Clipper City Heavy Seas Big DIPA

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

Pours a dark burnt orange, dark amber/copper color with some dark golden orange hues when held to a light source and a one finger frothy white head. Good retention, only slowly fading into a lasting cap that coats the pint with lacing. Earthy yet sweet aroma with lots of citrus and floral notes. Resinous hop oils with a good bit of citrus peel, grapefruit and slight pine presence. There is also some biscuit and caramel notes but the aroma here is mostly floral with citrus notes. Chewy resinous medium body with a nice bitter hop blast up front that quickly turns into sweet citrus notes, followed by a pretty big malt backbone and a noticeably big alcohol presence. Slightly dry finish. The hops up front provide a bitter earthy flavor with a nice bit of citrus notes, mostly lemon peel and grapefruit. This flavor is almost immediately killed off by a too big of a biscuit, caramel malt backbone that has some graham cracker notes, and a very hot alcohol presence. The 10.5% is not well masked at all. This beer is "balanced" but to a point were the hops are overpowered and are not very prominent in the overall taste. This beer looked and smelled okay but turned out to be a bit of a let down.

Bomber pours a hazy honey amber body with a medium sized offwhite head that leaves clumpy lacing on the glass. Aroma is mango, caramel, and earthy hops. Thick and coating on the palate, with a full body and low medium carbonation. Taste features orange marmalade notes, syrupy sweetness, and a solid brash hoppiness. Pine, earthy, and grassy hops join with the alcohol heat to cut the huge malty sweetness. This one is in barleywine territory.

Poured this beer from a 22oz bottle into a tulip glass to enjoy. The beer had a clear amber-red color with a smaller, foamy white head that had short retention but decent cling on the rim. It has a pleasant grainy and earthy hops aroma with some touches of floral and citrus hops. The beer had a nice grainy hops taste, with a good bitter effect, and only the slightest notes of sweetness underneath. It had a lively, high-carbonation mouthfeel and was fairly thick in the palate, with a slightly noticeable presence of alcohol at the finish. A high quality beer, very much enjoyed.

22oz bottle rated 8.21.09. Pours a syrupy looking glowing clear rich red amber with a fine white fizzy froth. Aroma is huge pine, honey, sweet caramel, a bit hot. Flavor is a dead-ringer for an American style barley wine, cotton candy, kind of nutty malty, very rich and quite bitter, resinous pine, a little disjointed and rough though. Medium/full bodied, syrupy, fine smooth fluffy fizzy carbonation. I know they wanted this to be a double IPA but its more like ’The Big BW’

Pours a hazy orange with a nice head and great lace. The Aroma is resiny and hoppy, plenty of fresh hops in the aroma. The flavor has a good fruitiness with some pineapple and orange, this is a bit sweet but nicely hoppy, the alcohol is well hidden.

Sampled at GABF. Had to stop in to try this one. Poured copper with some head. KInd of sugary, and hop extract. Flavor is sweet, fake hoppy, not all that great. Kind of disapointing.

Bottle. Copper pour with a tall, dense, foamy white head. Aroma is strong hops, caramel, spicy notes and sweet malt. Some pine as well. taste is rather sweet and hoppy. Lots of caramel, sweet malts, hints of brown sugar along with spicy and piney hop notes and citrus oils. Some alcohol notes as well. Body is this a chewy with some soft warmth from the alcohol. Finishes with bigger spicy hop notes, caramel, sweet malt, sticky sugar notes, pine resins, citrus oils, and spicy hops. Very tasty stuff!

pours amber, beige head. Aroma is sweet adn hoppy, hints of fruits, sweet malts and caramel. Flavor, light bitterness balanced with good caramel malts. Hints of grapefruit/citrus with underlying sweetness. Boozy finish with caramel palate and thin yeast.