Clipper City Heavy Seas Peg Leg

Brewed by Clipper City Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Different for an imperial stout. No overpowering mocha or chocolate taste. Dark color, not much head to it. Thin, carbinated. Actually this beer is a little fruitish. Not bad for a darker beer. But imperial stout people must hate this beer.

Pretty solid stout, should be rated higher IMO. Some good flavors throughout, and very drinkable. Can’t feel the 8% ABV at all, really.

Pours an opaque dark brown with some ruby highlights around the edges. Nice tan head that quickly recedes to a thin layer but hangs around for a while and is easily regenerated by swirling the glass. Decent lacing. First thing on the aroma is assertive dry hops followed by some sweet milk chocolate and lightly roasted coffee beans and a bit of smoke on the finish. The flavor is quite pleasant, heavy on the roasted malts but also sweet with a bit of a cream soda character to it. The finish is fairly dry, but not overly bitter. As it warms, a bit more of a bourbony character come out in the aroma and flavor. Mouthfeel is medium, but nice and creamy with a moderate and lasting carbonation. This is a somewhat odd imperial stout; definitely on the "light" side of the style in many regards, including the 8% alcohol, and as such it doesn’t match up favorably with other more classic impy stouts. Like most Clipper City beers, it is assertively hopped (not a bad thing in my book) and very drinkable.

12 oz bottle. Pours black with a small tan head so fizzy that it looks almost like soda. Smells very roasty... lots of chocolate. Kind of thin. And the aftertaste is kind of off... coppery? Weird but I can’t put my finger on it. Decent, somewhat drinkable... but among the worst imperial stouts I’ve had.

Total Wine. Black beer with a tan head. Aroma of hops and chocolate. Flavor starts out sweet, tart and spicy from the hops in the middle and drys out some on the finish. Not a lot of bitterness, but it comes out a little in the aftertaste. More of a chocolate and coffee bitterness than a hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium to thin and it doesn’t seem quite as big as some Imperial’s, but its tasty and enjoyable. I like it. Four winners in a row for Clipper City Brewing.

Bottle - from sampler pack. Very black and opaque. Decent, but not all that much flavor for an Imperial stout. Definitely doesn’t taste as strong as it is.

12oz bottle from Florian’s. Completely opaque black body with almost no tan head. Smells roasty and peaty, though the aroma is almost not there. Roasty earthy flavor with kind of a licorice quality in the background. Kind of a nutty quality too. Thick full body, though not as full as I’ve seen in other examples of the style. Fairly drinkable. Not my favorite RIS or even my favorite stout, but a fairly solid ale nonetheless.

Roasted malt aroma. Pours clear and dark ruby brown with a thin head and decent lacing. Tastes is woody, smoky, and cantaloupe. There’s a faint whisper of smoke afterwards. Thin mouthfeel.