It first started as a result of our annual beer trips. How do you choose your collaborators?ĭ.K.We’ve been doing it for years, in different capacities. Harpoon has been involved in several collaboration projects. There is a very vocal group in our social audience who has been begging us to bring a product back, and we’re planning on it.ĭ.L. Yes, we share new products, but we also get really valuable feedback – and I can tell you that we are actively implementing that feedback in 2019.
It’s really important for us to be able to keep in touch with our consumers, and meet them where they are, which is on social media. But not everyone in Philly is going to be able to make it to Boston or Vermont. When we first opened, our goal was to get as many people as possible to visit our brewery on the waterfront. Does social media play a big part in building your brand?ĭ.K.Absolutely. For the employees, it’s a real financial incentive to succeed. But when we added ownership to that, it changed the dynamic entirely. What we meant was that we already had the right mindset for employee ownership – we were focused on working together to grow a company that would outlast any of us. When we first became employee-owned, we told people that it changed everything, and nothing, at the same time. Can you tell us what that means and why it’s beneficial to both you and your employees?ĭ.K. Harpoon is an independent, employee-owned craft brewery.
We can only hope it keeps us relevant, and we think it will. Our founding vision was to ‘make great beer fun’, so we’ll continue to not only brew beers we love, but also provide great beer-drinking experiences for beer lovers. There are so many breweries making so many styles that we don’t have to. We don’t worry as much about staying relevant as we do about staying true to what we do well. As the craft beer landscape becomes more and more crowded, how do you stay relevant?ĭ.K. We’d love to see these available everywhere, but if we can’t guarantee freshness, we just won’t do it.ĭ.L. More than other styles, freshness is key. But the reality is, these beers are hard to make, and they are a challenge to distribute. Do you think you’ll ever make these more widely available?ĭ.K.We love the style. However, this year you did brew three hazy IPAs – Juicer 1, 2 and 3, but they are only available in New England. Although Harpoon IPA is technically a New England IPA (it’s balanced – West Coast IPAs are hop bombs), it’s not the hazy, juicy type that beer drinkers are going crazy for. Maybe not always a smile, but certainly as sense of humor.ĭ.L. Al has found a way to do it all and step into it with a sense of humor. In the past, our primary focus was on things like quality and consistency – how do we make Harpoon IPA taste the same every single time? Now we need to be consistent, while innovating. What he brings to the table is a pretty special combination of institutional knowledge, brewing expertise, and not just respect for, but an appreciation of, innovation. Who is Harpoon’s Brewmaster? What makes him so darn good?ĭ.K. We’ll introduce other takes on the style, but we may never look at another beer in the same way we look at Harpoon IPA.ĭ.L. It has a heritage now that we treasure and respect. Our IPA is the same as it ever was – and that’s part of what makes it unique. How do you continue to make Harpoon IPA stand out amongst the many IPAs available today?ĭan Kenary (D.K.)In some ways, it’s actually getting easier! We laugh about it sometimes because if you open a brewery in 2018, there’s no way you’re launching a crystal clear, balanced IPA as your flagship. With returning holiday favorites like Harpoon Winter Warmer and UFO Winter Blonde, as well as new collaboration beers like the highly anticipated Dunkin’ Coffee Porter, Harpoon has plenty of innovation on the docket to carry the portfolio into 2019 and beyond.ĭraught Lines spoke with the brewery’s CEO and co-founder Dan Kenary to talk collaborations, holiday beers & traditions and what we can look forward to from Harpoon in 2019.ĭraught Lines (D.L.) Your flagship IPA has been around since 1993. last year, the staying power of this brewery is impressive. Ranked 16th largest craft brewer in the U.S. Now 32 years young, it’s also Massachusetts’ oldest, continually operating brewery. Independent and employee-owned Harpoon is the second largest brewery in Massachusetts, behind Boston Beer Company. Harpoon’s motto, first coined when the brewery opened in 1986, embodies their pride in brewing great beer and enjoying the experiences paired with it.
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