Clipper City Heavy Seas Holy Sheet

Brewed by Clipper City Brewing Co.
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Bottle. Pours brown with a small ring of white head. Aroma of sweet Belgian yeast, roasted nuts and malt, and a touch of booze. Flavor is quite sweet with some alcohol and dark fruits as well as roasted malt. Palate is a bit harsh, grainy, and boozy. Overall much too sweet for me. 6/4/5/3/11 (2.9/5)

Part of the Heavy Seas line, the Holy Sheet is a Belgian style dubbel. As Michael Jackson was prone to state quite often, America is the best place for beer where one can find beers of all varieties, eras, styles, tastes, and traditions. We truly are a Mecca of beer for which I am extremely grateful. After all, it allows me to sup yet another delicious beer from Clipper City.

My Holy Sheet (have fun saying that 5 times, in public, surrounded by little children and see what happens) poured thick and rich with a coat of dark amber-browns while her off-white head settles into a thin ring. A couple swirls produce a few traces of lace while releasing her thick nose directly unto my senses. Sweet, bready, doughy, and spicy with prunes, plums, raisins, dates, and pumpernickel all swimming upon a sea of maple syrup and melted sugars. A hint of spice and warmth immediately settles into the back of my nose, whispering of wood and rum. Peaches caramelized and cooked in cinnamon sticks and nutmeg further adds to her rich nose. Wiping an apparent trail of drool, I savor the first of many quaffs. Thick and sweet, she immediately coats my mouth with maple-dipped plums and prunes, both fresh and sun-dried. Not quite done yet, the maple moves onto freshly baked pumpernickel bread, giving her both a soft and crunchy sweetness as the pumpernickel gives her body meaty fullness. Further in, the top of my tongue starts to dry, leaving whispers of cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and crisp peach skins. Holy Sheet may sound deep, dark, and rich, but she is more in the middle, as her lighter side of fresh peaches and apples weave throughout her palate. Deliciously rich and yet not too overwhelming, Holy Sheet is a winner in my book as I contemplate the empty depths of my glass.

I haven’t had any of Clipper City’s regular line of beers, but based on their Heavy Seas line which is meant to be rich, complex, and thought-provoking, I continue to be impressed. Being a huge fan of Belgian and Belgian-style beers, Holy Sheet is an easy winner and worthy of her place in my fridge.

12oz bottle into an Abbey glass. Got this out of a mix pack and had high hopes because I love dubbels, but it really didn’t hit the mark compared to the real stuff.

Deep mahogany/rose red color. No head. Very hazy. Looks almost like a deep red or blush wine. Bold, really. Has the nice fizzy, alcoholic sour smell but it’s combined with a rich berry smell. It’s a Belgian Abbey with a fruity add-on. Sweet dried fruits -- notable cherry. Grapes and plum skins. Liqueurs. First a burst of fruity berry flavor, with a second wave of fizzy, pungent alcoholy Belgian. Heavy tartness. It’s got a super-harsh aftertaste. Hints of butterscotch. Sharp flower/citrus hop. Bitter cherry. Feels very fizzy and bubbly. Has a bit of a burn on the way down. Sharp on the roof of the mouth. It’s a hard drink. Heavy, alcohol-rich, pungent. Akin to a barleywine. Cherry and spicy Belgian yeasts. It burrrns!

Bottle, aged about a year. Pours a crystal clear, deep crimson color, almost like the shade of cranberry juice. A thin, swirly film dissipates, leaving behind virtually no lacing. The nose is pretty true to style, showing dark, fruity malts, caramel, and bready yeast. Figs, dates, and raisins all make an appearance, as does a dash of powdered cocoa. There’s an alcoholic overtone, though it’s not that intrusive. The flavor is similarly structured, with lightly boozy dark fruits, brown sugar, caramel, and spicy, doughy yeast all showing. Mildly earthy hops come through on the finish. The palate is big and sugary, a bit sweet and alcoholic for my liking, but not unlike the style standard. Not a bad brew. Seems like the year might have done it some good.

12oz best before Jan 09 - Aroma of bubblegum dubbel yeast, dark malts with a cherry like finish. Pours garnet with a ring head and decent lacing. Flavor is a more intense version of aroma. Palate is sticky. Interesting and drinkable but too much alcohol for it to be enjoyable.

From a 12oz bottle this offering pours an amber color with a thin brown head. The aroma is malty, sweet, bready, and dark fruit - raisins. Taste is certainly malty along with the bread/yeast, raisin, sugar and also some molasses which made for a sweet finish. I wasn’t sure what I thought of this beer at first, but when a drank one a day or 2 after the first one I enjoyed it. Still not my favorite Clipper City beer (that would be Loose Cannon) but this is a solid offering.

Bottle - thanks beachbum25. A muddy brownish-orange color wityh a finger of creamy beige head. Aroma is soft with fruitiness, vinous, and light yeast. What a unique taste! Sort of a Belgian Strong Ale meets Barley Wine... Vinous, dark fruits, sweet toffee and caramel, yeast, cloves, and faded citrus hops. Blended and balanced flavors. Sometimes different is better.