Here’s a beer worth writing home about: Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Session 40, Black IPA. Harpoon beers and I go way back, all the way to the late eighties when I tried Harpoon Ale for the very first time. I bought it at Joyal’s Liquors in West Warwick, Rhode Island, and can still remember in my mind’s eye a bottle sitting next to the register with a placard stating “This beer is for lumberjacks.”

Luckily, Harpoon beers are sold in Georgia, and are readily available on draft, too. Appearances by the limited 100 Barrel series are not quite as regular, but we do get them sporadically. Thus when I see them I always grab them, as I did here. As I just love India Dark Ales/Black IPAs, this was an added bonus.

Here’s what Harpoon says about this one:

Harpoon brewer Matt DeLuca took over the brewhouse for our 40th 100 Barrel Series offering. A newly released specialty malt from Briess called Midnight Wheat gives this beer an almost stout-like appearance without the overly roasty attributes often associated with traditional dark malts. Flaked barley is also used in the malt bill for head retention. An intense yet diverse hop addition schedule is executed during the boil that results in a well balanced offering.

On top of the Chinook, Simcoe, Cascade, and Citra hops is an ample addition of Ahtanum hops that provides a fruity aroma to complement the earthy, spicy bitterness of this dark ale.

The beer has 7% alcohol by volume and 67 IBUs, according to the label.

Here’s what I say:

Harpoon 100 Barrel Black IPA pours to a jet black color with a thick creamy tan head formation and a slightly resiny, earthy hop nose. I like the dark malt up front as I sip, it’s slightly roasty and bitter with hints of chocolate. The body isn’t huge here, and the beer strikes me sort of like a Schwarzbier in dark malt rather than a stout. The hops are immediately present, resiny, herbal and grassy in their bitter finish.

Indeed, I get lots of citric and grassy aroma here and a long dry lingering bitterness as well. Combined with a touch of roasty bitterness, this one is surely a winner for me, and I really enjoy the balance between dark malts and aromatic, bitter hops. At $5.99 for a 22-ounce bottle it’s a great deal, too.



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