Boston, MA -  This June the Harpoon Brewery, brewers of Harpoon and UFO beers, will introduce the Harpoon Leviathan Series, a limited edition line of specialty beers.  The Leviathan Series is an exploration in brewing big beers for adventurous palates.  The first beer in the series, Leviathan Triticus, will debut at the inaugural American Craft Beer Fest on June 20^th and 21^st in Boston.

“The Leviathan Series is a way for us to experiment with stronger flavors and bigger beers,” says Harpoon CEO and co-founder Rich Doyle.  “We have always wanted to challenge ourselves as brewers and offer our drinkers a broader range of taste and styles.”

Latin for "wheat," Triticus is a strong and dark wheat wine-style ale that boasts 14.3% alcohol-by-volume. The blend of 50% wheat malts, including caramel and chocolate, provides color and depth of flavor. Complex hopping and dry-hopping lends a delicate spiciness and just enough balance to complement its strength.  Once brewed, the Triticus was transferred to 50-gallon bourbon barrels and aged at the brewery for over 2 months.

Harpoon originally brewed Triticus in 2005 with guest brewers Jason and Todd Alstrom, founders of BeerAdvocate.com, as part of Harpoon’s 100 Barrel Series.  In a nod to the Alstroms, Leviathan Triticus will debut at next weekend’s American Craft Beer Fest at the Seaport  World  Trade  Center.  The ACBF is the largest craft beer festival produced in the Northeast with more than 75 craft brewers pouring a variety of 300 beers.

Leviathan beers will be brewed in 120-barrel batches. The beers will be available in 4-packs and on draft for distribution, excluding the Triticus which will be available on draft only.  The second beer in the series, an Imperial IPA, will be released in September 2008. 

Founded in 1986 on Boston’s waterfront, the Harpoon Brewery distributes its locally brewed products throughout the Northeast.  In 2000 Harpoon purchased a second brewery in Windsor, VT to keep up with the growing demand.  Harpoon’s line of craft beer features six year-round beers, including their award-winning IPA and UFO Hefeweizen beers, and four special seasonal selections.  In 2003, Harpoon introduced a line of limited edition beers brewed by every few months by a different Harpoon brewer called the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series.  In 2007 Harpoon introduced Harpoon Cider, an all-natural hard cider made from freshly pressed, local apples. 

For more information about the American Craft Beer Fest visit http://beeradvocate.com/acbf/.