Harpoon Catamount Maple Wheat
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(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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Can’t just leave the sweet wheats alone, can I?
After yesterday’s Puple Haze debacle, I felt compelled to seek a sweet wheat I could actually describe as tasty; and I was hoping Harpoon’s 100 Barrel Series Catamount Maple Wheat would fit that bill nicely. At the very least, I can say one thing without hesitation — Catamount Maple Wheat is better than yesterday’s beer!
For my readers who aren’t native to the East Coast, a “catamount” is simply another name for a wildcat, or a puma, mountain lion, panther, etc. Here in New England, we call them catamounts. Just go with it.
Catamount Maple Wheat is part of Harpoon’s 100 Barrel Series. The beer is brewed with wheat malt, pale malt, caramel malt, Willamette hops, and real Vermont maple syrup.
The beer poured a rich caramel color and produced a big, bubbly, white head at the top of my wheat beer glass. The initial aroma was of a malty wheat beer, but as I drank the aroma took on more of a sweet, brown sugar profile.
My first few sips seemed sweet and syrupy, but the initial sweetness faded with each sip. Mild hops tussled lightly with the caramel malt, and the maple began to assert itself as a lingering but pleasant aftertaste. Midway through the 22 oz bottle, I began to fear the sweetness would become too cloying — but the malt receded just enough to avoid that fate. Even the maple in the aftertaste avoided outright sweetness.
A sense of familiarity nagged at me while drinking the Catamount Maple Wheat, seemingly just out of reach. Then it hit me — this ale tastes like a more watery version of a Belgian Dubbel. The comparison isn’t exactly dead on, but once I got the thought in my head I couldn’t get it out. Behind the lightness of the amber wheat, the malt and the maple take on a fruity, brown sugar sweetness that — when combined with a substantial 6.8% ABV — approach a taste reminiscent of a Belgian-style dubbel.
The label describes the Catamount Maple Wheat as “warming”, and this ale clears that hurdle with room to spare. Warmth starts in your mouth, spreads down your throat and radiates pleasantly from your belly.
I loved the maple aftertaste; but getting to it was the problem. The taste of the beer while drinking it was just too off-key. The maple syrup, the malt, and the hops are about half step out of synch.
On the whole — not bad, but not something I’d buy a second time. I can start to see the value that comes from 100 Barrel experimentation; you can swing for the fences and it’s okay if your bat doesn’t catch all of the ball.
Recommended reviews of Catamount Maple Wheat:
- The Beer Babe
- Oh… A Beer (pending)
- Lost in the Beer Aisle
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