Harpoon Dark
Formerly known as Harpoon Munich Dark.
If all the beers we offered were based on sales numbers, our Dark would most likely be on the chopping block. But this beer has been a perpetual Harpooner favorite, and we couldn’t let it go. We recently introduced this beer in 22 oz. bombers with a new label and a new name – simply “Dark”. But it’s the same beer we’ve been brewing since 1998.
Description
A blend of specialty malts gives our Dark a velvety mouthfeel with roasted notes and a hint of chocolate, balanced by a subtle hop aroma. Hard to describe but easy to drink, Harpoon Dark is rich in character and light on the palate. The overall character is hearty malt and chocolate balanced with a crisp hop bitterness.
Old description: Inspired by the centuries-old Bavarian beer, our Harpoon Munich Dark has a dark, balanced maltiness complimented with a moderate hop finish. We introduced this beer in 1998 and received first prize for Best Beer Overall of 1998 in BarleyCorn Magazine.
If all the beers we offered were based on sales numbers, our Dark would most likely be on the chopping block. But this beer has been a perpetual Harpooner favorite, and we couldn’t let it go. We recently introduced this beer in 22 oz. bombers with a new label and a new name – simply “Dark”. But it’s the same beer we’ve been brewing since 1998.
Description
A blend of specialty malts gives our Dark a velvety mouthfeel with roasted notes and a hint of chocolate, balanced by a subtle hop aroma. Hard to describe but easy to drink, Harpoon Dark is rich in character and light on the palate. The overall character is hearty malt and chocolate balanced with a crisp hop bitterness.
Old description: Inspired by the centuries-old Bavarian beer, our Harpoon Munich Dark has a dark, balanced maltiness complimented with a moderate hop finish. We introduced this beer in 1998 and received first prize for Best Beer Overall of 1998 in BarleyCorn Magazine.
3.3
526 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
Pretty decent. Nice sweet aroma and pours like a porter. Malty caramel and chocolate notes. Very easy to drink!
Sweet and malty with a light easy drinking body and a slightly fruity flavour (plum, fig). It's very drinkable.
Aroma is very subtle if you have it cold. Notes of roasted malt and caramel. Taste is sweet and caramelish with roasted malts.
35.5cl can at home on 19th Jan 2019. Poured into two Veltins Pilsener stemmed tulip glasses. Very dark body (as the name might suggest!), beige crust on top. Malty little thing with a sweetness running through the brew right to the end, slight chocolate leanings from the malty molasses and you can just about find some hop action to calm the sweetness down after the initial sip.
LOOKS like crap. Or the can I did anyway. Decent malty smell to it though and the flavour is lovely. A bit of dried fruit, some chocolate, malt, maybe a touch of toffee. Maybe the can got bumped or it was a bad pour but while it looks rubbish it's a really nice beer. There's not loads going on but a couple of big flavours make it very drinkable.
slightly smokey, dark chocolate, slight charcoal and toasted malt taste. Balances, not too sweet.
Bottle from hayduke that we had together via facebook chat. Well, its dry. Plenty of amber color, too. A creamy beige head is one finger. Aroma is rich, malty, and wheat. Toffee and a bit of raisin and banana after that. Not complex but sweet, rich, and pleasant.
Shared with Strykzone on Facebook Chat. Pour dark being nearly black with a light tan head. Nose is roasted malts and floral hops. Medium body. Flavor is the same as the aroma with some toffee some dark fruit. Finishes mildly bitter. Easy drinking and good.
Keg @ Harpoon Bar, Logan Airport. Deep chestnut pour with a modest offwhite head. Unengaging nose. Thin burnt toast. Nutty, earthy malt. Stale grain. Some mild caramel. There’s an unpleasant diacetyl note that really begins to show as the beer warms. Drinks slick and somewhat rubbery. One-dimensional charred bread. A little bit sweet. Despite the outlined problems I perceived, bright carb helps this pretty easy drinking.
This was poured into a lager glass.
The appearance was a mostly dark brown color with a finger’s worth of off white foamy head that slid off at a gentle pace. Left some light stringy lace here and there.
The aroma had some smooth sweet dark bready malts over top of some light brisk semi-sweet to lightly bitter dark chocolate nibs. Subtle amount of light nuts and ended with some driftwood.
The flavor yielded to the lager smooth malty sweetness. Some rigid dark breadiness grips my tastebuds a bit more than expected. So the aftertaste and finish weren’t as smooth as I tend to get in most Dunkel Lagers. Still, I didn’t mind so far.
The palate was between light and medium bodied with a good sessionability about it. Carbonation felt fine and the ABV felt fine. That rigidness came back again to impart the suspected harshness I felt on my tongue.
Overall, it’s a decent Munich Dunkel lager but enjoyable to me. I’d still have again.
