Clipper City Heavy Seas Below Decks

Brewed by Clipper City Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Pours a deep brown with a reddish tinge to it. A thin halo of cream colored bubbles makes up the head. Nice nose of caramel, dried fruit and a touch of sweet cereal. The flavor is extremely smooth and more mellow than the nose. Almost no bitterness making it more English, which I prefer. An extra point for the almost complete lack of bite that one would expect from an 11% beer. A little sharp on the palate from carbonation. Very solid beer. The low rating is surprising.

Draft @ Monster B’s. This is a sneaky barleywine. When I first tasted it, I thought to myself "was I served the right beer?" I mean, the beer had a nice dark brown body, no head. But the bite of most barleywines was missing. Sneaky sneaky sneaky. Floral taste, and the 11% ABV is SNEAKY!

Pours a dark brown, fairly clear. No head at all. Extremely malt nose. Heavy caramel with some bread. Ugh, mouth is extreme sugar. Like a mouth full of Belgian candy sugar. Think slightly toasted cotton candy. No hop presence at all. Surprisingly light mouth feel. Slight carbonation is present. Ugh, this is pretty bad. Barley wine isn’t my favorite, but this stuff is truly awful! No complexity, just sugary malt.

Very good balance of flavors and aromas. Nothing in particular sticks out, but it is an easy sipping beer with big alcohol in the background. Hints of nut and fruit top this off well.

Typical look for the style. The smell however is a tad sweet and funky. This is not for me, not my style, and even then its worse than most Bwines.

Decent start to the head, but it settles to a single layer of fine bubbles. Strong sugary aroma of molasses and toffee. A rich, sweet beer. Heavy body with a light amount of carbonation. Interestingly, the alcohol is muted, perhaps due to the extreme nature of the sugar. This finishes like a Port.

Bottle from tarheels86. I liked this really well, actually. Sad the ratings are so low. Nose is underwhelming but that is the only weak part. Color is a nice blackish garnet. Flavor is fig, slight burn, sweet roast, and the aftertaste of those strawberry candies you get at Halloween. Smooth but rather full. Hides the 11% like a champ.

’08 bottle. Translucent brown body with a minimal white head and spotty lacing. Aromas of barnyard & basement aromas, cheap canned pineapple juice. Somewhat sweet. None too bitter or sour. Minimal hops and unusual malt presence. Somewhat of a challenge to drink.