HARPOON SINGLE HOP ESB

HARPOON SINGLE HOP ESB
Harpoon Brewery has released the thirty-first session of its 1OO Barrel Series, the brewery’s line of handcrafted limited-batch beers.  Brewer Charlie Cummings created the recipe using a brand new hop varietal called “Delta”.  This beer is the first ever to be single hop-brewed and commercially released using this new hop.  A cross between Fuggle and Cascade hops, Delta hops yield an earthy aroma and taste that complement the rich flavors of the traditional British malts and yeast.  The recipe for this beer is a nod to the original Harpoon ESB, which was last brewed in 2OO2.  For this version, Cummings used a combination of British malts including Munton’s Maris Otter, Munton’s Crystal and British chocolate malts.  A traditional British yeast strain was used to give the beer a bready backbone to balance the prominent hop character.  The deep amber-colored beer has an earthy, fresh aroma and a fruity, biscuity flavor.  Suggested retail is $5.95 to $7.95 for a 22-ounce bottle.  Available in bottles and on draft from Harpoon Distrubiting, Atlas Distributing and Merrimack Valley Distributing.