Clipper City Heavy Seas Big DIPA

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

Bomber. Pours a clear, dark, rusty orange-amber color with a small, quick head of khaki colored foam. Settling to a thin, swirly film, the head leaves delicate, sticky ribbons of lacing on the glass. The nose is heavy, showing massively sweet toffee malt and fusel alcohol amidst sharp citrus and floral hops. The boozy burn really drowns everything out. Flavors are only slightly better, again intensely sweet and sugary, with truckloads of toffee and big, boozy alcohol, followed by strikingly sharp and astringent citrus hops. The palate is syrupy, sticky, and downright hot. This is not my kind of brew. It’s too bad, because I really love the Loose Cannon IPA, but this thing is a beast of another kind.

22oz bottle sent as a bonus by koopa, thanks Dennis. Pours a orange toffee brown color with a dirty white head. Nose is big on sweet bready malt, butterscotch, caramel, piney resin, maybe a little orange rind and then I get a bit of soap. Very syurpy sticky feel to it. Tons of sweet malt! Some piney hops, a bit of citrus but then a big alcohol burn. Way too much sweet malt and way too hot for me. This could be a hopwine.

The aroma is very malty. Very sweet and sugary. Some pine and flora hop notes, light citrus, but mostly a shit ton of caramel and sweet light fruit. Pours lightly hazy amber with a good head and nice lace. Sweet and almost cloying up front. Some pepper and pine come through in the finish, but is pushed away by the residual sugars that were left in this one. A little tropical fruit, but mostly straight forward sweet caramel malt with a little bit of bitterness in the finish. Rather boozy. Too sweet for me.

Bottle. Poured an orangish gold with a large white head that lasted and laced nicely. Aroma is full of hops giving a citrus aroma with a tropical kick. A bit of light fruit was in the aroma and some pine. There was a bit of an alcohol burn towards the end.

Clear dark copper with a tall, lasting, off-white head. Tropical fruit hop aroma. Melon & pine. Big full sweetness with the bitterness struggling to come out in the flavor. Some alcohol. Decent.

Cloudy, dark amber appearance with a small, off white head and a fair amount of lacing. Slightly inhibited aroma, but it still produces a piney hop nose with some sweet malt in the mix. Strength is in the full bodied, well carbonated mouthfeel. Earthy hops blend harmoniously with the bready malts to score the desired balance. A modest alcohol burn in the long lasting finish. Review based on a bomber, but is a real treat when on tap in this area (Balt/Wash).

22oz bomber. Pours orange-red. Resiny sweet aroma. Very bitter yet full and sweet (almost cloying) - strong surprisingly earthy bitterness (surprising from hop varieties used - I would expect much more grapefruit). Full body and finish. Not bad, but a little too thick. A drier, slightly lower alcohol brew (with the same amount of hop, of course) would have really hit the spot.

Bottled. A hazy amber beer with a thin beige head. The aroma has notes of alcohol, caramel, hops, and malt. The flavor is sweet with notes of alcohol, caramel, bread, and malt. Thanks CaptainCougar for coming to Denmark and sharing this.