Heavy Seas - Below Decks (Barley Wine Style Ale) - Heavy Seas Beer

NEhophead

Massachusetts

3.08/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Creamy white head with pools of bubbles, that dissipate within a moment. Spotted and thin lacing with decent strength. A burgundy-tinted bronze in color with a few chunks of floating sediment.

Semi-sweet caramel malt aroma with traces of ripe, vinous fruit: grape, cherry, plum, apple. Not too fragrant.

Unsweetened apple, plum, grape. Notes of meaty raisin flavors. A rather bland, light caramel maltiness. Light citrus (lemon and lime) followed by a powdery chlorine-tasting astringency. Noxious bleach-like flavor that leaves a dry finish. The aftertaste is orange and apple soaked in pool water.

Medium bodied; filmy and slick on the palate.

Plain and simple...this is not a pleasant tasting barleywine. The flavors are bland and reminiscent of chemicals. One to avoid and made to walk the plank.

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2006 02:38:34 | More by NEhophead

ybnorml

Rhode Island

2.93/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A clean brown beer with amber highlights. Has a good creamy off white head. Very light aroma, some malt sweetness, hop bitterness and a disturbing corn note in the background. No real distinct flavors. Again some malt sweetness, a light hop bite on the finish, that nagging little corn note in the back and the alcohol burn. Maybe it will blossom next year but it doesn't have alot to work with.

Serving type: bottle

01-18-2006 00:08:10 | More by ybnorml

hustlemuscle

Ohio

3.18/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I was disappointed with this beer, a downer from an otherwise solid, solid brewery. I hope that it wants a little time alone in the dark, aging with others of it's kind.

Amber, with golden highlights, but minimal head and carbonation. Hoppy and vineous to the nose, alchohol takes the drivers seat on the tastebuds. A bit bland overall, no real flavor, unfortunatly. Fairly easy to drink, apart from the lack of taste. A bit light and thin.

Serving type: bottle

01-05-2006 02:27:44 | More by hustlemuscle

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.2/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

I am drinking a 12 oz bottle poured into a Ommegang Three Philosophers goblet.

Appearance: Dark amber in color, it is not as dark as I would expect a barleywine to be. It poured with a vigourous head that quickly dissapated.

Smell: A very muted malt aroma makes its way from the glass. As it warms, a pleasant spiciness emerges (combination of hops and spice).

Taste: As with the smell, a little muted and reserved. The taste is more of an amber ale than a barleywine. The malt character is just enough to push it from an ale to a barleywine. A big plus IMO is that the high 11% abv does not make itself known and overpower the already muted flavors.

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is where the alcohol makes itself known, leaving an astringent taste in the mouth.

Drinkability: Drinkability is hurt by the 11% abv that knocks one down rather quickly. Despite that, the flavor of the ale is such that one could sit and drink one or two.

I'm gonna lay a bottle or two done for a few months to see if age improves the character of this barleywine. I will re-review the beer then.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2006 18:52:28 | More by akorsak

gbarron

Georgia

3.38/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Overall, this is a very tasty beer, but a little bit of a letdown considering Clipper City's other tasty offerings recently like Loose Cannon. Your basic barleywine. I was not blown away, but definitely a beer I would gladly drink if offered.

Appearance - perfectly clear, dark ruby. Not much head, just a small ring of bright white. A little bit of lace going down the glass.

Nose - some hops, a little malt. Much less than anticipated given the style. Some sweetness of cotton candy, bubble gum, candi sugar. A little bit of hops, hard to place the variety. Alcohol in the nose, but not overwhelming.

Taste - balance tilts in favor of the hops here, which is unusual (IMHO) for most other barleywines I've tasted (like Dominion's Millenium). Bitterness dominates the malt. Malty sweetness in the aftertaste. Not much flavoring hops, mostly bittering. Some caramel, pine, currant.

Mouthfeel - full bodied beer, alcohol warmth on the tongue. A little bit of tingling from the CO2. Sweet stickiness afterwards.

Drinkability - a very drinkable beer, but not going to be my first choice in barleywines. Two would fill you up (not to mention put you under the table).

