Clipper City Heavy Seas Below Decks

Brewed by Clipper City Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Bottle, snifter, 2006 vintage, hmm not very complex for a barely wine. A bit of malts, some yeast, and some alcohol. Other than that really not a whole lot going on with this one. Not much aroma, not a whole lot of taste, nothing too special. Thanks Mrromero.

Pours clear brown, aroma of sweet malt and some citrus. Tastes like a brown ale with a bit too much alcohol, though it’s fairly well hidden. Smooth, but a bit boring flavorwise and with a clean and a bit hoppy finish.

(bottle - 12 oz: Vintage - 2006) Clear red pour with a fizzy yet lasting white head. Aroma is very light, especially for a barley wine. Mostly malts with some cherries and caramel. Flavor is really light too. Some caramel and malts at the beginning with a sweet fruit middle and a big alcohol finish. Without the alcohol burn, I never would’ve said this was a barley wine.

2006 bottle. Rich deep amber red with a thin offwhite film for a head, what a barleywine should look like. Light caramel malt and toast present over some dry floral hops and alcohol. Needs more sweet round malt character. The palate is thick and oily and the highlight of the beer. The flavors are in line with the aroma. Some roast and toast in with the caramel malt doesn’t really fit the style or go together that well. The hops seem too big, and this just isn’t sweet enough. The alcohol is well hidden. , A creamy bitter alcohol finish with a lingering alcohol bite are really the only signs of the booze. I got 3 more in the cellar, this is an experiment I suppose.

The aroma was malty with a light spicy phenolic coupled with alcohol through the tall head. As the head fell the aroma became caramel and cherries with a bit of sherry thrown in for good measure. The head was near perfect light tan on top of the kinda gross looking amber brew. The flavor was malty and not bad. The malt was held at bay by a strong presence of bittering and practically no flavor hops (perhaps due to age). The malt backbone was strong and some alcohol flavor was notable. Also the beer had taken on some sherry character. The body was just full and with the moderate carbonation was creamy in the mouthfeel. Alcohol warming was fairly strong and lasting. The finish was dry with a lasting biscuity character and caramel into the aftertaste and beyond. A nice barleywine after aging, much better now than when fresh off the bottling line. 12 ounce bottle, 2005 on neck label.

Philly Craft Beer Festival. Small plastic sample cup. Copper with an off-white head. Caramel nose with a touch of smoke. Bitter hoppy; subdued malts. Buttery with green grass. Alcohol is well covered but flavor is thin. Barely a barley wine.

2006 Bottle: Brownish orange pour with little head retention. The aroma is quiet for such a big beer - noting chocolate malt, burnt caramel, overripe plums and alcohol. Big, rounded mouthfeel is nice, but the complexity just isn’t there to back it up. Spicy alcohol dominates the caramel laden body. Moderately bitter and overall pretty sluggish. I don’t see this going much of anywhere in the cellar.

Amber transparent appearance, bready malty aroma, mild carbonation, chewy. Easy to drink for a barleywine but the the taste was a bit watery and musky.