Harper's Ale
Harper's Restaurant & Brewpub

 

Had this on 11/16 at Harps, served in a pint. Quickly typed up a few notes on my phone.

A: Poured a light golden color with a quarter inch white head that dissipated quickly with minimal lacing.

S: Smelled grainy, like wheat bread, little bit of sweetness.

T: Tastes alright. A definite step up from that goddamn bud light, that's for sure. Its not awful. It's a little sweet, has some hot bitterness to it, it's got some character to it, it's a pretty good bargain, I paid like $1.75 for a pint where as a bud light was $3.00 and at least you can see the equipment this stuff was brewed on instead of the lab where bud is made.

W: Well yeah, it's on the carbonated side and I don't like that, but the flavor balances it out a bit, like I said, it's better than the mainstream "popular" beers, especially for a college town.

O: It's not too shabby, could be much worse and cost much more, It's a step up from , the usual crap. When it comes to the bar, this is a much better bang for your buck, and at least it's local. At harps, I always go to this. Much more tolerable.

Taster from the tap on 1-31-10.

Harpers ale looks like Bud. Dry. It is not sweet, which is surprising. Low hops with no citrus notes. It is very close to a German pilsner but seems to be missing German malts or maybe German hops, which give good pilsners that distinctive taste.

Definitely Harper's most well made beer. "Light" is a misnomer, garnered to appeal to the macro swilling Michigan State students. It is actually a Kolsch.
Pours nice golden yellow, with a dollop of white head.
Smells slightly malty, with a nice pop of noble hops.
Tastes more dry than the smell would suggest, but very nice with the noble hop flavor. Maybe a hint of corn, but not too bad, considering.
Very drinkable, very nice. This style is rarely on tap anywhere, so I gobble this up every chance I get.

Clear golden beer (filtered unlike the other muddy brews they offer), very lightly carbonated like all the other Harper's Brews. Forms a thin white head that disappears into nothing. Aroma of fresh apples, sweet, spicy hops, and then...CORN. It's all over the place. Nice hop flavor and aroma, and a long bittersweet finish. 2nd most drinkable of the bunch, iff'n you're into macrobrew type swill.

My guess would be that this was a light version of their pale ale.

Gold and hazy brew with no head. MIld hop aroma with some huskiness in the nose. This grain flavor with very little malt. Decent bitterness saves this beer for complete failure. Thin, unimpressive mouthfeel.