestion of alcohol. If Belgian yeast was used, HB would almost smell like a tripel. Since it wasn't, and it doesn't, there isn't a great deal of olfactory complexity. There needs to be more power and a sharper focus.

Barleywine would be a great place for a newbie to start. In other words, this is a 'training wheels' beer... except for less than expertly buried alcohol. Like most pale malted, less than hoppy barleywines, there aren't enough flavorful ingredients to cover up the taste of ethanol. It isn't bad, though, just more noticeable than it should be.

The flavor profile consists of sugar cookie dough, as well as pears and apricots soaked in fruit brandy and vodka. Given 80 IBUs, more hop flavor would be great. Then again, this bottle is pushing two years of age. The finish is semi-slick with a modest tightening that is due to alcohol as much as to alpha acids.

If you like your big beer to be full without being heavy, then this sucker will be right up your alley. It features a glassy smoothness that only time is capable of achieving. The mouthfeel is the highlight of this entire experience.

It's a good thing that Harpoon Brewery decided to bring back Barleywine because it gave me a chance to see what I missed the first time around. That said, one Encore is enough. This recipe is too safe and too unimaginative to be special.
Oct 08, 2008
Photo of bbeerman
Reviewed by bbeerman from Massachusetts

3.72/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
I had a six-pack in the distant past, so I cannot recall all of the details. However, I do remember that I enjoyed the beer very much (I picked it up at the Boston brewery).

It was a nice (light) barley wine with a good flavor and scent. I thought it was somewhat rough going down, but perhaps I was not that used to barley wines back then.

Overall, something I wish was more readily available.
Aug 21, 2008
Photo of kirok1999
Reviewed by kirok1999 from Ohio

3.68/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a very light copper with a nice lingering white head.
Smells a lot of citrus, crisp and clean with an underlying sweet malt presence.
Taste is not at all like a traditional barleywine. Almost a wheat note with the nice crisp apple, orange and grapefruit tastes.
Honestly, I never would have pegged this as a barleywine, too crisp and citrusy. Very nice as it is; it would go very well with some sharp cheese, just not as rich, lush and sweet as I think a barleywine should taste like.
Jun 17, 2008
Photo of mikesgroove
Reviewed by mikesgroove from South Carolina

3.45/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
12oz bottle poured into a Snifter

A – Poured a very nice and hazy soft amber with a smallish, maybe one finger high of head sitting up on the top. A nice slow fade left behind almost nothing, except for a small touch of film across the top and some decent side glass presentation. Some carbonation could be seen, but not too much.

S – Aroma was full of alcohol, and almost came off to me as mead like. It had the very sweet honey like smell stuck on top of a really nice grain like base. A good amount of caramel present as well, as it warmed it started to give off some more hop like tones and become a tad bit thicker in smell also.

T – The flavor was ok, not bad at all, but I have to be honest and stick with just ok. There was no real profound flavor explosion like I was hoping for, and the hops were too muted. Now it is usually a good thing when they are muted in aged barley wines, but I would not expect it to be this sugary after not too much time. Very interesting flavor though, with hints of caramel and apricot hidden inside.

M – Very much syrup like. The carbonation seemed to all but disappear as you began to sip it. A thick syrup like consistency and a bit of a dull feel. There was some redeeming qualities though as the finish were very nice and the overall was not half bad.

D – Well it went down a lot easier then the 10%abv would have led one to believe. A very nice blend, especially once it warmed ensure that regular sips were common place. This was by no means a guzzler, but was a fine sipper nonetheless.

Overall this was not bad at all. I was actually impressed with how mellow it became after a few minutes and some warming. I have had much better barley wines, but this was far from bad. I would have like to have tried it fresh to compare, but this is still holing up very well.
Dec 12, 2007
Photo of CHADMC3
Reviewed by CHADMC3 from Connecticut

4.07/5  rDev +6.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Harpoon Barleywine Style Ale (100 Barrel Series – Encore)

·Appearance: Golden to orange in color, lively carbonation, and quickly subsiding head with a lasting very thin layer.

·Aroma: Fruity/Sugary and hoppy aroma. Extremely aromatic.

·Taste: Delicious sugary sweet taste, definitely fruity, but tough to identify exactly what, perhaps plum, or some other dark fruit. Significant hop bitterness on the back of the tongue, and into the aftertaste.

·Mouthfeel: Medium body and more significant carbonation. Definite hop presence. Perhaps a bit light for the style.

·Drinkability: Very drinkable beer, the sweet fruit taste and hops blend nicely. It’s smooth mouthfeel and clear aromatic attraction make you want another taste.
Nov 17, 2007
Photo of Jwale73
Reviewed by Jwale73 from Rhode Island

3.23/5  rDev -15.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Sample was from the encore series, not the original 100 BBL series. Used a white wine glass to preserve the carbonation, which effervesced nicely during the pour. Had a dark honey color with very little head; slight lacing remained during tasting. Nice mouthfeel with a mild taste of bitter peaches; somewhat acidic. Very mild smell, slightly floral. Not at all what I expected as it was very thin feeling in the mouth; not watery per se, but not much substance for a barleywine (I'm not an expert, but I've sampled a few). Enjoyable, but definitely a different take on the brew from my experience. Drinkable, but not in great volume, and almost seemed to have mead-like characteristics. Didn't at all seem like a 10.3% abv.
Oct 03, 2007
100 Barrel Series #04 - Barleywine from Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 80 ratings