Beer Review – Harpoon Chocolate Stout

Photo courtesy of Harpoon Brewery

Having recently had Harpoon’s Leviathan Baltic Porter, I went in search of another Harpoon as I filled a mixed six of stout and winter warmers over at Roger Wilco’s Voorhees location. I found a bottle of their Chocolate Stout that sounded like it would be right in my wheelhouse. For those who don’t know Harpoon, they are one of the first craft brewers in New England and date all the back to 1986. That’s over 25 years of production which to craft brewing is like the Stone Age. They have plants in Boston and Windsor, VT and staying true to their craft beer roots are still operated under the watchful eye of founders Rich Doyle and Dan Kenary. Harpoon has six year-round beers (the Harpoon IPA is their best seller), four seasonals, the 100 Barrel Series, the Leviathan Series and some limited releases (like the Chocolate Stout). As of April 2012, Harpoon was the 8th largest craft brewer in the US and the 3rd biggest on the East Coast behind the Boston Beer Co. (Sam Adams) at No. 1 and the Matt Brewing Company (Saranac) at No. 6.

Here is what Harpoon has to say about their Chocolate Stout:

Beer Review – Harviestoun Old Engine Oil

Photo courtesy of http://www.tastingbeers.com

I had stopped in to Kress Liquors to check out their assortment of canned beer for an upcoming pool party. Always a sucker for proper merchandising, I wandered over to the import wall and immediately was struck by the Old Engine Oil. I put together a couple of chocolate stouts (incl. Rogue Chocolate and  Young’s Double Chocolate) and added a bottle in for tasting. From the Harviestoun site:

“Old Engine Oil is strong and dark but wickedly smooth. Chocolate dominates the palate but is nicely balanced with a hoppy bitterness. Old Engine Oil is a delicious post-prandial beer with a bittersweet aftertaste.

Harviestoun’s founder Ken Brooker spent much of his life crafting wooden design prototypes for Ford. The viscous nature of this