Miasmatic Review

Heavy Seas Red Sky At Night.

Yar, I’m starting to feel like a pirate. This is the third beer of the Heavy Seas line from the Clipper City Brewing Company in Baltimore, MD. Tonight I’ll be reviewing the Red Sky At Night Saison Ale. This is the next beer in line as donated Graumagus of Frizzen Sparks.

It came in the standard 12 fl. Oz. brown bottle. The label is red on the top half with the name of the beer in white. The bottom half the label is yellowish with a picture of a pirate and his parrot sleeping in a hammock. There is a notched drink by date on it. This beer is labeled best by Sept, 2010. There is a neck label that has the High Seas logo on it and a brief description of the beer on it.

This beer has a nice golden honey coloring to it. There is a slight cloudiness to it, but light passes through easily as well as you can make out the shapes of objects on the other side. When I poured it into a glass, a thin white head formed, but it faded rapidly to nothing. There was no film, ring or lacing on the glass by the time I was a quarter of the way through it.

The first thing I noticed when smelling the beer is a rich mixture of cloves and coriander. There is a grainy wheat malt scent that is reminiscent of bread. A thin citrusy hoppy scent rounds it off. Upon tasting the beer, I noticed a yeast flavor. There was a thin wheat taste that helps balance the yeast. Cloves and coriander takes a prominent flavor. There is a nice citrus and hop combination that rounds the whole taste out.

It has a light body with a crisp feel in the mouth. There is a mild carbonation to it that makes it easy to drink.

Overall I thought this was a pretty good beer. I enjoyed drinking this beer. It had a nice flavor that was mellow and would go with a lot of foods. This is a beer I would drink while having a burger with the guys, or just enjoying some cheese and sausage during a game. I give it 6 out of 10.

I'm off to Beerfest!!!!

I was lucky and scored a ticket to the Great Taste of the Midwest. For those that aren't familiar with it it's a gathering of multiple breweries from across the Midwest.

The Great Taste of the Midwest is one of the premier beer festivals in the United States. On the second Saturday in August, over one hundred brewpubs and microbreweries from the Midwest come to beautiful Olin-Turville Park overlooking lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin, to share beer and good times with six thousand patrons.

I'm heading up with some friends to spend the afternoon sampling beers at the festival and then after, we'll probably hit some of the local breweries and brew pubs. I'm going so excited!

Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale

Tonight is another beer donated by Graumagus of Frizzen Sparks. He is determined to get his enabler glass this year. Tonight we continue with beers from the High Seas line of beers from the Clipper City Brewing Company in Baltimore, MD. We’ll be reviewing Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA. Now, as a disclaimer, I will be rating this beer twice. I am not a fan of IPAs and generally try to avoid reviewing them due to my predisposition of not liking the style. I do try them on a regular basis in case my tastes change or I find an IPA I actually like. The first rating I give it will be my opinion of the beer as an IPA; the second will be my opinion of it as a beer according to my tastes. Please keep that in mind while reading this review.

We still have our standard 12 oz brown bottle. IT has a purple label with the wording “Loose Cannon” in white on the top half. The bottom has a picture of a peg legged pirate firing a cannon that is knocking a pirate over the edge of the ship. The bottom of the label has a notched drink by date. This one indicates September, 2010. There is a purple neck label with the Heavy Seas logo on it. There is a brief description of the beer which brags, “Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale is opulently hopped 3 times in the brewing process.

It pours a transparent golden amber color. Images pass through the body easily. A quarter inch pure white head composed of tiny foamy bubbles. The head fades to a thick film on top of the beer and a lot of lacing on the glass. The head and lacing lasted until the beer was finished.

There is a strong, pungent scent consisting of floral hops that almost overpowers all other scents. A hint of citrus is noticeable that gives the beer a slight pineapple scent. As the beer warms to room temperature a slight cereal scent is noticeable. The first thing you notice on tasting is a strong bitter citrus taste. It’s supported by a balanced combination of floral hops and a touch of orange peel. What malt flavors there are in the beer don’t come out until it warms up to just below room temp.

This is a medium bodied beer. It’s a little heavy in the carbonation for my tastes. It bites the tongue and leaves a tingly sensation even after you’ve swallowed.

For an IPA, especially one that is supposed to be triple hopped IPA, it doesn’t have as strong of a flavor as one would expect. I don’t think I would consider this even a double IPA. As an IPA, I give it 6 out of 10. That being said, I really did not enjoy this beer. I would not be going out of my way to pick this up again. If you like IPAs, then I would suggest giving it a try. If you are like me and don’t like IPAs, avoid this beer. Personally I give it 2.5 out of 10. Now excuse me while I try to go scrape the aftertaste off my tongue.

Small Craft Warning

This week we have a beer donated to me by Graumagus of Frizzen Sparks. I’m not sure where he found this beer, but it’s not one I’ve found locally. Tonight I’ll be reviewing Heavy Seas Small Craft Warning Uber Pils by Clipper City Brewing Company LP in Baltimore, MD.

It came in a 12 oz brown bottle. The label is broken into two distinctive different parts. The top half is a greenish color with the Small Craft Warning in it, the warning is written sideways on the vertical. The bottom has a cartoonish picture of a pirate (?) on a raft holding onto a mast and looking through a spy glass. There is a parrot on the raft with him. At the bottom of the label it has a notch marking system to give a best by date. This one was labeled Sept, 2010.

The beer has a nice golden amber coloring to it. It’s opaque, no sign of haziness or distortion. Light passes through easily and you can make out objects on the other side while looking through the beer. When I poured it into a glass, a quarter inch white head formed. It faded to a film on the top of the beer. There is minimal lacing on the side of the glass.

The scent of the beer starts with a citrus and floral hop smell. It’s followed with a cereal like grain scent. There is some breadiness as well as a hint of lemon grass. On first taste the first thing I noticed was a cereal malt flavor. It’s followed by the citrus and floral hop blend. There is a touch of yeast to it that helps round out the flavor and provide a balance to the hops and malts.

This a medium bodied beer. There is a good amount of carbonation to the beer, some bite on the tongue but not a lot.

I’m a fan of pilsners, I’m not exactly sure what an “Uber Pils” is, but it’s not like most pilsners I’ve drank. It’s light and crisp and with a 7.0 ABV you really can’t taste the alcohol. I could see kicking back and enjoying one with friends. I give it 6 out of 10.