Harpoon Summer Beer

Harpoon Summer Beer

We decided to brew this beer after Rich and Dan visited Cologne, Germany, the birthplace of the Kölsch style. They loved the subtlety of the flavor and appreciated the craftsmanship required to make a beer like this consistent and good. We were on the lookout for a new summer seasonal at the time and the Kölsch, with its refreshing flavor and crisp finish, seemed like a perfect fit.


Description


Our version of the traditional German Kölsch-style ale. This beer, which is light and refreshing, appears to resemble a lager rather than an ale. The Kölsch style is a testimony to the broad spectrum of characteristics an ale can produce, as well as the brewer’s art. The body is soft and delicate with a dry, crisp finish.

Available April thru September.
2.9
525 reviews
Boston, United States

Community reviews

2.3 Bottle from Harvest Market, Bedford NH. Aroma is mild basement. Appearance is pale yellow with almost non-existent head with minimal lacing and fair sparkle. Taste is lightly bitter. Palate is light-to-medium bodied with thin texture, lively carbonation and light bitter finish. Overall, not much to this. Admittedly, this isn’t a favorite style of mine, but I don’t think it’s terribly good within the style.
2.5 Pours straw yellow with white sudsy head. Smells of cracker and mild citrus notes. Refreshing summer ale, but pretty basic. Grass, biscuit, and a hint of citrus and coconut taste.
2.2 サマーエール ゴールデンのピルスナーのような
3.2 Pale yellow clear appearance. Aroma bready, a hint of fruit. Taste sweet and bready, maybe honey.
2.5 Notes of pear on the aroma. Light gold appearance with an average white head. Flavor has notes of crackers with a slight sweetness and medium fruity esters. Mouthfeel is medium with medium carbonation. Overall, the beer is flabby. It seems like the water profile is off for the style. Not a fan.
1.2 This is one of the worst beers I have ever drank. Smells like soapy water and the taste doesn't get much better. I have not one good thing to say. Total drain poor
3.0 Pale yellow. Whispy white head and lacing. Sweet, crisp, slightly watery. Pleasant on a hot day. $9.99/multi sixer at Wegmans Leesburg VA
3.3 Rating this in December so i am a few months passed the best by date, however, the beer was still enjoyable. Harpoon Summer beer pours a clear golden color with lots of streaming bubbles with a medium white head that dissipated rather quickly leaving a small amount of lacing. The aroma is rather subdued (could be old bottle) but i pick up some breadiness and very mild lemon. The taste is quite refreshing and is on the sweeter side with some biscuit flavor to it. There is some hop bitterness to it right up front. I do pick up some lemon or citrus in the taste but it is very mild.
3.4 Smooth summer ale, but has a bad medicine after taste.
3.0 Transfer from BA review on 7-25-13- Poured from bottle into a pint glass Appearance – The beer pours a golden straw color with a big billowy white head. The head has a moderate level of retention, slowly fading over time to leave patchy lace on the sides of the glass. Smell – The aroma is of biscuit with some notes of wheat and lemon mixed within. Along with these smells is some grain and a little bit of grass as well. Taste – The taste begins with a very mild and smooth, dry cracker flavor. Upfront there is a little bit of lemon and a small amount of graininess. The graininess increase and is joined by some more bitter hop flavors of a grassy nature as well as more bitter lemon taste. In the end, any sweetness that was upfront is largely gone with a taste of crackery malt and some bitter grassy and lemon flavors left on the tongue. Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is average to a bit thick in terms of its creaminess and thickness (at least for a kolsch of 4.8%) with a carbonation level that is on the average to slightly lower side. A little thinner body and higher carbonation would have likely been better for the style; creating a more refreshing and session like feel that would match better the flavor profile. Overall - Nothing too great here. It’s a little too bitter with a bit too much thickness for the style, which makes it not as refreshing as I would have hoped.
2.9 On tap at the Vermont brewery: Pours clear golden with a thin white head. Aroma is cereal malts and grains, with a touch of citrus. Taste is more of the same, but a bit more citrus than the aroma. Small hop profile, very light body. Decent example of a bad seasonal (summer) variety.
3.2 Can. Golden ale with white head. Aroma is malt yeast. Taste is malt forward with some earthiness. A bit watery but not bad.
3.1 Really? They all got together and came up with the name Summer Beer? Wow inspired. Just like this beer. Clear golden with a mini white head, mild hops, slight malt. Taste is pretty much the same. Little sweet a little bitter aftertaste. It’s just a straight beer.
2.8 Draft. Hazy yellow color, medium white head. Aroma of straw and hay. Taste is similar. Light body.
2.6 Bona cervesa, és bastant equilibrada i gustosa. Buena cerveza, es bastante equilibrada y sabrosa.
2.5 Bottle. Pours a faint amber with a thick white head. Minimal aroma,a little grass. Faint malty sweet beginning with a hop bitterness at the end. Seems we’ll balanced but very light with not a lot of flavor but okay.
2.4 Bottle. Golden colour. Light and crisp, sweet. A rather bland and boring beer.
2.6 Bottle. This Kolsch style beer has a brillant gold color about it. Pours with a nice size head. Smells good, hops. Medium flavor, kind of beachy.
3.1 Bottle. A nice summer beer, as the name says. Fruity aroma, nice foam. Small finish.
2.9 Very pale gold, loose knit and tall white head, Nice nose. Very light body, little flavor, good carbonation, little heat, not as lean as a lager. Little bitterness and sweetness, but refreshing acidity, avg length, weak but not dilute finish. Yeasty, hint of malt, So weak it could substitute water in the summer.
2.4 Bottle. Okay. Nothing really stands out on this guy. Maybe that means good balance and drinkable I think it is just laziness on the part of the brew master who took the summer off.
3.2 12oz bottle poured into a shaker glass. Clear hay with a small white head. Light clean malt nose, bread, faint grain and floral hops. Soft light malt flavors, mellow fruitiness (apricot), low bitterness. Light, refreshing, dry and quenching. Cool.
2.8 Perfect for a summer ale it is all what I expect from this type of beer loved and will reccomend
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3.5 This Kolsch style beer has a brillant gold color about it. Pours with a nice size head but doesn,t linger very long. Smells nice maybe of good German hops, malt bill is low with a dry clean finish. Medium body and rounded flavor. I like to drink these fast so they don’t warm up. This is a good shore beer. Drink well my friends
3.0 Pours a clear solar yellow with a thin pale buff head. Crisp aroma is mainly fruity, mainly pear, with a bit of malt. Crisp, refreshing flavor is more malty than fruity and has an underpinning of somewhat bitter hops. Texture has average viscosity and fizz, though the tingle does persist. This will definitely take the edge off a hot day!
2.0 This was an ok summer beer. Very carbonated though. I didn't hate it , but I have had better.
3.4 Harpoon Summer Beer has a thick, white head, a clear (but with noticeable powdery specs suspended throughout, picked up under strong light), bubbly appearance, and some lacing left behind. The aroma is of somewhat pungent, sourdough bread and a shadow of citrus. Taste is of sourdough bread, fairly strong bitterness, and a touch of citrus. Mouthfeel is medium and prickly, and Harpoon Summer Beer finishes semi-dry, refreshing, and drinkable. A bit of alcohol is picked up, oddly. RJT
3.3 Not my favorite. Overdone IMO, and almost tastes artificially, lemony. Also, heavier than I like for a summer brew
2.3 Clear gold. Sweet corn smell. Slightly tart taste on a standard kolsch backbone. Low level kolsch style in my opinion.