Harpoon Leviathan Belgian Quad
3.5
221 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
Pours deep amber with a dissipating cream head. The aroma is mostly dried fruit, apricot, and some toasty malt. The taste is very sweet up front, with more dried fruit and plum. It’s got a kind of syrupy body, with a nice bitter finish. Low carbonation.
Pours a ruby amber brown with a frothy tan head. Aroma of orange, lemon, apple, and grape. Also floral and grass tones. Sweet and complex taste with a bit of hops. Bitter finish, alcohol is well masked.
Bottle: The aroma has moderate plums, grapes, cherries, candi sugar, caramel, spice, and a touch of alcohol. It pours a dark orangish-brown that is actually perfectly transparent when held to the light. It has a one finger beige head that quickly fades to a minimal ring around the edges of the glass. The flavor starts with with moderate plum, grape,and cherry. There is a faint carmael/chocolate combination in the background. The finish has raisin, brown sugar, some peppery spice, and a touch of alcohol. It’s medium bodied with a somewhat syrupy/sticky mouthfeel. The carbonation seemed to start somewhat lively, but it didn’t take long before it mellowed out quite a bit. Overall, it’s a tad sweet, but it’s still a pretty solid Quad.
Bottle. Pours ruby with thin quickly vanishing head. Smells of sweet hard candy, caramel, dark fruits. Taste was initially very sweet and yeast, more candy sweetness, dark fruits with booze in the finish. Ok.
Bottle 2011 and served in my Ommegang Anno Tulip: Deep mahogany hue, reddish and amber highlights with a minimal head and fizzy carbonation, no lace but some oily tears. Small yeast floaties as well. The initial aroma smacks of heavy crystal, Special B, and aromatic malts along with dark candi sugar sweetness. Plenty of dark fruit esters with light pepper and earthy tobacco notes. Hint of cellered oxidization creeping in and in this case that is a good thing. It does smell the part of a quad for sure!
The taste is malt forward as expected with a moderate alcohol and light peppery tone. The dark fruit (sweet cherry, fig, raisin and plum) character is also very noticeable, behold the power of Special B malt! Now, the one thing that keeps this from being up there with the best of the genre is the mouth feel, not as thick or lush as I would want in a Quad/Abt. The carbonation is too sprite and gets in the way. The finish also has a slight bile note which is tad disturbing and makes me believe that aging this further would have not been such a good idea. Overall a solid brew but hardly world-class. I would try it again for sure.
When I bought this beer the guy at the Lebanon Health Food store told me it tasted exactly like Roche 10. Not so sure about that but it’s still a decent beer. Smells like black fruits, raisins and sweet plum. Taste has more sugarcane sweetness and some bitterness at the end. Pours a dark brown mahogany colour. Pretty respectable - most of the other Harpoons that I’ve had have been sub-par but this is a pretty good beer. Bottle.
Pours a dark ruby with almost no head. A ’sweet’ aroma of dark fruit, oak, toastiness, and alcohol. Taste is sweet up front with some darker malts, with a lot of spice and finishes dry and a bit bitter. After sipping there’s a warming alcohol note on the throat. A good quad - definitely one you want to drink a bit warmer.. improved quite a bit as it sat in the glass.
The aroma is approaching a liquor with strong alcohol and dark fruit. There is also caramel malt and grassy hops. The appearance is dark amber with a medium head. The taste is like the aroma with an alcohol burn. The palate is smooth. Overall seems about right for the style but to alcoholic tasting for me.
Poured into a chalice from a 12 ounce bottle vintage 2012.
A: Crystal clear but dark garnet body with a thin tan head with poor retention. I’m honestly expecting a more dense and mean looking head.
S: The aroma is really intriguing actually, lots of biscuit/bready malts with some tarty aromas of cherries and mild alcohol coming through. If I had to describe the aroma it would be that it smells fuzzy if that makes sense. I’m greatly enjoying the aroma for some reason though.
T: Sweet malts up front, really not much going on there other than some bready malts, but the mid-taste introduces some spice which hits hard during the finish in combination with the cherry esters that leave my tongue and throat tingling, I enjoy this.
