Mybeerbuzz .com Highlights Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen, White, Raspberry & Huckleberry

Summer is in the air and even though the weather hasn’t officially arrived in the northeast, the beer certainly has.  Today we’re walking our way through four different beers from Harpoon, and each one screams “summer.”

The UFO (Unfiltered Offering) line of beers from Harpoon has definitely featured some unique and drinkable beers, and I’m excited to have my first opportunity to sample four different offerings back to back. 

I should mention up front that the new packaging looks great.  I think these bottles will really stand out in the beer-store coolers and I should also mention (and thank Harpoon) for the really cool galvanized logo bucket and what I suspect will become my new favorite bottle opener….so off we go.

We originally thought we would start with UFO Hefeweizen to set a baseline for sampling the other variants, but we were pleasantly surprised to find out just how good this beer is.  The look is decidedly unfiltered with a frothy head and the aromas of light citrus were really appealing.  We liked the traditional and delicate flavor of this beer and we really enjoyed how simply drinkable it was in the end.  The spice level seems a bit lower than a German Hefe but we really thought that was a good thing and added to the drinkability.

Up next we sampled Harpoon UFO White.  This beer also poured hazy yellow with a big punch of lemon and spice in the nose.  We enjoyed the fruitiness up front in the flavor and I liked the presence of orange peel and what I perceived as coriander.  The mouthfeel was soft and appealing with a crisp effervescence we really enjoyed.

We’ve sampled UFO Raspberry before, but never in sequence with the other Harpoon UFO beers…and I was surprised how much it made a difference.  It also pours hazy (with a tint of pink) but you cannot miss the raspberry aromas coming out of this beer.  The flavors follow with a punch of raspberry and the beer finishes slightly tart and refreshing.   The mouthfeel is soft and light and the fruit doesn’t overwhelm the subtle wheat beer flavors.

Finally, we couldn’t resist the new Harpoon UFO Huckleberry.  This offering also pours a bright hazy yellow color with some clove spice and soft huckleberry fruits in the aromas.  If you’re not familiar with a Huckleberry, think blueberry but with a unique sweet / tart flavor.  You can taste the wheat beer flavors up front, but they are followed by a slightly sweet and slightly tart berry flavor we really enjoyed.  We thought the fruit to wheat balance was really well done on this beer and I think you’ll find it to be a really satisfying and refreshing summer brew.

I’m really excited to see the UFO summer beers return for 2017 and hopefully our summer weather isn’t too far behind.  Be sure to get out there and try all four of the Harpoon UFO Wheat Beers for yourself…and when you do…be sure to let us know what YOU think.