Day 357: Heavy Seas Brewery Tour

I was up in Baltimore this weekend for a wedding and had some free time Saturday morning. My first thought was Brewery Tour. And since we were in Baltimore it seemed that Heavy Seas was the best choice. I invited along my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. My wife was part of the wedding party and was unavailable to go. The three of us drove down to the Southern part of Baltimore at 10:30 for the 11:00 tour. The tour is free, but you can pay $5 for a the glass you see above and 5 samples. They had 7 different beers on tap, but I have had most of them, so I started with something I was dying to try. They had the oak-casked version of Dubbel Cannon. It was simply amazing. Next I tried their Gold Ale, which was very nice. At this time they called for the tour to begin so I filled my glass with Peg Leg, their sweet stout. Man was it good! As you know I don't drink stouts often, but this one was so drinkable and smooth I could have had a six-pack. I took this on the tour with me which lasted about a half hour and was really interesting to see how a bigger craft brewery operates.

Most brewery tours I have been on have 3-6 Fermenting Vessels. Heavy Seas has 17! Freaking 17! They also showed us all the casks they have fermenting which was another 30-40 in number. This place was what I would love to eventually have. It would take a lot and business is not my strong suit, but it would incredible to achieve one day. We had a great time and I will put up more pictures once I get them from my future sister-in-law. I say this because she caught the bouquet later that night. Good luck guys! 

Day 356: Levitation Ale

Name: Levitation Ale

Brewer: Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, CA)

Classification: Amber Ale 

Alcohol: 4.4%

Thoughts: I know, I know! Another Stone Brewing Co. Brew? Well, they make so many great beers. I envy their talent for brewing. And one quick note about Levitation Ale. While it says Amber Ale in the Classification section, I truly feel that this is an English IPA. It looks like one, it tastes like one and I honestly think it is one. Pours an amber to walnut colored body with reddish hues beneath the dense, tan head that slowly disappears to leave a thick, tacky lacing. Earthy hop aromas float from the glass, consisting of wood, pine, and citrus with secondary aromas of caramel malt. The flavor is a bit sweeter, focusing more on the caramel malt and citrus hops with the pine and woodnotes taking a back seat. It is an excellent beer. After 356 days I may have run out of things to say about beer. But this is simply excellent. 

Rating: 87/100

Day 355: Dirty Bastard

Name: Dirty Bastard

Brewer: Founder's Brewing Co. (Grand Rapids, MI)

Classification: Scotch Ale

Alcohol: 8.5%

Thoughts: Founders is out and out one of the best breweries in the world and while they have some amazing beers I would love to feature on the blog I can't get my hands on them. But I could get my hands on Dirty Bastard. I've had it before, but on draft, and knew what to expect. It didn't disappoint. It pours like a wine - thick, fluid and creamy. It is a nice cloudy mahogany color with a small, but dense tan head. If you have ever had a glass of Macallan 12 then you know how smooth and sweet and earthy that scotch smells. Well this is a less potent version of that. The taste started out on the bready side with some caramel added in. The hop flavors quickly come to the tongue and mellow some of the sweetness. First a more citrus hop flavor comes on the scene, shortly followed by the pine and more earthy hop flavors. In the end a somewhat piney and spicy hop flavor mixed with a smooth bread flavor are left to linger on the tongue. If you didn't know scotch starts off as beer, it is then distilled and turned into scotch. Well if Dirty Bastard was distilled it would be one of the finest scotches in the world, no doubt. 

Rating: 88/100