Clipper City Heavy Seas Small Craft Warning

Brewed by Clipper City Brewing Co.
Style: European Strong Lager
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Pours deep golden in color, with a nicely dense head, mild retention and nice lace. I get some soap to the nose, intermixed with hops. A nice pils, decently hopped, with a good amount of malts. There is a hint of soapy sweetness upfront, and a good bitter back. Feels nice and heavy-ish for a pils, and this matches the complexity. Nicely done.

I’ve played with the Clipper City Heavy Seas variety case and initially I was drawn to other beers but this one seems to stand out the most. It is basically a pils packed with complex flavors whether they be that grapefruit and citrus tone which glides with a finish that has bitter aspects but is superbly balanced with an orange-peel like flavor. The finish is medium-its not watered down and its not too dry. There is some grassiness here which brings down the other elements I listed above.

From the 12oz bottle. Pours a deep copper with a frothy two-finger ivory head. Lacy. Smells of nothing but sweet citrusy hops. Taste is of bitter citrus hops. Biting grapefruit-like hops. Rich crisp malt. Long hops finish. Full bodied beer. A good imperial pilsener and reasonably priced to boot. Good stuff.

The beer pours a shade of orange - a bit darker than expected for a beer called an uber "pils" - with a thick white head. The foam consists of a lot of large bubbles, though, and doesn’t last long. The aroma is a bit weak - like a continental pils (I was really hoping for a big cone-of-saaz in your nose czech-style pils). The mouthfeel is a little thin and overcarbonated (tingles too much - adds some acid flavor on the tip of the tongue). The beer is decently hopped with noble hops and is decently malty. The finish is dry and earthy (from noble hop bitterness). Overall it is very decent. I can see why they call it uber-pils / pilsner bock. It isn’t remotely as malty as a bock - but has its strength added with qualities of a northern german pils. The beer’s flavor does hide its alcohol content rather well.

Poured from bottle. I smell hops, malt and...anchovies??? Nah, couldnt be. Kinda closer to an IPA to me, but with a roasty quality. Minimal lacing. Something spicy in the aftertaste, but I don’t know what. Very good -not sure it can be put into a category, but I like.

This bottle was labelled "Uber Pils." Clear gold with a medium white head. Clean and fresh aroma of grass and hay. Medium body with a reasonable clean malty base, not watery or overly light. There was a bit of a soapy flavor, but mostly a lightly bitter hop character that led to a clean and refreshing finish. Not a bad effort, and I would have it again.

Golden orange with white head, it smell like skunky grass. Weird metallic hoppy taste, with quick sweetness. $2/12oz

12 oz bottle-Poured a clear golden yellow w/a small white head. Decent malted aroma. Somewhat grassy sweet malted taste. Some Hops to balance it out. Sweet finish, too sweet really, kind of thin & weak. Nothing wrong with it, you can drink it, but nothing special. Seems overrated to me