Day 161: Loose Cannon

Name: Loose Cannon

Brewer: Clipper City Brewing (Baltimore, MD)

Classification: American IPA

Alcohol: 7.25%

Thoughts: I'd like to welcome back Clipper City Brewing's Heavy Seas series to The Beer Year. It is always lovely to see them. This time around I have Loose Cannon, their American India Pale Ale offering. IPA's have been popular on this blog, but very few have been able to set themselves apart like 60 Minute IPA and Green Flash. Can Loose Cannon be the ext to do it? It pours a hazy orange with golden highlight and a huge foamy head. The smell reminds me of the Caribbean as it is fruity, floral, and tropical. There is an obvious hit of hops in the nose to go along with the Island smell. The taste is not overly complex. The hops hit you first as they are slightly bitter, but they quickly give way to a cannonball of fruit including grapefruit and other citrus fruit. It is fairly sweet, but very drinkable. It is missing the hoppy bite you would expect from an IPA. I think it could have been marketed more as a Pale Ale or even some sort of hybrid. It is a good beer, I'm not going to take that away from it, but it is a little too easy to read and a little too expected.

Rating: 79/100