Subscribe Feed (RSS)Heavy Seas - Peg Leg Imperial Stout
July 1st, 2008 by Aaron Goldfarb | Filed under Brewer: Clipper City, Country: America, Grade: A-, Style: Stout.
8% ABV on cask
Being an internationally famous beer blogger, you can imagine the scene when I go to my sporting arena–the bar. Luckily enough, future NBA bust Roy Hibbert and his crew of dorky hangers-on happened to saunter into the same bar as me and my crew of Herculean beer and bourbon drinkers and thus most of the tavern’s clientele was focused on the 7′1″ freak of nature as opposed to me. Perfect. I like it that way. Signing autographs can be annoying when you’re trying to focus on your drink. And a nicely poured beer is far sexier to me than some Georgetown slut.
Derek had discovered a quasi-secret bar hidden at the back and downstairs of an unassuming wood-burning stone-oven pizzeria, Pizza Paradiso. The place was as tiny as a VFW bar and totally lacking in ambiance, but their beer list was indeed exquisite and their pizza was about as good as a bar snack can get.
First, I ordered a Clipper City Heavy Seas Peg Leg Imperial Stout on cask. Surely the longest beer name I’ve ever seen on a menu. I’m usually very leery about cask beer and in fact rarely order it. Not that many American bars actually have it. As with a lot of things I drink, I’m not actually sure what cask beer is but I typically associate it with brews that are dispatched slowly from odd, low-level hand pumps and that are usually warm and lacking carbonation. Oh, and that I usually don’t dig that much, probably because I’m a dumb American say the Europeans.
Doing some heavy, heavy research though, I find that there’s no reason to avoid cask as it is essentially the freshest beer one can get. It’s unfiltered which usually means it is still fermenting (I’ve discussed secondary fermentation before) and is served without additional N or CO2 pressure. True, it tastes much different than ordinary beers but who wants ordinary? I must admit, I really enjoyed this brew and I’m going to begin pursuing more cask beers.
Heavy Seas - Peg Leg is a fantastic stout. Who knew they made such good beers in Maryland? It’s visually one of the better looking beers I’ve ever seen. Incredibly dark like a shiny black marble. Smell and taste of roasted coffee and barley as well as dark, dark chocolate. Very smooth and creamy and goes down easily with hardly any bite. One of the more drinkable Russian Imperial Stouts I’ve ever had. Any Tsar would be tickled by it.
A-
