Clipper City Reserve Winter Ale

Formerly brewed at Clipper City Brewing Co.
Style: English Strong Ale
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Red-brown malty ale with an e-n-o-r-m-o-u-s bitterness. Tasty, but IMO not balanced.

Very good winter beer. Deep brown color, aroma loaded with caramel malts. on tasting it, you find there’s enough hops in there to balance the malt nicely. good mouthfeel followed by bitter aftertaste.

This beer rocks! Crystal clear, copper ale with a small, creamy, white head. Decent retention; good lacing. The nose is of caramel, toffee and Winter spices. The flavor starts off sweet, but is balanced nicely by a generous hop addition. Notes of toffee and buttermilk. Also, something leathery. Medium-bodied with an oily mouthfeel and lively carbonation. Short, clean, dry finish. World class Winter warmer!

Pours brown with a sparse head. Smells of earthy malt and pepper. Tastes bitter with some hint of watery caramel on the finish.

Poured a copper color with a small white head and nice lacing. Hops, and tropical fruit aroma. Smooth, citrusy, grapefruit taste with a rather quick finish.

Pours a deep reddish brown. Somewhat translucent even though the minute amount of sediment was emptied into my glass. Hop bitterness is the dominant scent but there is a slight malt sweetness underneath. Tastes hoppy but is very smooth. Evident citrus taste with spice intruding. Possibly coriander or nutmeg. Has a mustiness or moldiness about it in the taste that is hard for me to define. It does not ruin the beer or make it undrinkable, it's just hard for me to put my finger on. Finishes sour with a definite lingering aftertaste.

The beer pours a winsome deep burnished copper color, the head walloping in size, spumous in texture and a light tan in color, with the lace a glutinous sheet that occults the glass. Floral aromas up front, sweet malt underneath, clean fresh and quite appealing to the senses, with a large malt and slightly sweet start. Top is skinny in feel, and the hops vigorous in the spicy bite, the acidity tolerable and the aftertaste droughty and long lasting, a quite drinkable and refreshing brew from a decent brewery.

2002 Batch:
Brilliant copper colour with ruby highlights when held up to a light and a perfect head--2 centimetres tall, VERY small bubbles and a great tan colour, leaving a great lacing on the glass. Smells of hops, sweet spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, anise), caramel and a healthy dose of malt. Full-bodied; Strong flavour consisting of alcohol, malt, hops and a fair amount of the spices detected in the nose. Aftertaste consists of bittering malt, decently strong hops and a taste of the alcohol. A pretty good beer for the style, but not perfect. The flavour in the taste and aftertaste is sub-par, but the appearance and aroma are spot-on! If you are looking for a good beer to try in the autumn/winter, and live in the Mid-Atlantic Region, definately pick this one up! I bought this 12 ounce beer at Total Wine in Chantilly, Virginia and sampled it on 3-September-2003.