Clipper City Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3

Brewed by Clipper City Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Draft @ Hard Times Cafe - College Park. Bottles coming in 3 weeks. Medium coppery gold, creamy custard white head (great lacing). The nose was very hop friendly with loads of fresh white grapefruit, touches of earth and florals, hints of pineapple, with a light nutty caramel tone layered just below the surface. Upfront, fresh hop flavors (grapefruit and soft pineapple) dominate without a major bite, some light earthy tones play out in the middle, and a light sweet caramel malt bring it all together extremely well. Medium bodied, pillow soft carbonation, drying bittersweet finish. This may be the best beer of the Heavy Seas line so far. A great everyday IPA that Clipper should be proud of...

cloudy off golden almost a light orange pour w/ a nice white head and some decent lacing. Full floral hop nose lots of grapefruit a touch of strawberyy soem cereals, quite nice. Nice full coated palate lightly carbonated. Flavor is full of cereal and some light grapefruits touches of pine and hints of strawberry. Quite nice and easy to drink. Good stuff.

This IPA pours a little clearer than I would expect from a good one, copper with good carbonation and a medium, creamy off white head. The aroma is very strong and typical of an IPA. Very sharp hop bitterness in the aroma, grapefruit, slight alcohol, pine. The flavor is very bitter and also typical of an IPA, which I am no fan of. A slight fruityness and sweetness is there, the alcohol is fairly subdued for the amount it says there is, bitter in the back of your mouth, not a whole lot of complexity just pretty much all up front hop. The mouthfeel is also typical, waxy and bitter with a warming finish. Probably one of their more solid beers.

12 oz bottle from Crown Liquors. Lightly hazy light amber/orange in color with a medium off white head. Aroma: bright citrus and flowers up front- with some light pale malt and biscuity malts in the background. Taste is light sweet with alot of citrus, flowers, light resin, with a moderate pale malt sweetness in the background. Hop character is moderately assertive, and this is very well balanced overall. Finishes with a smooth bitterness and lingering light pine resin. A pretty solid IPA.

Purchase before month notched: Sep ’07. 12oz bottle courtesy of Ryan (artusory), thank you. Slightly hazy orange with a thick film of off-white yellow for a head, quickly fading to a ring. Aroma shows this isn’t the freshest, but it doesn’t really smell all old and stale like a lot of IPAs with some age do. Lots of orange and grapefruity hops up front with a bit of spice. I feel breweries do a good job melding the aromas/flavors together when I think I smell sweet hops, and this happens here. The caramel sweetness seems to be both from caramel and from the hops. Also there’s a bit of cotton candy. Unfortunately, the flavor doesn’t live up to the hoppiness of the aroma. There is some grapefruit rind and pine, but both seem to be a shadow of their former selves in the aroma. Flavor seems to be more dominated by caramel. There is also a bit of bitter earth in the semi dry finish. Bitterness peaks at a 3-4, but mainly in the finish. Body is a bit thin with low carbonation. Would’ve been good if I had stopped after sniffing it.

12oz Bottle. A very nice, gooey hop aroma. Succulent spring creosote bush, cactus flowers, and maple sap. Floral, spice and citrus amalgamate. Pours a pale orange, with a wonderful off-white soap that builds and stay. Lacing the glass slowly. Flavor is complementary. A rather robust malt and sugar profile hold up a hop flavor that stays in a spice note, but develops some metallic character. Chewy. Not overly sweet. Smacks in pear flesh. Grassy and dry in the back end. A middle amount of creaminess comes from the body of the beer. I could use just an edge more hop flavor from the initial presentation. Alcohols add complexity and appreciated warmth. In total, there is something about the combined effect of the beer that is dusty and dull. A papery dryness in the roof of my mouth that prevents the sugars from seeming clear and pure and the hops from maintaining quality. Otherwise, this is a mostly delightful IPA.

Thanks to kmweaver for sending this for free! Clear amber, fairly large head, decent lacing. Aroma is a blast of hops... tons of grapefruit and other tropical fruits with citrus notes. The bitterness dances on the tongue with a slightly syrupy body. Even now with the beer long gone the flavor is lingering. I love it. Very one dimensional, but very good. Damn I wish this was a local beer.

12 oz bottle: poured cloudy orange with a small quickly dissipating white head. Citrusy, grapefruit hop aroma. Nice. Flavor is pretty much all juicy citrusy hops. Slightly dry at first but then a bit sweeter on subsequent sips. Quite a nice IPA and very drinkable.