Bottle Conditioned

I love Clipper City beers. The Hop3 IPA is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, IPAs. Their Saison is strong, perhaps not the best, but very good. So, when I was in Charleston this past week and saw this beer by Clipper City, I had to have it.

So, as I sit here sipping it from a snifter, I thought I’d write a few words about how it tastes…after all, isn’t that the reason this blog is here?

So, on with the notes:

Appearance: The beer pours a nice medium brown color, which is slightly hazy due in part to the large amount of wheat in the grain bill. A swirly wispy head lays quietly across the top, making its light brown presence just slightly known.

Aroma: The aroma is complex. I first noticed that it resembled a Barleywine in some respects, with a lot of dark fruit and some raisin. Not much in the way of alcohol. There is also a nice layer of spice across the background - cinnamon and some nutmeg.

Taste: The thick and slick mouthfeel gives way to a hearty body. Alcohol finally appears in the taste, but in balance. Dark fruit still shows up, but not as heavy as in the nose. A nice layer of bitterness lays across the middle of the tongue, sliding back and letting go fairly quickly on the finish, giving way to a long fruity finish. Some caramel sits sweetly in the middle of the mouth. The wheat in the beer definitely shows up, and to my taste, might be slightly much. It comes across quite spicy and meaty in the middle of the beer and tends to temporarily throw the beer out of balance slightly. Maybe it’s just me.

Overall, it’s a good beer. Not blowing my mind, but good. One thing I’ll say is that it’s certainly a sipping beer. At 10% ABV, that probably goes without saying, but it’s even less quaffable than a Barleywine or Dubbel at a similar strength. The only thing that I find a bit intrusive is the wheat. No doubt, the style is supposed to have the wheat presence, but in this amount, it’s a bit distracting.

Recommended to try, but probably not going to be a mainstay in your cellar.

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