Clipper City Heavy Seas Red Sky At Night

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

From Taco Mac in Atlanta. Gold pour. Light head. Caramel malt and floral hops. No real funk here, maybe a hint of lemony tartness on the nose. Flavor is a bit on the sweet side and has a slight hop bite at the end...saison? Hmmm, not so sure here.

Bottle. Light musty/pepper aroma. Clear medium yellow color with small head. Musty dry flavor initially followed by a sweet red cherry and light peach flavor. The dry mustiness lasts long after swallowing. Not quite as complex as its Belgian brothers but still very nice.

On tap at RFD during RBSG 2006. Huge banana ester aroma. Some lemon flavor too. Light gold in color with a bit of pepper taste. Boiled parsnip aroma. A tad sweet perhaps. Silky in body with a orange/coriander finish.

Sample at Brew Kettle: Pours a clear orange-gold color with a thin white head that has decent retention. Thin, spotty lacing. Aroma of spices (mostly ginger) and yeast, plus a healthy dose of fruit. Light-bodied and crisp with zesty citrus, wheat and yeast flavors. The finish is tingly on the tongue with a lasting spice finish. I ended up enjoying this one.

In short: A fruity refreshing Saison with a nice farmhouse character. Unfortunately a bit sugary but still pretty nice. Underrated.
How: Bottle 12oz, from RCL, consumed fresh almost immediately upon reception. Thanks a lot Raymond!
The look: A very small white head over a partly cloudy golden blonde body with lots of tiny particles
In long: Interesting nose with cobweb and a freshly baked fruity dessert. True-to-the-style wild Saison wild yeast joined by extra ripe citrus fruits and some pineapples. Strong farmhouse character that lies somewhere between a good French farmhouse Bière De Garde and a good Belgian Saison. Starts fruity and juicy with a rather dry finish. Cobweb in the comeback. If it wasn’t for the sugary malts this would be quite a nice Saison. On this web-site dedicated to the worship of extreme beers this beer is yet another underrated refreshing rustic brew. Although when it comes to a rustic Saison I am as quickly sold as a 80% off pair of shoes in a jewish store.

12-oz.; thanks BeachBum25! Pours a clear medium gold with a splash of qhite bubbles across the top. Definite candi sugar in the nose and to some extent in the palate. Light yeast fragrance at first, starts getting lost in the sugar once you start drinking. Fizzy but not sharply fizzy, nice light clean body. Easy drinking. Some spice and fruit on the tongue--for once I agree with the brewer. Good stuff!

Yeasty nose, a little funky monkey. Cloudy yellow-orange with a milky-white head. Decent texture. Malts were that of wet grains and dough. Herbal, spicy and curiously funky aromas. Didn’t seem at all like 8 or 9 percent.

Pours a clear gold color with bright white head. Early on I smell just sweet sugary malts and a hint of wheat. As the beer warmed the aroma picked up subtle fruity notes. The taste starts off with wheat and sugary sugarness and really not all that farmhouse like. When the beer warmed well above frig temps I started to notice some fruits like banana mixed with sweet apple. Finally when the beer was at room temperature some nice yeasty notes surfaced that merely hinted to the style. Too little too late though.