Heavy Seas Loose Cannon

The fourth beer in my Heavy Seas sampler box was the Loose Cannon IPA.  They still aren't my favorite style, yet I seem to try more kinds of IPAs than anything else:

Vittles:
American IPA
7.25% abv
45 IBU

Score:
Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 19/25
Taste: 33/40
Mouthfeel: 7/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 77/100

Impression:
There wasn't much of a head, but I wasn't at home, and the glass I poured into probably had head-killing soap residue on it.  I wasn't overly impressed by the aroma -- citrusy-grapefruit hops with a bready-caramel background.  It seemed on the weak side for an American IPA.  The flavors were a bit more pronounced than the nose was, but not by a whole lot.  The grapefruit flavors were joined by some resinous pine with a little stickiness, and a sweeter caramel came out on the tongue than I expected.  As the beer warmed, I tasted something akin to brown sugar, too.  The finish is mostly clean with a hint of spiciness, and the aftertaste lingers, but not as long as I'd expect for the style.  Overall, it was a decent IPA, but I got the feeling that the hop characteristics had already faded appreciably, even though I had it several months before the best by date (Nov. 2013).  On a side note, I'm not really one to talk about the importance of "fresh" hops -- this is the first IPA where I've really felt the aromas and flavors imparted by the hops were significantly weaker than I expected them to be.

Cheers!

Heavy Seas Peg Leg

Peg Leg Imperial Stout will be the third Heavy Seas beer I try (I love being on vacation!).  I'm partial to IS style beers, so I'm looking forward to this one:

Vittles:

Russian Imperial Stout

8% abv

Score:

Appearance: 8/10

Aroma: 21/25

Taste: 34/40

Mouthfeel: 8/10

Style: 4/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 83/100

Impression:

The aroma is dominated by roasty malt notes, some coffee, chocolate, and a touch of smokiness.  The coffee and chocolate are a little weak on the tongue -- I was expecting more of a bold, robust flavor.  However, I was a little surprised to taste a hint of dark fruits in the background, so that was a nice surprise.  The hops are subtle, and they add some interesting herbal, woody, and earthy notes that make the flavors a bit more complex.  It finishes fairly dry with a lingering bitter coffee aftertaste.  Decent overall, but not quite as good as their other beers.

Cheers!

Heavy Seas Powder Monkey

Heavy Seas is off to a good start with their Gold Ale in my book.  Let's see if they can add to that with their Powder Monkey Pale Ale:

Vittles:

English Pale Ale

4.75% abv

28.5 IBU

Score:

Appearance: 7/10

Aroma: 22/25

Taste: 33/40

Mouthfeel: 7/10

Style: 5/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 82/100

Impression:

I'm not overly impressed with the lack of head, but the glasses I found had some soap residue, and I must not have rinsed them out well enough.  Oh, well.  Whatcha gonna do?  Anyway, the aroma was pretty enticing -- a little floral, earthy, herbal, woody, resiny, and significantly citrusy with that delicious grapefruit flavor of Cascade hops.  The flavors were much the same, though I could taste more caramel, and there was also a hint of something kind of metallic, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, and I didn't taste it in every sip.  It's smooth and crisp with a slightly dry finish.  Very tasty!

Cheers!

Heavy Seas Gold Ale

One thing I love about Delaware is the whole no sales tax thing.  So when I head down that way for a vacation, I tend to go a little overboard on buying beer.  Especially since most of the beers I found were significantly cheaper than they are near home.  I like to look for variety cases from breweries I haven't tried yet.  This time, I stumbled across Heavy Seas, so I started with their Gold Ale:

Vittles:

Blonde Ale

4.5% abv

17 IBUs

Score:

Appearance: 7/10

Aroma: 21/25

Taste: 35/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 83/100

Impression:
I like the bready, crackery, biscuity aromas, and I smell some floral, fruity sweetness in the background.  The flavors follow fairly well, and the floral flavors come more to the forefront, which creates a very nice balance between the malt and hops characters.  It finishes a little sweet, a little dry, and very crisp and clean.  This beer's more refreshing than I thought it would be.  I haven't had many blonde ales in the past few months, but this is one I will definitely come back to in the future.  Overall, it's very satisfying.

Cheers!