Went outside at 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning, sat in the sun and drank a few pitchers of IPA before we got started. The first day we went to rack it, it was 6:30-7:00 in the morning, three of us on the floor, we had to do a little taste test, but we did it with a couple of pitchers. Aside from the brewing automation being more by hand, causing each member to have to spend time shoveling out the grain by hand, Cornelius recalled when Harpoon began brewing the IPA year-round and how much different the experience was: “It’s not something we do anymore, but the first time we brewed the IPA as a year-round beer - we brewed it in the summer and I started working here in October, and I had heard how great this beer was - we finally started brewing it in April. It’s well balanced and its 5.9 percent alcohol, so it’s not too strong, so it’s very drinkable.”Ĭornelius recalls, in the early days after he had come aboard at Harpoon, how the brew shifts differed from today. Our IPA wouldn’t be considered a really cutting-edge IPA, or over the top IPA. A lot of IPAs, seems like everyone is just trying out hop the other guy - between aroma and bitterness, and I just can’t stand those over the top bitter beers that aren’t really well balanced. I think it’s a really well-balanced beer, it’s not too hoppy and not too malty. “People give me a hard time about it too, they say that I don’t drink anything else, but I do,” he said. Today the India Pale Ale is Cornelius’ go-to beer. He was getting about two cases every other week and I was basically buying both of them every time they came in, and my friends and I drank it all.”
The first time the owner bought Harpoon Ale, and it was delivered, I tried it and it was awesome.
“It was kind of a working class neighborhood, it wasn’t really like a liquor store today with a hundred different beers available. “When I was in college I was working at a liquor store and they started selling Sam Adams, and they started carrying Harpoon shortly after that,” he said. Although known for its India pale ale, Harpoon has grown to include a great variety of seasonal and year-round beers.Ĭornelius recalled the first time he ever tasted a Harpoon beer, the pale ale. Over the last 20 years Cornelius has seen Harpoon grow from between 50,000-70,000 barrels, to more than 190,000 barrels today. “This month has been 20 years that I’ve been here,” he said.
New harpoon ipa full#
After those three months, his hard work had finally paid off, a position opened up and he was hired full time. He suggested that I talk to the head brewer and maybe I could intern.”Ĭornelius began interning with Harpoon a couple days a week for about three months learning the ins and outs of brewing at Harpoon. Because I was a homebrewer he could see that I knew what I was talking about. I just kept on telling him how much I hated accounting and wanted to be a brewer.
Turns out he was looking to interview for an assistant controller position, but I didn’t know that when I came in. “Rich, one of the owners here, was the only that called me to come in. “I applied to all of them,” said Cornelius. At the time, aside from Harpoon, there weren’t a lot of brewpub opportunities available. However, once they returned and Cornelius had interviewed at several accounting firms, the realization that he wanted to become a brewer was overwhelming. “It was at that moment that I knew I didn’t want to be an accountant, but I wanted to get into brewing.” “It was the first time I ever tried anything aside from the ale,” he explained.
After their return, Cornelius, his wife, and a few friends, went to Harpoon for its Octoberfest. Sean Cornelius, Head Brewer at Harpoon BreweryĪfter being in New Orleans for three years, it was time for Cornelius and his wife to move back up to Boston.
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