M: Thick and smooth with hints of carbonation stabbing my tongue at times.
O: This is probably considered a mess in the genre, but there’s something about this beer I really like though I can’t put my finger on it. I will probably buy one to age and see how it turns out.
The beer pours a dark reddish-brown color with a tan head. The aroma is full of cherries and plums, as well as some bread and brown sugar. The alcohol is also quite present. The flavor is similar. The beer is very boozy, but the dark fruit, candy sugar and Belgian yeast notes also are strong. The beer is very fruity overall, with a lot of cherries and figs in the flavor. Medium to thick mouthfeel and medium carbonation.
Dark reddish brown color. One-finger head dissipates quickly. Medium lasting carbonation. Nose of burnt sugar. Syrupy sweet and bitter; both too extreme for this style. Strong tastes of coffee, licorice and figs overwhelming what spices there may be. All the elements of a quad, but skewed to the wrong intensities; none of the subtleties that would make a good brew.
sugary sweet and bitter with pepper. Nice malt fresh hay component near the finish. Yeasty thick fruit just a bit tropical but still an Abbey spiced ale. Not at all overdone with some alcohol and a lengthy fifnish .
Very good beer. A little too much hops for a quad in my opinion. But the alcohol was masked well. Very enjoyable, I would definitely try this again.
Pours a clear, deep ruby to purple, some light orange around the edges with a thin ring of head that vigorously stirred produces a thicker khaki cap. Nose is quite powerful: dried dark fruits like dates and figs, plums, some apricot, a little light chocolate, spicy yeast with some clove and nutmeg, candi sugar sweetness. Taste is sweet, but rounded with some tart and bitterness. Palate is heavier, sticky but not too thick or syrupy, round and full with low carbonation, a little slick, and finishes long with some alcohol heat. My favorite so far of the Leviathan series. Very nice.
Out of the bottle poured a amber brew with a thick light brown head. Aromas of malt and flora hints. Malt flavors overpowered by hops. The flavors made the mouth feel very much like acid.Hop heads will probably like this.
Bottle. Poured dark brown with a tan head that quickly diminished leaving thin lacing. Aroma had some fruit and caramel. Thin to medium bodied. Initial taste was smooth, but got sticky towards the end and finished dry with noticeable alcohol. Unlike many quads I’ve had, the maltiness faded quickly and there wasn’t much of that yeasty, toasty bready note I’d expected. This also had somewhat of a dry & bitter finish.
Pours the typical dark (but a little red) of most quads. I was hoping for something to approximate a Roche 10, but that’s a bridge to far I think. It’s good: good head and head retention; sweet malt aromas; has a distinct peppery finish.
Bottle. Dark cola colored brown with a short, foamy tan head. Aroma is sweet with dark fruit notes, candi sugar, cocoa, dusty yeast, and soft spice. Taste is spicy and sweet with ripe, dark fruits, dusty yeast, candi sugar, tropical fruit, cake notes, and boozy notes. Body is medium with some syrupyness and prickly carbonation. Ends slightly more bitter with spicy notes, candied fruit, cocoa, caramel, rum cake, dark fruit and yeast notes.
Pours a dark amber color with a touch of red in the mix. Aroma of some dried fruit; fig, prunes and plum. I can also detect some spice, clove and cinnamon. Fruity malt taste like a prune danish. More fig and a slight alcohol aftertaste. I can taste some minty citrus hops in the background. Overall, it’s quite tasty and complex. I’ll be purchasing more...
11 ounce pour - $8.50 at Taco Mac in Kennesaw, Georgia.
Appearance: Surprisingly clear, golden-amber body with a slim head comprised of near-white foam.
Smell: A nose of pale malted barley grains, spirits, stone fruits, Oregon cherries, banana, and hints of sugar and spice, though nothing really standing out and all of it kind of mild.
Taste: Simple syrup washed barley grains with caramel in the flavor, but, yeah, mainly just the simple syrup. Fairly sweet throughout. Ripe cherries, tart-ish pears, and green bananas. As the graininess ramps up the alcohol drops in bringing about a noted hotness. Sweetish finish, quite warm, with some late-breaking spicy phenols.
Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation. It’s almost sticky. Almost.
Overall: It’s big, sweet, and Belgian-esque, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the principal Belgian quads (or even many of the domestic American renditions).
From a bottle poured a brown/dark amber color with a small amount of head. Strong sweet malty flavor with a lingering aftertaste.
12oz bottle. Stained glass brown-amber color. Fading beige head. Sweet brown sugary flavor soaked in dark fruit. Pretty alcohol forward but works with it well, not unlike a top shelf liqueur. Some biting bitterness fades into a vanilla molasses finish. Big, bold dark fruit tones. This beer really kicks ass, they nail the flavor profile and amp it up. A great slow sipper, not session beer at all. Way above my expectations! Stellar!
Location: 12 oz bottle from Buy Rite, 2/9/12
Aroma: The nose has some sweet raisins and dark fruit, caramel, brown sugar, toast, and yeast
Appearance: It pours a murky looking brownish-orange color, with a small off-white head and light lacing
Flavor: Tastes fairly sweet up-front, dark fruit, caramel, and brown sugar flavors, finishes with a boozy taste
Palate: The body is fairly full, with a slight tingle on the mouth, and a somewhat heavily hot, alcohol finish
Overall Impression:
I thought this was a solid Quad but it is not really a standout for the style. Still though, it is a pretty good offering with a decent complexity to it. I would have preferred that the sweetness was balanced a little more, and that there was a little less heat from the booze, but none-the-less, I still liked this one.
Had this in a Harpoon Leviathan glass at harpoon brewery in Vermont.
This is the Cask style ale. They serve it once only directly from barrels.
A- deep brown color. The head matches well. The head was huge and took a while to go away
S - Nutty. It’s no longer like a quad at all. Everything is subdued. Is this still a strong ale?
T - vanilla and caramel are huge. Most of the quad taste has left.
M - light bodies as minimal carbonation. It lingers with a lot of alcohol taste. Almost a bad beer when you swallow
O - this is a great beer usually. Harpoons’s CASK style took everything great away. Meh.
Pours a reddish brown with a quickly dissipating tan head. The aroma is sweet caramel, nutty, yeast, alcohol. Full bodied, sweet, sticky, with flavors of yeast, spices, sherry, almonds, cherries. The finish is spicy, sweet, and lightly hopped. Big full chewy mouthfeel.
Bottle. Deep amber/brown body. Fizzy off-white head, diminishing to pools. Yeasty aroma of mustiness. Notes of candy sugar, spice, caramel, overripe dark fruits. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly bitter. It finishes lightly to moderately sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Taste of dark fruit, warming alcohol, plum. Hop bitterness emerges at the end. Not a big fan of this brewery, but this is a good beer.
Dark red/almost puprple pour with a very thin short-lived tan head. Aroma is caramel, figs, dark fruit, raisins, a hint of alcohol, some good fruit and malt notes. Flavor is nice. Vinous, fruity, plum and raisins. Alcohol is present, but not to hot. Tasty beer. Good quad.
Pours dark with a light tan head. Aroma of caramel, plums, figs, brown sugar, smoke. Taste of caramel, plums, raisin, figs, molasses and a hint of clove and cinnamon. Alcohol is fairly well hidden. Mouthfeel is a little thin but finishes clean. Nice bold brew that is well balanced. I like it.
Serving: 12 oz bottle from State Line Liquors. It pours a very deep amber color with a small crop of light tan foam. The nose is alcohol, dark fruit, fig, dark brown sugar, and possibly some wood. Lots of flavor in this brew. Some wood, plum, port, Madeira, brown sugar, and a lingering bitterness. Full bodied with low carbonation. Not necessarily the depth of a Belgian but pretty good.
Refrigerated bottle poured into a trappist glass. Pours brown with crimson highlights and small beige head. Some lacing, thick body, low carbonation, and molasses & dark fruit aroma. Taste is dark fruit, candied sugar, and a hint of molasses.