Clipper City Heavy Seas Red Sky At Night

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

12oz brown bottle purchased as part of a multi-pack at Florian’s. Translucent yellow-amber body with a good half inch of off-white head. Smells fruity, nutty and spicy (nutmeg, cinnamon?). Apricot, nut, and spice play equal parts in the flavor. While the sweetness can be overwealming at times, it’s still pretty tasty, and there is no alcohol flavor and no real flaws to speak of. Medium creamy body. A solid brew, though unlike most saisons I’ve encountered.

Draft from a cask. Pours a hazy yellow brown with a small, foamy, white head. Spruce, must, and spice in the nose. Spruce again on the palate with yeast, must, soap, a bit of citrus (grapefruit?), and citrus fruit sweetness. Low carbonation with a medium-light mouthfeel. Medium short finish with a little pithy taste lingering on the tongue. An enjoyable brew worth trying.

The color was an orange/yellow with some sediment. The aroma was earthy alcohol and yeasty. The flavor was earhty, yeasty, tart, and citris. The palate was smooth. The finish was a little abrupt.

12 oz. bottle. Pours hazy golden with white head, one finger, that dissipates quickly to a thin, white rim. Nose is apple vinegar, wheat bread and sweet candy. Tastes of bready biscuit with fruity notes, apple, pear and raisin, and spice, clove and coriander. A pretty hefty dose of hop bitterness, though not much hop flavor. Pretty decent body and mouthfeel. Tasty beer.

Pours gold with a large head. Lots of effervescence and some lacing. Very yeasty aroma (earthy and barnyardy). Also some bready malts and the slightest hint of alcohol. Flavor starts off excellent—very malty, a little funky, nice and thick in the mouth—but ends with some violent carbonation that kills the other flavors and accentuates the would-be pleasant hop bitterness. Good stuff overall, but still doesn’t make up for their Pegleg Imperial Stout, which looked and tasted like a brown ale.

12oz bottle. Pours a golden color with an off white head that forms lacing all around. The aroma is fruity with a very slight farmhouse aroma and spiciness. The flavor was crisp with a decent hop bittering and a fruity flavor with a nice spice in the background. Medium to light body with very fine carbonation.

Bottle. Off orange golden and clear. Sweet spicy clean aroma, some bananas and other lighter fruits. No funk. Moderate light malts and fruits and yeasty spice. Bananas, orange, spicy clove and corriander. I really enjoyed this beer.

Total Wine. Mild aroma of Belgian yeast, hops and fruit. Flavor is pretty good for an American attempt at a saison. Not up to the level of a Du Pont, but tasty, enjoyable, and extremely drinkable. Notes of Belgian yeast, candy sugar, spicy hops, and a great alcohol hit buried inside. Really nice on a hot Florida day. Excellent.