Harpoon History from 2007 to Today

2007: Harpoon Cider is introduced

Harpoon Cider came to be much in the same way that Harpoon was started. Several Harpooners were fans of hard cider, but weren't satisfied with the choices of local cider. So we decided to make it ourselves. We found a cider mill about 40 miles from Boston that could provide us with the juice of freshly-pressed local apples. We had them tanker it to our brewery in Boston, we put it in a fermentation tank, added our proprietary yeast, and that was it. No added colors, preservatives, sweeteners - nothing. Just pure apple juice, fermented – craft cider.

Harpoon Cider is great to cook with, and even better to enjoy while cooking.

Dan and Rich in the orchard

2008: The Leviathan Series is introduced

In June of 2008, we introduced the Harpoon Leviathan Series, a limited edition line of specialty “BIG” beers. This series is a way for us to experiment with stronger flavors and bigger beers. It is both a compelling brewing challenge to develop the beers, and gratifying work to offer our drinkers a broader range of tastes and styles. Beers in this series have included an Imperial IPA, a wheat wine called Triticus, Baltic Porter, Red Squared, Quad, and Saison Royale.

Leviathan Imperial IPA

2010: New tanks

In December of 2010 4 very LARGE conditioning tanks arrived and were put into place and an equally huge waste water tank was installed. These new tanks, along with the new infrastructure in place for additional tanks to be installed as needed, significantly increased the capacity of our Boston brewery.

Number of tanks installed:
5 total, four fermenters and one waste water storage tank.

Height:
The tanks tower 35" into the air.

Capacity:
Each fermenter holds 1,000 kegs of beer.

Manufacturer:
They were produced by a very well respected European brewing tank manufacturer called Ziemanns, in the beautiful river city of Ludwigsburg, Germany (near Stuttgart).

Used for:
BEER!! Fermenting gallons upon gallons of glorious, freshly-brewed Harpoon beer!

Installing the New Tanks

2012: Don’t forget about the friendship!

To commemorate our 25th anniversary, Rich and Dan went back to their roots - and to some of their favorite bars in Boston. With the help of a designated driver, they spent the night travelling around sampling beer after beer… after beer (remember, they had a DD). Two things stood out as the fog cleared in the days to come. First, Rich and Dan were reminded of how truly rewarding the simple act of having a beer (or two) with good friends can be. Second, they enjoyed a few rye beers and began thinking of how to combine the spiciness of rye with the hop aromas and flavors of an IPA. Our love for IPAs is obvious, and to celebrate 25 years, we decided to add a new twist to an old friend. Rich and Dan’s Rye IPA was packaged as a 100 barrel series beer in the Spring of 2011, and introduced as part of our year-round lineup a year later.

25 years of friendship and great beer

2012: Back to the future

Rich and Dan’s Rye IPA showcases some of the personality of Harpoon – as well as our passion for great beer and the joy of sharing a beer with good friends. We wanted to find a way to share that message with you, and couldn’t think of a better way to do so than through back labels. As you have hopefully noticed, we have added these labels to all of our beers, and are taking this opportunity to share a little more about what is going on at the Brewery with all of you.

So there you have it. Harpoon in a nutshell...or a pint glass, if you will. As for the future of Harpoon, we're looking for much more of the same, which means continuing to share the joy of sharing great craft beer with our co-workers and friends (you).

Cheers!