Clipper City Heavy Seas Red Sky At Night

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

Best by 10/05. Aroma is very cheesy and funky. Sour, lemony notes. Too much stanky cheese for me though. Transparent golden color with a large, quickly dissipating white head. Eck. Very metallic to start, turning very boozy and harsh. Finishes slightly bready and peppery. Poorly made.

Hazy, golden body with two fingers of persistent white foam. Aroma of sweet, floral esters with light phenols, apparent hops, buttery malt, and some higher alcohol. Flavor is sweet and under-attenuated. Syrupy fullness in the body. Tastes like a sweet Tripel-Saison. Obviously American.

Bottle. Very yeasty aroma is sweet and spicy with some grain. Malty with Hefeweizen notes. Cloud yellow-golden pour with a short white head. Taste is all about the spice; light fruitiness and a thick sheen of yeast, lemon and apple with faint acidity. Vague angular sourness, but it doesn’t contribute much. Fullish body with a spicy, lightly warmed aftertaste. Faint candis in the bg. Somewhat disappointing - doesn’t really work as a Saison, and as a beer in general, is somewhere along the lines of a slightly-more-flavorful (but still generic) golden ale.

[draft - 10th Annual PA Microbrewers Fest, Pennsylvania Brewing Co. - Pittsburgh, PA] The second saison I had, and let me tell you that I’ve really enjoyed this style and would like to get many more. Poured a clear gold color with a very thin white head. Good aroma of citrus, mainly grapefruit, with possibly a touch of regular grapes and some apples. Fermented yeasty taste with a zesty citrus followup and a champagne-like finish. Quite tasty.

On tap at Split Rock. Golden clear in color with a white head. Piney aroma. Malty and crisp flavor. Refreshing. Nice. Decent beer.

Dark gold with light haze. Thin yet dense off-white head with scattered rocks. Honeyed, crackery malts, clove, rose petals, and plump herbal hops in the nose. Lemony, as well, with notable alcohol presence, peachy esters, and mild phenols to help curb the sweetness. Spongy-soft body with light pricks of carbonation. Boisterous hop punch is chased by a tasty dollop of toasted malts and fresh yeast. Hops remain tangy and succulent throughout, backed with plenty of orange pulp and slight airiness to reduce some of the sweetness. Vibrantly yeasty profile mirrors the aroma, touched with artificial sweetener and coriander. Candy sugar dominates the moist, unclean finish with a relentless, albeit subtle, toasted malt hull profile, spicy alcohol, and juicy hops. This needs more dryness and a less predictable/redundant yeast strain so commonly used in American Saison, along with less sweetness, in order to hang with the Duponts, Blaugieses, Fantômes of the world. It’s quite tasty, nonetheless, although this will cause Saison purists to cringe.

gold pour with a large foamy white head. aroma has notes of belgian yeast and sugar. flavor is belgianish but not really like a saison. the belgian yeast and candy sugar are apparent. this is much better than their attempt at a dubbel.

Pours nice golden color with red hue. Not much head and it quickly leaves. Very little carbonation. Smell is spicy, some sweetness, but overall dry. Very transparent, no bottle conditioning with this saison. Palate is very thin compared to most saisons, pleasant though. Taste has some spice - coriander? cinnamon? Not much of the taste that comes with most Belgiums (or most US interprentations) - not very earthy in the malts or yeast. It is enjoyable for what it is, but not very true to the style. This is definitely recommend, just go into it with an open mind.