Harpoon 100 Barrel Series #20 - Glacier Harvest Wet Hop Beer
The 20th installment of the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series has been brewed to celebrate the annual hop harvest. Harpoon Glacier Harvest Wet Hop beer is a pale ale made with fresh hops picked just hours before being tossed into the brew.
Wet hop beers are brewed using fresh, wet (hops contain about 60% moisture when they are first picked) hops instead of traditional dried hops. Typically, when hops are picked they are quickly dried and refrigerated to make them more suitable and consistent for brewing. This process allows brewers to use hops that were harvested in the fall throughout the following year. Alternatively, wet hops need to be used within hours of their being harvested or they will begin to rapidly degrade. Wet hops retain some of their natural oils and volatile flavors that dissipate when dried. This yields an immersed, intense hop flavor in the beer.
Harpoon brewer Ray Dobens, creator of the beer, harvested the Glacier hops in Seneca New York the morning of August 13th and immediately drove them back to Boston that very afternoon in a refrigerated truck. Ray added the newly harvested hops to the brew within hours after the harvest. The fresh hops were added to a malty, copper-colored ale. The combination is a pleasing blend of fresh hop flavor and sweet malt.
Wet hop beers are brewed using fresh, wet (hops contain about 60% moisture when they are first picked) hops instead of traditional dried hops. Typically, when hops are picked they are quickly dried and refrigerated to make them more suitable and consistent for brewing. This process allows brewers to use hops that were harvested in the fall throughout the following year. Alternatively, wet hops need to be used within hours of their being harvested or they will begin to rapidly degrade. Wet hops retain some of their natural oils and volatile flavors that dissipate when dried. This yields an immersed, intense hop flavor in the beer.
Harpoon brewer Ray Dobens, creator of the beer, harvested the Glacier hops in Seneca New York the morning of August 13th and immediately drove them back to Boston that very afternoon in a refrigerated truck. Ray added the newly harvested hops to the brew within hours after the harvest. The fresh hops were added to a malty, copper-colored ale. The combination is a pleasing blend of fresh hop flavor and sweet malt.
3.2
231 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
Bottle shared with others. Poured a clear amber orange with a white head that lasted throughout the beer. Aroma had light citrus and light pine with a sweet grain and biscuit backing. Flavor began with earthy grains and was joined by light citrus, light pine and a bit of backing sweet grains.
Appearance is soft, a heavily carbonated pale golden orange color with a fine, thick off-white head and thick and bubbly lacing. A very attractive beer, better than I expected. Aroma is of extremely fresh hops with hints of pine and caramel. Flavor is much different than the aroma, almost tart with a light bitterness, grainy sweetness, and a touch of metal.
Sampled at the brewery in Boston. A very malty and not so hoppy ale. Very unique.
22 oz. bottle. Session #33. Best by: 01/15/11. A clear copper pour with a medium-sized antique white head. Good balance in the aroma with some caramel maltiness, cereal grains, oranges, citrus rinds, and spiciness. Thin to medium-bodied. Sweet upfront in the taste with some caramel and cereal grains. A tad biscuity in the middle. Some bittering grapefruits, oranges, and citrus rinds at the end. Slightly dry. A little spiciness throughout. Excellent balance all the way through. Clean and sessionable, though rather subdued and boring for the style.
Pours a watered-down clear copper color with no head. Thin white surface scum. Aroma of honey, candi sugar, and hops. Flavor is a bit weak up front-sweet mostly honey with a clear fresh hop flavor at the back end. Decent beer.
Session 33. Pours reddish amber. Nose and taste of hops, candi sugar and pale malt. Light notes of honey and berry. Watery and thinnish body.
Bottle. light honeyish, nice aromatic hops. Amber, fine bubbles, low head. Wellbalanced, chewy grains, light raspberries, mellow hops. Light sparkly body. Kölschlike.
Session 33. Pours a clear copper with a thin white head that vanishes fast, some lacing. Malty sweet scent. Malty taste with a hint of hops. Decent.
This beer pours a rich amber with a medium white head leaving some good lacing down the sides. The aromas are citrus (mostly lime I think), grass, dough and a little pepper. The mouthfeel is watery and lightly bitter with a slight resin. This was very one dimensional when drinking. While the aromas were different for a pale ale the mouthfeel and flavor were not that great. Cheers!
Orange color with a beige head. Aroma of floral hops and candy. Taste is medium sweetness, lightly sour, medium body, average carbonation. Disapointing.
Bomber from Oak Tree. Session 33/’10 Pours orange amber with a 4 finger foamy off-white head. Very hoppy aroma. Med body/mild carb. Flavor is firm roast caramel with a lot of floral/resin hops; veg hops. And that keeps up through the beer. A nice hop burn builds in the mouth. IBU is 38 per the label. It’s a nice tasting brew, which is fairly different in my mouth.
10’ version. 22oz bottle. Somewhat excited to try this, but this was a little of a let down. The color is golden with a reddish hue and a thin, bubbly head. Pretty good retention and carbonation. The aroma is a little bland, but I got faint hints of hops and maybe a little bit of malts. The flavor is on the bland side as well. Subtle hints of hops, with a slight chewy finish. Nothing too exciting.