From old tasting notes. Known as "Jake’s Special Dark". Tasted at Jacob Wirth’s in Boston. Translucent reddish brown. Brief tan head. Faint roasted malt nose. Bittersweet toasted malt flavor upfront. Light crisp hops in finish.
[2/2/17] Draught at Harpoon Brewery in Boston. Brown. Malt, caramel, toast, some nuts, sweetish, light smoky hint, medium-bodied. Pretty nice.
Deep chocolate brown beer with a thin light beige head. Nose of semi-sweet cocoa, nuts, and vanilla, but it’s all a bit faint. Flavor is more robust with sweet candied nuts, mocha, and bittersweet chocolate followed by a medium bitterness. Crisply carbonated, this is a flavorful beer that is still somewhat light.
appearance: medium clear dark brown with some reddish highlights; creamy light tan head, decent lacing. aroma: dark brown bread, some caramel, toffee, and brown sugar; a bit of grassy, earthy hops. taste: as the aroma indicates; slight cola sweetness, bready dark malts, some earthy, herbal, and grassy hop notes at the end. finish: clean finish, lighter palate, higher carb; hint of metal taste in the far back end. notes: Drinkable, pretty tasty. Bottle from the Craft Beer of the Month Club.
On tap at Harpoon outlet at Boston's Logan Airport.
Clear, dark mahogany with a 1-finger khaki head and very good lacing.
Aroma of toffee, roasted malt and chocolate.
Taste of sweet roasted malt, toffee, caramel, toffee and chocolate.
Medium body and medium carbonation, but with a mouthfeel that makes it seem less substantial.
Dark cola brown pour with aroma of roasted malt, caramel, and toffee. Roasted malt flavor with some caramel, chocolate, and toffee sweetness. Good beer.
Nice dark colour with a thin foam head. Smoke and chocolate. Easy to drink by it self or together with a cup of New England clam chowder
Draught @ Harpoon Tap Room - Terminal A - Logan Airport (BOS), Boston, MA
Pours slightly hazy dark brown with a off-white head. Aroma has notes of malt, caramel, toffee, floral, hint of chocolate and cold coffee. Taste is medium sweet and light bitter with a long caramel and light chocolate finish. Body is medium, texture is thin to oily, carbonation is soft.
Nice garnet to brown color with nice tan head. Malty brew, not too thick almost lager like with malt forward and clean finish.
On tap at Harpoon Brewery, Boston. Dark amberish brown with beige head. Roasted malts, caramel, dry finish.
undated 12 oz bottle served in pint glass (from April 2011 notes).
a very dark mahogany, but clear and not opaque. An somewhat aggressive pour provided only about 1 finger of short-lived head.
Sweet floral aroma, with a little less ’regular’ toasted malt dominance than expected. Plenty of sweet malt with a trace of hops. Not quite "rich" or complex. Hops and toasted malt are more balanced in the aftertaste.
M - medium/full body with enough carbonation to tingle the tongue.
A Munich-style session beer, this beer brought back memories of drinking this style beer in a Munich biergarten.
Pours a dark brown with tan head. Aroma has a mix of malts, chocolate, and coffee. A light taste with chocolate, coffee, toffee, and some nuts. A mild aftertaste from the malts
Very nice pour from a bottle. Dark, opaque, with a thin head, off-white with tan and blue notes. Aroma is sweet caramel, bananas, almost bananas foster-ish, with even a slight hint of bubblegum. Flavor is very nice, sweet, dark chocolate with a bitter chocolate finish. Nice full mouthfeel, overall very good beer.
Pours dark brown with a tan head. Aromas of coffee and malt. Flavor of coffee.
On tap at the Vermont brewery: Pours dark brown with a thin tan head. Aroma of grains, chocolate, and a bit of toffee. Taste is cereal malts, light cocoa, and bit of a hop bite at the end that doesn’t match the malt profile. Thinner than I expected, but this is a tasty beer.
Pours a dark brown with a medium tan head. Aroma is roasted malt and caramel. Flavor is chocolate, caramel, roasted malt, and some coffee on the finish. Light to medium body with medium carbonation. Not bad.
Draught, brewery tour at Harpoon, Boston. Hints of coffee in taste, small finish.
Tap. Dark copper pour. Caramel, metal, herb. Medium smooth body. Chocolate and vanilla finish. Nicr
Bottle picked up at Jungle Jims from early backlog notes 07. Pours a basic brown color with a small off white head. The aroma and flavor have mild roasted malt, chocolate, mildly nutty with mild earthy hops. Pretty average stuff.
Drank from tap at harpoon brewery, dark color, small tan head. Taste is nice dunkle flavor, slight burnt aftertaste to it, but it works.