Clipper City Heavy Seas Red Sky At Night

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

12 ounce bottle in tulip glass. Pours bright clear orange with a quicly fading small white head and some lace. Very faint aroma of orange fruity sweetness. Flavors are extremely “subtle.” Faint honey orange sweetness, candy suger, nondescript spiciness, mock dry finish. Medium body. I’m a big fan of saisons, but not this one. Too sweet, not spicy or hoppy enough. Sorry. For an excellent Clipper City Heavy Seas brew try the Loose Cannon.

I like it. It’s got some heavy spice notes without being astringent, a nice heavy body, deep golden color, and some floral and honey touches to complement the spiciness. Nose was not outstanding. Not much funk. And a little too sweet in the end and aftertaste to be truly refreshing. Very good nonetheless. Because I’m notoriously bad at record-keeping, I forget who I traded for this. Kinz maybe? Thanks!

Gee. Another American attempt at a Belgian style, the result of which I just don’t like. It seems that these are so often too sweet and too thin. And this one is both. A ton of coriander in the nose. I suppose I wanted this to be like Fantome. It’s not.

Light orange color with thin white head. Aroma is sweet yeasty, and slightly grassy. Taste is same, plus spicy fruity fizzy. $2/12oz

bottle poured a yellow golden in color with a thick foamy white head that retained well. aroma has sweet grains, wheat, spiced yeast, apples, and some dark fruit. takes a run at the sweet Belgian yeast thing, but not quite there. mouth feel is light and there is ample carbonation. sweetness picks up big time in the flavor, spiced yeast, wheat, spent grain, and again the apples. this one is really sweet and lacks any dryness to control it.

ODBF 05 Not a bad saison at all. Some what bready with apples, lemons, and a grassy taste. Poured hazy gold with a small white head. Surprisingly, the only one I went back for seconds on.

Cloudy bright golden orange with a nice creamy head that leaves some lacing in my glass. Fruity, spicy aromas, tropical fruit, orange and lemon flavors, a bit of a sourness in the finish. Medium bodied with a nice soft mouthfeel, alcohol very well hidden.

When I took a sip of this beer, I thought to myself "unexceptional tripel," but I thought it to be pretty decent. When I read the label as to what the brewer intended it to be, my opinion of the beer deflated slightly. It didn’t seem very saison-y to me, and I didn’t get the complexity that was purported. Nonetheless, it wasn’t a bad beer but I’d be reluctant to seek out another. Appearance was a hazy straw color. Head was virtually non-existent. Aroma was of candy sugar and some cloviness. Flavor was very tripel-like, with lots of clove and more candy sugar. Not a lot of "yeastiness" nor did I get any of the funk or diacetyl that is frequently associated with saison/farmhouse beers. Mouthfeel was a bit flat. Not bad, but hardly living up to its labeling. I wouldn’t really recommend this beer, not because it was bad, but because there is a world full of better choices out there. I got 3 bottles of this from a gift membership to the "Microbrew of the Month" club.