Tap at Sheffields. Pours a light clear golden with a small white froth. Aroma is just sweet malt and a touch of piney hops, barely anything there. Mostly fruity and sweet, smelling kind of old. Flavor is very sweet and malty, again very few hops and almost no hops to show except for a slight bitterness in the finish. Medium body and a sharp carbonation. Pretty bleck of a beer, doesn’t seem fresh though
22 ounce bottle from Whole Foods Market Fairfax, VA. Opened 10/22/10. Pours a clear copper color with a smallish fizzy brown head. Decent head retention and lacing. Aroma of fresh, green leafy and minty hops with some toasted malt notes. The taste is caramel, toasted malts, minty, leafy, floral hop notes with a hop burn that grows on you. Medium bodied. Tasty beer.
Draft @ redlight redlight. Earthy hop aroma with some fruiiness. Pours a golden amber with a thin white head. Earthy fruity hops very balanced and clean with some bready malts. Ok.
My brother bought a bottle of 2009 edition of Glacier Hop Harvest and forgot to give it to me. Beer may have lost some wet hoppiness. Aroma was right on green hops. Bitterness was present but more of a middle of the road medium bodied amber APA. I enjoyed it, would like to try a "fresher" edition of the beer.
Well crud. I went out of my way to try this at the brewery. They were talking about how this beer’s recipe is in flux, and that it has been changing from year to year (and they still haven’t settled on something yet). This got me excited and then I was disappointed when I tried this. They have a bit more work to prefect the recipe. Unfortunately for all of us, I don’t remember exactly what I didn’t like about it, because I lost my note. That means the ratings above are largely bunk, but I tweaked it so that the number seemed reasonable. I didn’t dislike it THAT much.
On tap at RFD. I think the rating is right on as beer was very good and comparable to the sierra nevada wethop line of beers.
Session #33:
Crisp clear, amber coloured, copper tinted, tan topped look with a nice dense head. Aroma of fresh hops, metal, minerals, light fruit and a touch of caramel. Medium-bodied; Assertive floral and grassy hops with a good malt backbone as balance and a fruity, almost caramel sweetness to mellow it out. Aftertaste doesn’t show any bitterness, no real hop flavour and a nutty taste with some malt. Overall, it might be a fresh hop beer, but they didn’t put enough hops in the mix and the hops aren’t my favourite either. Worth trying, but not a good example of the style. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from McKinnon’s Meat Market in Salem, New Hampshire on 21-September-2010, sampled at home in Washington on 14-October-2010.
Tap. Light cookie note for the malt, moderate pine and herbs for the hops, a little soap for the yeast, with lots of pepper and hint of berry, melon and spice in the background. Head is small, frothy white with no lacing and is fully diminishing. Color is crystal clear dark amber. flavor starts moderately acidic and the extra long finish is moderately acidic and bitter. Palate is on the lighter side of medium, watery and has a lively carbonation. Because of the diverse aromas I really liked this American Pale Ale.
[bottle--2010 edition]
Fresh hay aroma with a little pine and grapefruit as well as peach and a faint caramel accent. Clear bronze under a lacy white cover. Nice caramely base malt flavour with potent pine and strawberry hops. Bitter grapefruit comes in later with pineapple, hay, and lychee fruit. Quite floral and not overly bitter. Light to medium body, moderate carbonation, slightly bitter finish.
From the series number 33. It pours a nice looking amber-copper with a bit of yellow hue around the edges and a one finger head. The aroma was vibrant in malts but thinner in hops. There was a cherry-berry thing going on as well which was nice. Overall it smelled very fresh. The body was fairly bold. The taste brought out a caramel/toffee maltiness with a hoppy ending that gave it a pleasant bitterness. A likeable beer.
20101001 Bomber from State Line. Pale copper or medium honey color with tall khaki head that persists. Aroma is biscuits with marmalade, nougat, and juicy fruit gum. Palate is fairly hefty, and tends toward sweetly cloying with temp, and also sports an explosive effervescence which is somewhat distracting. Clove or cinnamon, some kind of spice like that nosing in. Lingering lagery, bready yeast aftertaste, pretzel.
Copper with good, foamy, beige head / Sweet nose of caramel and grain / Medium body, sweet, sticky, and malty with minimal hop profile / Simple flavors of grain, honey, and caramel / Disappointing effort for the 100 series.
Tap at Churchkey. Nose is biscuity, oxidised. Hazy amber, white head. Mouth is light, malty sweetness, damp dusty hop balance, boring. Hides the alcohol, but very straight forward. Bit dull.
22oz Bottle. Lightly hoppy nose, with a touch of wet green woods and some sweet ESB-like maltiness. Pours a coppery orange, with a nice fine off-white head. Flavors are a mingling of spicy and slightly metallic hops. Zingy. Orange-rind, some spiced cookies, and a bit of caramel. It’s nicely fresh and bright, but the overall flavor profile is a little more minimal than I would like for a fresh-hop beer.
22 oz. bottle shared by shigadeyo. Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a small bubbly whitish head. The aroma was very mild with only weak hints of caramel malts and some citrus and green leafy hops. The flavor has mild caramel maltiness, light citrus, and some weird herbal bitterness. Finish is dry and somewhat grainy. Medium bodied. This was a bit disappointing.
9/27/09 from notes.
Poured golden amber with a head thatfaded very quickly smelled ok tasted ok at first got slightly better after first drink
Maybe I expected too much in that I found this to be a somewhat average beer. Very quaffable as it’s a mildy hoppy brew with some grassiness and hints of lemon and herbs. Beautiful colour on the pour with little head. This would be a nice starter beer for the beginning hop hound.
Draft @ Sheffield’s, Chicago, IL. Pours a clear amber color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty fresh grassy hoppy aroma. Fruity malty hoppy grassy flavor. Has a fruity malty hoppy bitter finish.