Rich and Dan, of course, are Harpoon founders (technically Mass Bay Brewing founders, I believe) Rich Doyle and Dan Kenary, two very bright fellows who I've been lucky enough to know and to sink a few Harpoons with. This is, they say, the kind of beer they always wanted to make. Why didn't they? Heh. You try selling a rye IPA back in 1988! Now they had their chance, and they took it. Congratulations to them, and to everyone at Harpoon, on this excellent beer. I'll have my eye out for stray bottles here and there, and will take them in and give them a good home.
5 comments:
Where did you buy this beer? I would love to try it! Can you suggest any retainers that carry it? Your help is much appreciated!
Sorry, I got it as a brewery sample. Check with retailers that regularly carry Harpoon.
This might seem like a silly question but what is a brewery sample? Do you have to go to the brewery to buy the beer? What stores in PA did you find it. You said in the piece you were keeping an eye out for it. Where did you find it?
Not at all. I've been writing about beer for a long time; breweries and distilleries send samples to writers (as do wineries, and cheesemakers, and movie producers, and outdoor gear makers, and so on). I do beer reviews for All About Beer magazine, for instance; four beers per issue, and three bottles of each show up at my door.
(It's been brought to my attention that some folks think this means I do good reviews of these "free" beers because I'm "afraid" of cutting off the free beer!!! Not so. Truth is, I've got more beer (and whiskey) than I need (and give away a lot of it; we're doing a charity event with some vintage beers from my cellar sometime this summer), and I do negative reviews when a beer's not to my liking; just did one in the latest issue of AAB.)
Harpoon sent me a bottle of this beer -- they don't send me every one they make, but they did send this one -- I tasted it, and liked it. If you're interested in finding it in PA, I'd suggest -- again -- that you check with retailers who regularly carry Harpoon, or check with the wholesaler (whoever that is in your area; in Philly, it's Origlio Beverage).
The bottles are pretty easy to find throughout Boston, and it is a very well done Rye IPA. Harpoon 100 barrel series has produced some very nice beers over the years.
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