Although this is the third year that Harpoon and Dunkin’ have teamed up to give fans holiday flavors, this is the first year that both of us are over 21 so of course we had to review these. These come in packs of 12 and include three of each of the four flavors: the classic Dunkin’ Pumpkin Spiced Latte Ale, as well as three new flavors: Harpoon Dunkin’ Blueberry Matcha IPA, Harpoon Dunkin’ Maple Crème Blonde Ale and Harpoon Dunkin’ Midnight American Porter. According to the Harpoon website, all of the drinks are made with coffee, donuts or matcha tea from Dunkin’.
Dunkin’ Pumpkin
John
Man, so this is the first one that I had to drink, and let me tell you Dunkin’ never disappoints with their new products. I don’t know who is part of the creative team over there at Dunkin’, but between the new cereal and these new beers I can certainly say that they need a raise. Either way, these beers were freaking solid. Upon first smell, I instantly detected the coffee flavor, which intrigued me since I had no idea how the coffee flavor would mix with the alcoholic and beer flavor. When I took a sip of the beer I tasted the coffee just a little bit, but it was definitely a side-tone compared to the beer and pumpkin flavor. The biggest surprise for me in this drink was the pumpkin-flavored aftertaste, which was heavenly and unlike anything I have tasted in a beer. I would give this flavor an eight out of 10; great first one to try!
Sasha
This was the first one we tried; I am not sure what kind of expectations I was coming into this with. Dunkin’ usually makes good products (check out our review of their cereal here), but beer? I was a little hesitant. But at the same time, they have been doing this for three years so people must’ve liked it. The Pumpkin was not bad at all. I definitely smelled the coffee though I don’t know if I tasted strong coffee notes, maybe a bit in the aftertaste. The one bad thing I have to say is that I didn’t notice anything pumpkin about it so I guess it has to lose points for that. Though I’m not going to lie, I don’t know if I would want pumpkin in there. Overall it was a solid contestant, I would rate it a seven out of 10.
Blueberry Matcha IPA
John
I solidly agree with Sasha’s take on the initial smell. To be honest it did not taste great and was honestly a bit repulsive. This is likely because I am not a big fan of IPA beer in the first place and am not a big fan of the taste, especially the aftertaste. However, although when I first tasted it I was a bit skeptical, after I swallowed it I noticed that it literally has the aftertaste of a blueberry scone and I love blueberry scones. Eight and a half out of 10 for me. This was absolutely the best IPA beer I have had in my entire life, and if I were to ever pick out an IPA beer to have it would be this. I swear, this is better than most restaurant IPA beers!
Sasha
The initial smell of this one was very concerning. It smelled like blueberry pie and IPA had a love child and it was just a mistake of nature. But oh my god does the smell not do it justice! It actually tasted so much better than it smelled. I don’t love IPA in general, but this was probably the best IPA I’ve ever had (because the blueberry does mask its taste). I definitely prefer this to the pumpkin one. This had a very unique flavor; it won’t become my go-to drink but if I had to drink IPA, this would be it. I was very impressed with this one: usually when things smell gross they also taste gross but this was actually good. Overall, I would rate it an eight out of 10, I probably would not buy this again because it’s an IPA but I would definitely recommend it if you like IPAs.
Maple Crème Blonde Ale
John
Out of the entire Dunkin’ collection of beers this one was the best out of all of them. That’s not to say that the rest were bad by any means, just that this one absolutely blew the rest of them out of the water. When I first tasted it, I was automatically reminded of a syrupy flavor that masked the flavor of any alcohol. I’m telling you, this stuff is dangerous and you could definitely get very tipsy very fast. Overall, this one gets a nine out of 10 for me. I’m really sad that this is limited edition, because I totally see myself going out of my way for this drink!
Sasha
This one smelled really good! I had high expectations for it from the start, and boy did it not disappoint. This one was definitely the best one of the bunch. It was not bitter at all (a nice change of pace from the others), I really like the subtle sweetness. It’s not overly sweet but the flavor is definitely there. It’s also very smooth. I think I taste the maple flavor! Overall this was a very good flavor, I would definitely want to purchase this again. It gets a nine out of 10 from me.
Midnight American Porter
John
If I’m going to be honest, the Midnight American Porter was the worst drink from this collection. Maybe it’s just a drink that’s not for my taste buds, but I found it quite repulsive and could not wait for it to be finished. When I first saw the can it was like “oh Midnight Porter” and it sounded so mysterious and I was excited to try it, but disappointed would be an understatement. I would not buy this again, and would give it a four and a half out of 10.
Sasha
Smells like coffee ice cream to me (though I put my nose a little too far down and there was beer up my nose and everything smelled like fish for some reason). Anyway, on to the review. I really did not love this one. I taste the subtle coffee flavor, but I don’t think coffee belongs in beer. It’s just too much. Bitter coffee + bitter beer = too bitter (and I like my coffee black). It wasn’t repulsive, just not my cup of tea. Overall, I would give it a six out of 10 and would probably not want this in my system again.
Overall, there were definitely some high highs and some low lows within this list, but we definitely appreciate whoever the creative team at Dunkin’ is. They’re always providing us with new and fun ideas, from the spider donuts, to the Dunkin’ cereal that has us hooked, to now these great alcoholic drinks. We’re looking forward to the innovative Dunkin’ product that comes out next!
