IT'S LINT, ITS DIRT, ITS UNFILTERED YEAST!!? UFOs???

Harpoon UFO White

First things first, Harpoon's UFO series are their "UnFiltered Offerings", inspired by the cloudy brews (due to the presence of suspended yeast) of Germany. They have 4 of these UFOs: 3 wheats and a Pale Ale.

I was fairly excited to taste this beer, mainly because it was a nice day; perfect for the type of beer. Witbier or White Beer was made popular by Pierre Celis, the original brewer of Hoegaarden (named after his home town). Eventually Celis moved to the states and opened the Celis Brewery in Michigan. Celis White was born. After Hoegaarden and Celis came more whites, like Blue Moon, Allagash White, and this beer: the UFO White.

I poured it into the pint glass and the first thing that I noticed was that the smell was not what I was hoping for or expecting. I was expecting a fruity and clean smell. Instead, it smelled kinda like frat-party-warm Natty Light. Ok, maybe not thaaat, bad but not what I expected.

The flavor was much less offensive. It had the expected wheaty flavor and very slight banana notes, but not as much of either as I would have liked. It did, however, have a very clean finish and taste from the ale yeast.

Maybe this just isn't my type of beer, but I would much rather have a Celis White over this one any day.

- Nathan

QUICK TASTE

Harpoon UFO
Boston, MA


ABV% ~5%

American Pale Wheat Ale

Appearance: Cloudy yellow, orange

Aromatics: "Beer Smell" (like Bud, Miller, or Coors), slight sweet and orange smell

Taste: Wheaty, orange, Very watered down taste

Notes: To be honest it just seems like a weak attempt at a witbier style (Celis White, Hoegaarden) i gave it a 77