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

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

Clear warm reddish-amber with frothy tan head. Lively fruity aromas wafting from glass. Lychee, pear, grape, then revealing a spicy hop background. Very quaffable mouthfeel with soft and gentle carbonation. Very fruity with alcohol dryness in the finish after a clean, earthy middle.

Cloudy reddish brown, almost no head. Nice aroma of floral hops, chocolate, caramel, perhaps some bourbon, not neccessarily in that order. Earthy and filling, with a resiny hops dominating the flavor. some unidentfied spicy, peppery notes in the finish. Best by April 2007.

12 oz bottle from mcbackus; Nose of flowery hops and caramel with some dark fruit and sweet citrus thrown in; (almost barleywineish) Hazy tarnished copper colorwith a medium straw head; flavor has hop bitterness, toffee, and light sweet fruitiness; finish is nmildly bitter.

The aroma is hoppy with toasted malt, caramel, and a touch of yeast. The appearance is deep amber with a brown hue and an OK looking head. The flavor is like the aroma and quite bitter. The palate is smooth. Overall it’s good.

Fruity, mostly western hop aroma over caramel. Orangey, with a big bone head, kinda fun label. Strong and metallic, brothy grapefruit acidity and some other off flavors. Thickish mouthfeel, long finish where the English hops come through finally. I didn’t like this.

[1889-20081206] Cask. Toasted hoppy yeast aroma. Clear, dark red body with quick off-white bubbles. Boozy heavy sweet yeast flavour has lots of toasted grains throughout. Medium-full body. Warming.
(@ Cole’s; Buffalo, NY)

12 ounce bottle - $1.79 at Hop City in Atlanta, Georgia. Purchase Before: February 2010. Appearance: Pours out a translucent, darkened amber body with a finger-high, off-white head. Very thin, very sheer lacing on the way down. Smell: Well-toasted malts seasoned with sugar and spice and a small dash of dried citrus peels, with just hint of alcohol in the background. Taste: Malt profile tasting of deeply toasted and subsequently crushed bread crusts sweetened with a generous mixture of both brown sugar and common, ordinary, everyday table sugar. Slight fruitiness. Earthy, zesty, citrusy hop profile with a medium-high bitterness. The initial sweet, sugary quality comes straight back into the taste alongside the persistent bitterness for a bittersweet, lightly crisp finish at the end. Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium-plus carbonation. Drinkability: It’s alright, I suppose. It’s sweet, it’s got ample bitterness, and alcohol (though thankfully not anymore than it does). Personally, I’ve never been overly enamored with the Heavy Seas line-up, but you could certainly do alot worse than this.

Imperial ESB? Why not! Bottle shared with Hogtown Harry, Jerc, MDS, Harry’s bottle. Dark orange, small frothy white head. Spicy hop aroma, some malt. Nice hoppy taste - lots of bready malt. Soft, some alcohol. Very drinkable. Nice stuff.