By Greg B. As part of Clipper City Brewery’s 22oz bomber series of beers, over a year ago they opened up the competition to local homebrews.  The call went out to brew an interesting, tasty and ‘big’ beer, worthy of being part of their Heavy Seas special 22oz bottles.  What came of this competition?  Well, this beer.  The winner was invited to enter the brewery and produce their beer, but in real quantities.  What brewer wouldn’t take the chance at having their beer produced like this!?  And while my beer may not have won the competition, I was curious to see what beer did.  Thus, one year later, the beer has been produced and exported to the shelves, and I eagerly bought a bottle, chilled it, and looked for the opportunity to taste it!

For starters, the beer is delicious.  A thick, 1-2 finger very creamy light tan head emerges as you pour and slowly recedes with excellently thick lacing.  Sweet aromas of toasted malt and residual sugars with some smoked fruit are easily noticeable up front.  The mouthfeel is very creamy and delicious.  It’s refreshing and chewy at teh same time, with a malty taste that is slightly like a milk stout but less sweet, with lots of wheat on the finish (but with some slightly harsh finishing bitters).  The beer finishes very dry for the texture, and it’s definitely a good beer, so I can see why it wont the Letters are Marque from Clipper City!

However, as I drink it and it warms up, more hop aromas express themselves and more hop bitters come out to offer a bite at the finish of each sip.  So, I think this beer was great when it was very chill, but as it warms it seems to lack the expressive roasted malt and toffee complexion of a porter and heads into the ‘black ipa’ territory.  It’s not really what I was expecting or personally enjoy.  The beer had a lot going for it at first, but 22oz is a lot to drink quickly while it’s still cold enough to really be enjoyable.  The beer does pair nicely with a smoked gouda that is a less salty, lightly smoked variety of gouda.  The sweetness of the cheese and the sweetness of the residual malts play off each other for a thick, rich snack.  So maybe this beer need food, in much the way French wines need food?  2.5/5, 7.8% abv