Harp Lager | Guinness Ltd.
Brewed by:
Guinness Ltd.
Ireland
guinness.com
Style: European Pale Lager
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 5.00%
Availability: Year-round
Notes / Commercial Description:
No notes at this time.
Added by BeerAdvocate on 07-03-2001
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 2,646 | Reviews: 755
Reviews by OldSchoolMike:
3.81/5 rDev +18%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Good Euro-style lager.
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look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Good Euro-style lager.
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More User Reviews:
3.4/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
On tap -- What a surprise. I actually enjoyed Harp. Nice near amber colour, decent lasting head, creamy mouthfeel, light sweetness, cling-y soft & faint buttery flavour and a fruity backbone. Extremely easy to drink and an excellent session beer.
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look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
On tap -- What a surprise. I actually enjoyed Harp. Nice near amber colour, decent lasting head, creamy mouthfeel, light sweetness, cling-y soft & faint buttery flavour and a fruity backbone. Extremely easy to drink and an excellent session beer.
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3.5/5 rDev +8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Guinness Ltd. "Harp Lager"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, brewed in Canada
$2 @ Wegmans, King of Prussia, PA
My review for Harp from years ago was removed because I called it "sulphur-ridden swill for shanty Irishmen" (probably reported by someone from Guinness, despite the fact that my numbers were some of the highest it had received!). I shouldn't have added the "shanty Irishmen" part, I was just going for effect, but the "sulphur-ridden" part I'll stand by to my last dying breath. It was! It was way too sulphury for a lager, and as a trained professional brewer with over a decade of experience at the time I called it out!
Anyway, it's OK that my review got kicked because they've cleaned it up and changed it, and now it's a different beer altogether; I would have had to re-review it anyway. The sulphur is gone, and it's more malty and even a touch caramelish. What's the problem with that? Well it's not the beer that it originally was, and now it's simply a homogenized "lager" that tastes just like so many other beers out there. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they had Yuengling Lager in mind when they made their changes! And that's a shame, because even with its defects it was at least original. Now it no longer exists and you'll never be able to try it, and with that said, what you can get now is even more worthless in my opinion, but I don't want to be negative (or this review will be removed!) so I'll note that it's very easy to drink, nicely malty, superbly balanced, and has enough character that you can enjoy it for more than one or two - all of which is true, just like so many other beers out there.
1,641 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Guinness Ltd. "Harp Lager"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, brewed in Canada
$2 @ Wegmans, King of Prussia, PA
My review for Harp from years ago was removed because I called it "sulphur-ridden swill for shanty Irishmen" (probably reported by someone from Guinness, despite the fact that my numbers were some of the highest it had received!). I shouldn't have added the "shanty Irishmen" part, I was just going for effect, but the "sulphur-ridden" part I'll stand by to my last dying breath. It was! It was way too sulphury for a lager, and as a trained professional brewer with over a decade of experience at the time I called it out!
Anyway, it's OK that my review got kicked because they've cleaned it up and changed it, and now it's a different beer altogether; I would have had to re-review it anyway. The sulphur is gone, and it's more malty and even a touch caramelish. What's the problem with that? Well it's not the beer that it originally was, and now it's simply a homogenized "lager" that tastes just like so many other beers out there. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they had Yuengling Lager in mind when they made their changes! And that's a shame, because even with its defects it was at least original. Now it no longer exists and you'll never be able to try it, and with that said, what you can get now is even more worthless in my opinion, but I don't want to be negative (or this review will be removed!) so I'll note that it's very easy to drink, nicely malty, superbly balanced, and has enough character that you can enjoy it for more than one or two - all of which is true, just like so many other beers out there.
1,641 characters
3.54/5 rDev +9.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Attractive looking with truly excellent froth, pleasant hops scent, and a crisp taste. I'm wondering if I'm just not a great Pilsner-style fan and this is actually top of the rung without me realizing it. Usually anything that suggests pale I'll kick off the table, but I'm finding this one agreeable from time to time. I guess the word "lager" is throwing me off here, with the expectation of more depth and distinction. Still, a smile, nod, and thank you to Harp for the one.
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look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Attractive looking with truly excellent froth, pleasant hops scent, and a crisp taste. I'm wondering if I'm just not a great Pilsner-style fan and this is actually top of the rung without me realizing it. Usually anything that suggests pale I'll kick off the table, but I'm finding this one agreeable from time to time. I guess the word "lager" is throwing me off here, with the expectation of more depth and distinction. Still, a smile, nod, and thank you to Harp for the one.
481 characters
3.24/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
The beer is tasty and straw colored with a good amount of carbonation. The head thinned out really quickly but at lasted a while. There is a nice toasted malt aroma with a very minor floral hops smell. The beer has a slit sweetness to the overall smell. Much like the smell there is a slight toasted malt taste upfront followed by a hint of hops. Very smooth and easy to drink. Medium bodied and a slight carbonation feel. Will buy it again. Nothing spectacular...but very good.
