Clipper City Peg Leg

I haven't made it any secret how I feel about Clipper City as a brewery. They are one of the local breweries that I consider to be among the top nationwide, especially when it comes to consistent quality of their offerings. Although they might not all be the best renditions of a particular style that I've ever had, they always are flavorful and good. I picked up a 6-pack of Peg Leg to give to a guy in California who is a fan of Imperial Stouts. I don't think that I had ever tried it before, but it was pretty highly rated, and I trust Clipper City.

The smell of the beer is not weak, but not exactly strong. There's a healthy dose of roasted malts, coffee and chocolate, and a sweetness that evokes a fruity sense, possibly of cherry or fig. There's not much else beyond that in complexity, but possibly a touch of alcohol.

The first taste of the beer offers a toasted bread quality, backed up by a mild caramel sweetness. Shortly after the roast kicks in full gear, with a present but not overbearing bitterness. Beyond this is a dash of chocolate, and a smooth overall silkiness. The aftertaste had a lingering smokiness to it as well. I felt that it could possibly have used some coffee flavor as well, and a bit more bitterness, but even though it was a bit on the sweet side for the style it was far from cloying. Don't expect this one to be a crazy over-the-top Russian Imperial Stout.

In the mouth the beer has a medium body, not as thick as many in the style. There's a moderate level of carbonation to match. There's a slick coating in the mouth as well, combined with just a touch of warmth in the throat. It's on the wet side a bit as well.

Overall, it's an enjoyable beer, although not the intense RIS that some brewers tend to make. I would consider this an every day Imperial Stout. I wouldn't place this at the top of Clipper City's offerings. Honestly, this probably belongs more at the high end of a regular stout rather than an Imperial. It would make a decent introduction to the style, or be great when you want a flavorful stout that doesn't fill you up too much. It also goes great with food for that reason. If you go into the glass expecting that rather than a boozy, bitter, thick stout, you won't be disappointed.

- Adam

Clipper City Loose Cannon

I'm just getting back from a trip to Virginia with my wife and some friends. It was a good time filled with memorable events, but it also gave me the opportunity to try some different beers and pick up some new things that I normally wouldn't get in Delaware. However, today's review has nothing to do with those. Even though the trip was enjoyable, it feels good to be home, and as such I'm relaxing for the evening with another favorite local standby, Clipper City's Loose Cannon. This beer is an IIPA, and one of my favorite offerings from the brewery.

Initially the beer has a grapefruit character mixed with a vinous quality. It's a thick and full hoppy smell if that makes much sense. As it sits it becomes more leafy and open, allowing a bit of bready malt to come though as well. As expected, the hops dominate the nose, so there's not much room for anything else.

The first taste offers a bit of mild citrus flavor, followed by a gripping bitterness as it's swallowed. Although there does seem to be some caramel and bready flavors in there, again it's really the hops that dominate the mouth. It's a pleasantly sharp flavor, but be careful because it will just about ruin your palate if you're going to try anything else in close succession.

The beer is medium bodied, and not very heavily carbonated. I actually prefer this in my beers, although I know others do not. I find that it can distract from the flavors if the beer is highly carbonated. This beer evokes somewhat of a cask feel, perhaps like it would have been on a ship transported from England back when IPAs were first created.

Overall this is another excellent offering from Clipper City. I've been consistently impressed with their Heavy Seas series, in fact I don't think there has been one that I didn't like yet. This is definitely one of the under-appreciated breweries of the East Coast, pick it up for sure if you can.

- Adam

Clipper City Black Cannon

Black Cannon is part of the Heavy Seas line of Clipper City beers, a brewery which has established itself among my local favorites. Although they tend to not put out a lot of over the top beers, what they do offer is generally a good, flavorful example of the style that's well done and balanced. Black Cannon specifically is a Black IPA, sometimes called an IBA, and is one of the currently more trendy styles out there. As would be expected, the beer pours a very dark brown, nearly black, and supports a small light tan head with moderately low retention.

The first thing that I noticed upon pouring was a distinct hoppy presence, more reminiscent of the fresh hops that I often use in homebrewing than the more common aromas found in a finished beer. There's a poignant citrus quality to it, leading me to believe that it may be Amarillo or one of the West Coast "C" hops.

A touch of biscuit malt hits the tongue initially, with just a hint of acrid roast up front, followed by a strong mix of hop and roast bitterness in the back of the mouth. I felt like there might have been just a touch of a medicinal flavor as well that I couldn't quite put my finger on. While decidedly not a sweet beer, it felt only slightly more balanced to the hoppy side to me. One thing I will say is that the "black" flavors (roast, coffee, chocolate, etc.) don't come through all that strongly in this beer. If you were drinking this beer without seeing it, you might not even realize that it's not just a Pale Ale or IPA. That's not to say that those flavors don't exist in the beer, just that they are fairly subtle.

It's a little sticky in the mouth, while initially feeling fairly light to medium bodied and a bit dry, after swallowing it leaves an oiliness. Still, from the flavor and lack of heat, I never would have guessed that this beer was over 7% ABV. While it may not be the best Black IPA I've had, it has a strong and robust flavor while remaining fairly drinkable. I could see myself putting a couple of these away in a single night. In fact, something about it reminds me of my own homebrewed Pale Ale, a beer I can drink all night long without getting tired of it. While Black Cannon might not be in the upper echelons of Black IPAs, it's certainly a decent session offering if you want to try the style out.

- Adam

Clipper City Red Sky At Night

When I was in high school Solomon and I always used to joke along with our friend Ben about the Clipper City brand. This was when none of us knew anything about beer, and Solomon's parents would occasionally get stuff from them to drink. Since none of us had ever heard of Clipper City before, I guess we kind of just assumed it was crap. So when I saw Clipper City beer at State Line, I really wasn't all that interested in trying it out. However, when I was reading an article about saisons online, Clipper City's Red Sky At Night came up. It perked my interest up, so I decided to buy it next time I was there.

The beer poured a deep golden color, very clear despite the yeast the bottle is conditioned with. I didn't get any head out of a normal pour. There's just a little dusting of bubbles on the top.

The smell of the beer is a mixture of slightly sweet hay and horse blanket. It's a smell that's both sweet and sour, with some hints of the alcohol as well. I think I smelled a little bit of apple juice in there too. The smell of a saison is generally one of my favorite parts, since there's a exhilarating sort of wildness to it. This is supposed to come from the wild yeast used in making the beer. This is one style that I'm very interested in trying to make at some point.

The taste at first is of grain, a bit sour. It's got somewhat of a biscuit quality to it. I thought I got a touch of white grape as well, but barely noticeable. There's a touch of bitterness on the back of the tongue, but this tastes more like it's from yeast than from hops. I noticed a slight bit of alcohol in the flavor, and possibly some apricot. It also seemed to be a little bit watery.

The beer has a good medium body and a decently strong level of carbonation. There's a nice smooth coating left over the teeth. It's a bit warming in the throat, not surprising since it's a bit on the strong side. It weights in at 7.5%.

Overall it's a good offering for my first beer from Clipper City. It's a decent flavor, but not the strongest, and although it's not the best saison I've ever had it's still very good. It's very easy to drink since it's not overwhelming, but at the same time it would be hard to drink too many because of the alcohol content. If it had a bit less alcohol in it, I could drink them all night. I could definitely stand to go back to this one a few times in the future.

- Adam