Clipper City Heavy Seas Winter Storm (2005+ -- Imperial ESB)

Brewed by Clipper City Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Bottle as part of a tasting at Catskeller. Pours clear amber with a small beige head. Aroma of sweet caramel malts, toast, and hops with some booziness. Warming alcohol, bitter hops, and sweet caramel malts make up the flavor of this beer, which has nice balance. Light bodied, and lives up to its "warmer" title. Still, the aroma didn’t do a whole lot and I wasn’t crazy about the taste of this one.

Cask at Churchkey. Cloudy amber with chunks and floaties, medium light tan bubbles, just around the edge of the glass. Aroma of bread and caramel. Nicely hopped but with a good malt balance. Taste has a few splinters of oak, very subtle. Longish bitter finish. Nice enough.

A truly excellent looking beer in the glass: dark amber color, dense white head. Matched with the malted hops aroma a had high hopes for this beer well before the first sip. The taste was remarkable, full bodies and complex, but not overly dry or bitter. In fact it reminded me a little of fine cognac. at the end I was ready to lick out the glass. Cheers.

12 oz. bottle from Mac’s on West Peachtree. Nice dark brown transparent apperance. NIce fluffy head that fades away rather slowly. Nice looking beer I must say. Fairly well balanced in terms of aroma. Lots of low scores on the aroma? A nice balanced sweet malt and hop aroma. Very sweet aroma, almost a fruity sweet aroma. The flavor is decent. Sweet malt and a decent hop flavor. Beer is not exceptionally smooth. Hop flavor fades away rather quickly. A decent ESB with some good hop and malt flavors, but nothing that stands out really.

Poured to a brownish orange with medium off-white head and some lacing. Nose was very hard to detect and the mouthfeel was slightly on the thin side. Taste tried to bring out some caramel hints, as well as a touch of hoppy fruit, but didn’t exceed well. At 7.3% abv, I would have expected either a whiff or taste of alcohol, but got neither. Not surprisingly, finish was somewhat on the short and watery side. Have realoly enjoyed the others I’ve had from Clipper City...this one just missed the mark slightly.

Pours a dark, slightly hazy golden amber/chestnut brown color with a thin fizzy yellow head that quickly fades. Not much in the way of lacing. Bland aroma with some slightly roasted malt notes, subtle hops and sweet alcohol. Nicely balanced medium body with some caramel malt and hazelnut countering a bitter earthy hop presence. The hop bitterness is pretty tame and not too overpowering but lasts throughout. The ABV is pretty well masked with only some slight alcohol warmth.

This beer was dark orange, and decent looking. Smelled like nothing and tasted weird. I guess I don’t understand the point of an imperial ESB, why not just make a good ESB? Why does everything have to be "Imperial"? It tasted alcoholic and sweet. This beer was not my bag. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 09-05-2007 16:09:00

A pale blush red. Large foamy head. Hazy with visible specks of sediment. Thick creamy lace. Great. Malts sweetly toasted caramel, with hints of sweet berries. Light mocha. Grassy, flowery hop presence. A little sweeter than expected but nice. Sweet cherry liqueur in the taste. The malts come in more sweet in the taste. Caramel and mocha give a balance. Sharp spicy hop, earthy and rustic. Leafy. Creamy and rather thick feel. A tiny burn at the swallow. A good, slightly unbalanced drink. Very drinkable but sweeter than it could be.