481 characters
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
The beer is tasty and straw colored with a good amount of carbonation. The head thinned out really quickly but at lasted a while. There is a nice toasted malt aroma with a very minor floral hops smell. The beer has a slit sweetness to the overall smell. Much like the smell there is a slight toasted malt taste upfront followed by a hint of hops. Very smooth and easy to drink. Medium bodied and a slight carbonation feel. Will buy it again. Nothing spectacular...but very good.
481 characters
1.23/5 rDev -61.9%
look: 1.25 | smell: 1.25 | taste: 1.25 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.25
Reader beware! The picture of this beer on this page is NOT what it is now! This beer has been disgustingly raped and violated in the most disturbing manner. Without going into much detail, I rated this beer very poorly not so much by the way it is now, but more so by the way IT USED TO BE!!!
Currently this beer tastes allot like any other, common U.S. beer, most notably Budweiser, and even provides one with the same headache from the fake, watered down ingredients as you would expect from a few other A/B products.
Harp Lager, when it use to be bottled in the picture as you see here, was an excellent, UNIQUE, readily available Irish Lager. But with great shame they've destroyed it.
If you like common American lagers then by all means, pay more money for this and you'll be happy. However, if you are a fan of Harp Lager from the last century, or have a more developed, educated palette with respect to beer, don't buy this! It's garbage, and no where near what they want for it.
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look: 1.25 | smell: 1.25 | taste: 1.25 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.25
Reader beware! The picture of this beer on this page is NOT what it is now! This beer has been disgustingly raped and violated in the most disturbing manner. Without going into much detail, I rated this beer very poorly not so much by the way it is now, but more so by the way IT USED TO BE!!!
Currently this beer tastes allot like any other, common U.S. beer, most notably Budweiser, and even provides one with the same headache from the fake, watered down ingredients as you would expect from a few other A/B products.
Harp Lager, when it use to be bottled in the picture as you see here, was an excellent, UNIQUE, readily available Irish Lager. But with great shame they've destroyed it.
If you like common American lagers then by all means, pay more money for this and you'll be happy. However, if you are a fan of Harp Lager from the last century, or have a more developed, educated palette with respect to beer, don't buy this! It's garbage, and no where near what they want for it.
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3/5 rDev -7.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Appearance This one poured a light and clear yellow with just a tinge of orange. The head was full as well.
Smell No skunk to start things off, which is always a big plus for this category. The nasty Gummi-Bear sweetness found in a lot of Pale Lager macros is absent as well, leaving the drinker with a harsh but clear nose of grain.
Taste This is not bad. Its more ricey than grainy, but theres nothing offensive in here.
Mouthfeel Light-bodied, of course, with a bit of decent carbonation. This one is quite refreshing.
Drinkability I cant believe Im saying this, but Im going to award a Pale Lager macro the title of average. Congratulations Guinness!
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look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Appearance This one poured a light and clear yellow with just a tinge of orange. The head was full as well.
Smell No skunk to start things off, which is always a big plus for this category. The nasty Gummi-Bear sweetness found in a lot of Pale Lager macros is absent as well, leaving the drinker with a harsh but clear nose of grain.
Taste This is not bad. Its more ricey than grainy, but theres nothing offensive in here.
Mouthfeel Light-bodied, of course, with a bit of decent carbonation. This one is quite refreshing.
Drinkability I cant believe Im saying this, but Im going to award a Pale Lager macro the title of average. Congratulations Guinness!
695 characters
3.33/5 rDev +3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.25/5 rDev +0.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.33/5 rDev +3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
This was a decent lager. My pour had a good head on it that faded quickly and left little lace. The smell was quite grainy with a little bit of hop in there as well. The taste was simmilar to many macro lagers I've had...grain with a touch of malt flavor and little to no hop bitterness. Although my girlfriend ordered one and enjoyed a beer for the first time, I do not think I will be paying for another one of these myself..
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look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
This was a decent lager. My pour had a good head on it that faded quickly and left little lace. The smell was quite grainy with a little bit of hop in there as well. The taste was simmilar to many macro lagers I've had...grain with a touch of malt flavor and little to no hop bitterness. Although my girlfriend ordered one and enjoyed a beer for the first time, I do not think I will be paying for another one of these myself..
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3.5/5 rDev +8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours light yellow. Clear. Abundant foamy head that settles down nicely. The taste contains some corny notes similar to American Adjunct Lagers but better. There is a premium quality that sets it apart and makes it better than average.
A very good choice for a summer session beer over a bbq'd hamburger.
A refreshing and enjoyable beer.
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look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours light yellow. Clear. Abundant foamy head that settles down nicely. The taste contains some corny notes similar to American Adjunct Lagers but better. There is a premium quality that sets it apart and makes it better than average.
A very good choice for a summer session beer over a bbq'd hamburger.
A refreshing and enjoyable beer.
337 characters
Harp Lager from Guinness Ltd.
Beer rating:
3.23 out of
5 with
2,646 ratings
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