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2005 01:17:41 | More by gbarron

cubedbee

Maryland

3.98/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

12 oz bottle, poured into a snifter, this is a very dark clear amber with a surprisingly thick finger of head, decent retention, and some pretty nice lacing. Nose is very muted, a slightly sweet malt, some spicey hops, a hint of alcohol. Taste is a light fruity malt, tropical and citrus fruits, slowly giving way to a nice piney hops presense leaving a nice bitter aftertaste awash slightly with alcohol. Mouthfeel is medium with a fairly smooth slick taste. Alcohol stays fairly well hidden, never more than just a hint in the finish. I find most Barleywines to be unbalanced--American ones are great hopmonsters while English ones tend to be very sweet to the point of cloying. This is a very well-balanced alternative, maybe lacking in some of the intensity of flavor a lot of Barleywines have, but a pretty good attempt from Clipper City at the style.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2005 12:03:28 | More by cubedbee

ScarletLady

Maryland

3.95/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I had the chance to sample this on tap at Clipper City brewery and was very happy with it. It is no your average barley wine which is why I think I liked it so much. The color was a deep amber, not much head ( I wasn't expecting any). It is thinner than other barley wines and not as sweet, nor did it smell as sweet.

I tried it both cold and at near room temperature. The warmer sample had a much spicier and complex flavor. (forgive me I am still learning to match words with what I taste) But both were very smooth and drinkable. You don't realize the amount of alcohol that is there. I haven't tried it out of the bottle yet but was overall very happy with it.

Serving type: on-tap

12-15-2005 21:42:33 | More by ScarletLady

Dithyramb

Maryland

4.3/5  rDev +18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Brown 12oz. bottle and part of a 4 pack. This one is a one-off release as part of the 10 year celebration of Clipper City. Poured light brown with red highlights. The off-white head was very short lived, but there was some clingy drapes of lacing as the brew progressed.

Smell of mostly caramel. Once it warms a bit, there are some herbally hops in there ars well.

Very well rounded flavor. Initially, it is all malt. Comes off mostly a fruity and caramelly mix that is sweet yet not cloying. There is some hop bite that is herbally/citrusy in nature, but it is more subdued.

Smooth, yet average, mouthfeel. Goes down quickly and easily. The high ABV is extremely well hidden--there wasn't any overtly boozy flavor or any mouth warming properties. The run of the mill, balanced flavor is spot on for an English Barleywine and reminds me of several I had while in England. Since it isn't the boozy hopmonster that American Barleywines are, I found it to be highly drinkable. Drank two before dinner just last night. Some interesting things may come about as it ages too.

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2005 14:27:14 | More by Dithyramb

chOAKbarrell

Maryland

2.73/5  rDev -24.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Sometimes there's just not a whole lot to say about a beer. This is one of those times.

Really, really average, straight across the board, except for the taste & mouth, which are below average. There's not a whole lot of flavor - just a lot of alcohol and some hops. Somewhat-bitter lingering aftertaste. The mouthfeel is suprisingly thin.

I guess its a good thing that this beer only comes in a 4 pack. I cant imagine anyone would want more than that.

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2005 01:45:29 | More by chOAKbarrell

Higravity

Michigan

2.75/5  rDev -24%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Well I hate to trash a local favorite brewery but this beer is sub-par. Like their Peg-Leg Imperial Stout there are many levels of things that just stop too short of being good.

The apperance is pretty nice a solid depp amber with a whitish head but no lacing and the head leaves the party very fast. The smell is muted, there is a presence of piney hops and alcohol and some maltyness, but everything is dulled. A confused brew, the alcohol shines through and the hops give a decent bite but the malt seems too lax and isn't up to the challenge of containing the alcohol. The body is almost no-exsistant, too watery for style and really hurt the flavor. Best to see if this improves any, I will see another bottle in a few months.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2005 13:50:12 | More by Higravity

MaltyGoodness

Pennsylvania

3.2/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

12oz. bottle

Pours a clear brown-orange with a white head that fades. Nice lacing on the glass.

Smells of sweet malt and herbal hops. Some caramel tones present as well.

Taste is immediately sweet and malty followed by a big hop bite and a rush of bitterness. Seems a little unbalanced. I'll let the other bottles sit for a while, as the hops should mellow. My guess is that it's young.

Body is average for style.

High ABV and the average flavor will help limit me at one. Just an average barleywine at this point. We'll see how it ages and my opinion may change.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2005 02:09:04 | More by MaltyGoodness

Wildman

Ohio

3.63/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This beer poured a clear medium amber color with little carbonation present. It formed an off white foamy head that left circular lace as it subsided. An aroma of malts, hops, caramel and slightly burnt butterscotch aspect to it. The flavor was of malt, hops, wood(?pine) with a touch of caramel. The body was a bit thinner than usual for style and the finish had a stlight astrigent, yet burnt aspect to it. As with all barleywines, this one may just be young and improve with age. Will try a bottle later in the season and see if it improves.

Serving type: bottle

12-07-2005 22:15:13 | More by Wildman