Whats the consesus on Harpoon?

For me it's in the same category as Magic Hat at this point. Had several of Harpoons regular offerings early on in my craft beer drinking journey, hardly any since. I did try the Catamount Maple Wheat a couple months back and it was not good.

 

I've been dissapointed by most of their brews, they just kind of taste below the line of what the average for that style should taste. One i did enjoy by them though is their octoberfest

 

Very disappointing on most accounts. A few big beers have been alright, but nothing in the past two years for sure.

 

I enjoyed a bunch of Harpoon's beers back when it wasn't so easy to find a good beer. While I may not rate them in the elite echelon these days, I'd say they make a consistently good product. And there's something to be said for that. I still enjoy some of their standards and seasonals now and again.

 

Honestly, Ill take their Summer and Oktoberfest. The Leviathan series is a keeper, but the Triticus was the weak link.

 

Harpoon is reliable and their IPA is a classic. I too am a big fan of the Rye IPA, really glad to see it year-round. One of my favorites in a long list of greater Boston area breweries.

 

Solid beers, but that's really it. I have never been blown away by anything they make

 

They get two thumbs up from me. Harpoon IPA is on draft in man non-craft scenarios around these parts and that has been a great thing on more than one occasion. I really enjoyed their Bohemian Pils as well.

 

Only harpoon beer I've had is their Leviathan DIPA, which is consistently on tap at a burger place near me. I quite like it and that I can get it for $4 on Mondays

 

Bohemian Pilsner is great, and I really enjoyed the summer beer. Everything else is pretty much middle of the road. I second all the thoughts that it is great that they are on tap in places where there is no other craft beer.

 

The White IPA they recently released was incredibly good. I was definitely impressed.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10097/80702

 

Well, they're not charging $10.99 for a four pack, there's that. What I've tasted has been right on for the price point.

 

The Leviathan Series in general has some good beers but the Imperial IPA is by far the best and when fresh, I absolutely agree. I've shared that one with fellow beer geek friends (when it was fresh) and it raised eyebrows. The Leviathan Red Squared was also quite interesting and for a big red ale, very hoppy, I really enjoyed that one. As with some other brewers on here, overall Harpoon doesn't get enough love for the gems they produce.

 

i guess what i meant is that they have a huge distribution compared to some of the other great breweries in the area, and tap space is hard to come by for small breweries that deserve it. a lot of their beers are just 'meh,' and there are plenty of breweries making much better, more accessible beer that non-beer geeks can get into just as much as--if not more than--whatever harpoon draft is on next to stella, sam, and heineken at your generic non-craft bar. in short, i think the ubiquity of harpoon is disproportionate to its quality.

and no, harpoon doesn't meet my beer geek standards, at least not the beers that they sell a lot of (ipa, ufo series, etc.). but i'm not very picky and don't think i ask very much of most beers i try. if you like it then great, but scroll up and down this thread and you'll see i'm not alone in my less than stellar opinion of their popular brews, not to mention that we have trouble selling their more popular brews at the bar i work at (we have 56 taps). most of the people who buy it are the ones who usually ask for a corporate brand first, and upon learning that we don't have any, glance over the menu and see a brand name that they know. i don't think i've ever seen it win a side by side tasting when a customer has requested samples, and we don't order very much of it as a result. also, saying a craft-brewed ipa has more flavor than bud light is like saying a home-cooked meal is better than some month-old mcdonalds that you found in the back seat of your car. my first homebrew had more flavor than bud light, and that had bits of hop pellets floating around because i didn't realize that filtering that stuff out was a thing you could do. it also wasn't an american light lager, so comparing the two would be unfair. the same is true with harpoon, so when you compare it to other ipa's, it really doesn't do too well.

am i glad there is an ipa available in a lot of bars where craft beer is normally unheard of? absolutely. i just think craft beer as a whole has surpassed harpoon and they've failed to keep up. i'd like to see some variety instead of them just being grandfathered in everywhere because they got there first and built a brand. for me and many others, craft beer is about letting the beer speak for itself. if we wanted more branding we'd stick to the bmc's of the world.

 

I guess I was a bit tired and didn't write my post as well as I could have. My main point was that Harpoon has been around for 25 years now so while you may see it as being "grandfathered", I see it as hard work paid off. Hopefully when the Alchemist hits their 25th birthday, they will be found in ever chain restaurant in New England as well but that won't happen just because their beer is better.

I do agree they may not be keeping up with the rest of the craft beer scene, but who says they have to? Obviously what they are doing now works just fine for them so why fix it if it ain't broke? I wasn't really trying to compare their beer to BMC, just pointing out that they are clearly a better alternative. Sure, not a lot of people in the thread are crazy about their most popular beers, but BA's users are not the average craft beer buyer. Most people that buy craft beer aren't reading reviews and constantly ticking new beers or looking for über-rarities. They just want something that tastes good and Harpoon, along with a few other notable New England breweries like Shipyard and Long Trail, brew a lot of average beer that people are familiar with so they're comfortable spending $10/6-pack on a beer they may not have had before. Simply put, they satisfy what most people want. Will it always be this way? Probably not if you consider the growth of many of the smaller guys. Many of them can't keep up with demand as it is but until they can expand they won't be replacing all those Harpoon IPA taps you see

 

Apparently, the consensus is 3.72

 

Its not like distribution falls out of the sky and happens if you brew an amazing beer. It is all about having a well run company and a solid business plan. The fact that they own their own distribution within greater Boston has a lot to do with why they're so ubiquitous in the area.

 

For years Harpoon IPA had been the go to whenever I'm out and there were the regular choices. Over the past 5 years that's chnaged a lot so now it's the "safety" beer.

Rich and Dan's Rye IPA is probably their best beer now. Leviathan IPA second. Munich Dark is a great choice for a session beer and despite the consensus not loving the Summer Kolsch, it is my favorite "light" beer. Cheers!

 

I'm immensely impressed you're able to write such a coherent post at 4:14am. Lord knows I can't.

And I do agree at large with what you say.

To the OP - I had always thought harpoon as "...fine". Until I did a tasting at the brewery this past summer, and I walked away a bit bummed at how blah or offput I felt with many of their newish beers. And even the ipa was tasting like a shell of its former self. On top of that, their tasting room was as loud and crowded as a frat party so the whole experience just tarnished the brand for me a bit. I do appreciate that the brand acts as a gateway for craft drinkers. It has its place and I'll revisit something of theirs in due time.

 

The Oyster Stout was amazing and fresh from the tap the IPA is darn good too. Have not had a lot of the Leviathan series but what I have tried was nice . The brewery tour was fun too you sit there at the bar front sampling while someone tells you about the process.