Clipper City Heavy Seas Big DIPA

Brewed by Clipper City Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Pours deep coppery toward orangy brown with 2-finger off-white head. Nose is huge piney hops, caramel malt, mango, tangerine. Tastes rich, heavily malty with a huge hop bill, tangerine, peppery spice, and brown sugary notes. The recipe here reminds me a little of a toned down Oggi’s Hop Whompus. This is a very good, and very under-appreciated, IIPA.

Bottle. Thanks to Tmoney99 at NATIFEST ’09. Pours a nice amber with a nice white head. Aroma is heavy with grassy malts hops and citrus hops, along with sweet malt. Notes of pineapple and other tropical fruit come out. On the palate, it is a bit watered down. The flavor is about the same as the aroma, but weaker. The finish does have a nice bitter bite and leaves an alcohol burn. I enjoyed this beer, but I think it is missing something that could make it great.

22oz. bottle haven’t heard from these guys in a long time. clear amber under a small off-white head. aroma of lychee, melon, citrus, lemon, and sweet bready malt. flavor is hoppy with lychee fruit and melons. medium bodied and smooth for 10.6%. a bit sweet but overall not bad. i need to revisit the loose cannon again.

bottle courtesy of ygtbsm94. nice pour with minimal head that resides as a ring throughout the glass. nice sugar pine aroma. very deep but crisp dark amber appearance. taste has a sweet start that lasts the whole way through, but is nicely balanced in the mid palate by the bitterness of the hops for a perfect combo. has a noticable alcohol finish, but the syrupy sweet residue of the hops helps hide it. overall a nice iipa, worth a try.

8/01/2009: Heavy Seas the Big DIPA... Aroma: Sugary grapefruit. Appearance: Mostly clear, deep amber color. Flavor: Moderately sweet with quite a bit of red grapefruit and pine hop flavor, mild bitterness. Palate: Medium-bodied. Overall: Good, a little syrupy; more pine comes through when warm.

1 pint 6 fl. oz. bottle shared by Tmoney99 at NATIFEST ’09. Thanks Tom! Rating #37 for this beer.

Location: 22 oz bottle from Norm’s, 8/3/09

Aroma: Lots of grass/earth/pine hops here, a bit floral, a drop of fruit, some caramel as well, maybe a bit of biscuit
Appearance: Clearish copper color, about 1/2 inch of off-white head, lots of spotty lacing on the glass
Flavor: Nice hop flavor here, there is some balance from the malts, more floral and sweet then the nose
Palate: Medium bodied, really nice mouthfeel, and drinks really easily for a beer over 10% ABV
Overall Impression: I was excited for this one, as I like the fact that Clipper City (a brewery less then 1 hr from my home) is expanding their big beer repertoire. Unfortunately, I got many opinions on this one prior to trying it, and it was basically getting killed across the board, so I definitely lost some of my excitement for it. I have to say, and maybe it was my diminished expectations that led to this (for I, as is the case with many of us, have been known to allow expectations - be them good or bad - to cloud my judgement), thought it was quite good. Granted, I went in not expecting too much, but I liked it a lot, especially for the price (a 10.5% beer (my bottle said 10.5% despite the 10.6% above) for $5 a bomber? Yes please!). I love big IPAs, look, this isn’t the best DIPA/IIPA ever made, but come on, it’s has a pretty nice hoppy beer.

Light brown pour with smallish white head. Aroma is toasty caramel, saltwater toffee malt and sugary confection glaze. Floral and a slight resinous quality round out the hop presence. Slight aroma of impregnated fish lure. Flavor is sweet caramel, dark molasses, and some floral, citrus notes. Palate is medium with a boozy, dry finish. Enjoyable but not outstanding.

Light aromas of orange and grapefruit feature nice spices and some pine. Flavors are mellower, with a nice malt backing. Consistent hopping and a nice weight, though slightly astringent at the finish. Better than the typical Heavy Seas offering.