Harpoon’s Leviathan series of beers-do they even make these any more? I don’t think so. A quick trip to the Harpoon website reveals a page for these big bad boys, but it says “No beers found”. Maybe they can’t find any, but I did: a bottle of the 2012 Leviathan Baltic Porter that I’ve been aging in my beer fridge since I bought it. I so love ageing big beers like this one, and in this case I made it a whole 4 years without succumbing to the urge to drink it. Yay me!

I know this beer is the 2012 vintage because it says 2012 right on the neck label. There were several beers released by harpoon in this series, but I only tried one: Harpoon Leviathan Imperial IPA. One of the Leviathan beers, Czernobog Russian Imperial Stout, was re-released in bombers though not under the Leviathan moniker. I have a bottle of the 2014 on that one in my DBR.

From the label:

Brewed with a lager yeast aggressive enough for high-gravity brewing, Leviathan Baltic Porter has a smooth, full flavor with hints of dark fruit and licorice in the aroma. De-husked roasted malt lends a dark chocolate character, while raw sugar and dark crystal malt provide some raisin and molasses notes.

So Bruguru, you say, why are you reviewing a beer from 2012, Bruguru? What’s the point you say since we can’t buy it any more? Well, partly because I just drank it and you can’t (nyah nyah!), but mostly because Harpoon will likely bring it back as they have done with some of the other Leviathan beers, and it’s fun to see how these beers age out. So there.

Harpoon Leviathan Baltic Porter has an alcohol content of 9.5% by volume and it ran $9.99 for a 4-pack back in 2012. I think I only bought a single.

Harpoon Leviathan Baltic Porter pours to jet black color with a thick creamy head and a rich chocolate nose. Taking a sip, the beer is thick and full in body with a deep dark bittersweet cocoa component that permeates the beer. It’s also dry roasty, smooth and clean of esters, hints at licorice and is very warming with alcohol in the finish.

My 4-year-old bottle of Harpoon Leviathan Baltic Porter was a wonderful sipping beer that I enjoyed immensely. It seems to me to have mellowed a bit with age, ot it was mellow to begin with. Either way it has held up remarkably and could likely have gone longer.

Not to be missed. Oh wait. You already did…..

 

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

 



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