Clipper City Heavy Seas Red Sky At Night

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

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.

Light cloudy yellow, thin head. Funky, grassy aroma. Light bitter taste, sweet finish. Some bubblegum in there as well.

Tallahassee, Fl. - Market Sqaure Liquors - 12 oz bottle. Dark golden. slightly murky pour with a slight white head - thin lacing. Alcoholy aroma with hints of cloves and bubble gum. Sticky flavor with some bubble gum, candied sugar and banana with a spicy back end. Kind of like a strong American Wheat. Alcohol apparant. Sticky mouthfeel, but slightly harsh. Overall, decent.

A spicy, fruity saison? Not quite what the bottle led me to think, but a nice drink nonetheless. Didn’t see any yeast, but the pour was a wee bit cloudy orange. Too much carbonation up front, but then it mellowed, leaving a peppery sweetness.

The Lure:
No head whatsoever atop the citrusy hop dough. Malt husks appear, but aren’t sure of what surrounds them.

The Festivities:
The quiet mouthfeel points much more towards bière de garde to me in its maltiness and carbonation level. Pineapple sweetness blends well with the coriander and the miscellaneous hops. Diplomatic alcohol warming accompanies the quizzical serenity.

Transcendence:
After the storm, a strange, soothing calm looms over the scattered debris.

2004 bottle. Aroma before even pouring gives off a cinnamon and candied apple note, lots of candi sugar, tons of yeast. Light hoppiness to start the flavor, which progresses well in to a sweet candied belgian ale of sorts. Sticky sweetness and a chewy texture thanks to the carapils make this a thick saison. Good medium-full body. There are some grassy/herbal notes on the finish, light lemony and peppery, which seem to provide only a glimpse at the style. The rest of the beer is heavy belgian yeast, candi sugar and strongly sweet pils malt. Some esters on the end, light bubblegum and some clove. Appearance is highly filtered! but. . . but. . .I love it! I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a highly filtered belgian beer this much (ok, I can it was Rodenbach Grand Cru) but anyways, you get the point. For a filtered and clear belgian ale, this is quite stupendous. There is a sharp undercurrent of alcohol notes and the bittering hops are not melded well enough with the rest of the body. It seems most like a saison right on the first couple of flavors that hit the palate and then again on the aftertaste. Regardless, this beer has made me write a lot, I’ve drank it quite quickly too. Whatever the hell it is, it’s damned good, even with all of its crazy out of style characteristics and minor brewing flaws. I think overall, this beer is better than its score inidicates.

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

A hazy golden ale with a thin white head. A pleasant cloves and bananas in aroma, with light vanilla notes. In mouth, a restrained spicy malt, with light herbal notes, good alcohol in final. Medium bodied. Middle of the road Saison.