Clipper City McHenry Old Baltimore Style Beer

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

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with jasonp, thanks Jason!) Oh boy, this pale lager is a pretty bad beer. It’s pale golden in color and crystal clear, which allows me to see the occasional carbonation bubble rising through the beer. The whitish head pours to a finger’s width and quickly settles to a thin, filmy layer. It basically smells and tastes like a cheap lager, mostly just grainy with a bit of lightly sweet corn and a slight bitterness. Light bodied with an awful aftertaste. Hopefully this "Old Baltimore Style Beer" never makes a big resurgence.

Bottle: Pours to a totally clear golden yellow with some light orange highlights and a small , quickly disappating white head. The aroma is moist grains, sweat, a hint of pepper, and barely detectable hops. The taste is slightly sweet grains without much richness to them, a very light floral/grass hops, and peppery yeast. Light bodied, watery, but not overcarbonated! This is not an American Dark Lager.

Wow, not very good, definately one of the least flavorful beers I have ever consumed. However, I was having it with a bar burger flavored with caraway seeds, and it seemed to go pretty well with the rye flavor. But it is a lager, so it would go well with any flavorful food. At any rate, not the greatest dark lager, but a nice representation of an older style of beer that was brewed with more frequency many years ago.

em, i know that i am biased against lager, so i won’t trash it too hard. not the worst lager, but difficult to enjoy.

Pale straw. My first impression: A little bit watery and uncomplex. Tastes slightly sweet, but there are also some good grain, rye, and malt flavors mingling here. I agree with the tasters who found the carbonation a bit artificial, reminiscent of club soda. Overall, a little rough around the edges, acceptable for a throwback beer.

12 oz bottle(best before 6/05: Deep gold w/a lasting white head. DMS/corn w/ a medium spicy/floral noble hop aroma. Also a hint of metallic along with the lightly grainy malt aroma. Well balanced w/a grainy malt flavor up front that lasts into the finish. Some baked corn in the finish, which is semi dry and lightly pleasantly bitter; Corn flavor lasts into the aftertaste. Clean otherwise, no fruitiness. Lighter body, higher carb., and slightly dry m/f. I wasn’t sure how this was classified since I’m copying handwritten notes, but I guessed it was a corn Bo. Pils from the bitterness or a Pre Prohibition Pils due to all the corn characteristic. I see now that it’s a PPP, and not a bad one!

There was a quick skunk smell as soon as I opened the bottle. Freshness date was 4/1/05. Could have been a bad batch. Very light in taste, but not bad, just not great. Enough effervescence to make it interesting. This is the lightest "Dark Lager" I’ve ever seen as it was a bit darker that Coors Light.

Not bad at all.... thought it would be a bit higher than the ratings. Mild in flavor and easy to drink but still good.