- Heavy Seas Beer
-
Clipper City Brewing Company 
Industry Alcoholic beverage Founder(s) Hugh Sisson Headquarters Baltimore, Maryland, United States Products Beer Production output 15,000 barrels/year Owner(s) Hugh Sisson Website www.hsbeer.com Heavy Seas Beer is brewed by Clipper City Brewing Company, in Baltimore, Maryland. The brewery was established by Hugh Sisson in 1995. Previously, Sisson operated Maryland's first brewpub, Sisson's.[1] In 2010, the brewery rebranded. While the name of the brewery remains Clipper City, all of its beer falls under the Heavy Seas brand. Heavy Seas hosts free tours every Saturday at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.[2] It is located at 4615 Hollins Ferry Road, Suite B, in the Halethorpe section of Baltimore.[3] Heavy Seas currently offers 24 beers under 3 different fleets (Clipper, Pyrate, and Mutiny Fleet). Its awards include: Heavy Seas Märzen, a repeat winner at the Great American Beer Festival (medals from 2006-2010), Classic Lager, a bronze medal winner at the 2007 Great American Beer Festival, Small Craft Warning Uber Pils, a bronze medal winner at the 2004 Great American Beer Festival, and Heavy SeasGold Ale, a gold award winner at the 2010 World Beer Cup.
Contents
History
In 1994, Hugh Sisson left his family-owned and -operated brewpub, Sisson's, to focus on brewing beer at a larger scale. Sisson, who is responsible for the legalization of brewpubs in the state of Maryland, originally targeted Baltimoreans as his main consumer base; he intended to fill the niche left open by the relocation of the National Bohemian brand. Clipper City was named after the clipper ship, which was first constructed in Baltimore.
When the craft brewing industry experienced a contraction in the late '90s,[4] Clipper City resorted to contract brewing to stay afloat financially. In 2003, Clipper City started its Heavy Seas brand--intended for higher gravity beers. The new brand took off; the beers under the Heavy Seas line could sell in more states than could Clipper City beers, limited as they were by insular branding. Due to the steady success of the brand, Sisson and his crew decided to rebrand Clipper City beers in 2010; the beers under the Clipper City brand now sell as Heavy Seas Clipper Fleet (Classic Lager, Märzen, Gold Ale, and Pale Ale).
In 2011, the brewery tacked on 10,000 square foot addition to its 15,000 sq. ft. brewery. Heavy Seas beers sell in 18 states, from Florida to Maine and as far west as Michigan.[1]
Beers
Clipper Fleet
Name Availability Style ABV% Classic Lager Year Round American Pale Lager 5.0 Gold Ale Year Round American Blonde Ale 4.75 Pale Ale Year Round English Pale Ale 4.75 Märzen Year Round Märzen/Oktoberfest 5.25 Summer Ale May-August American Blonde Ale 4.5 Pyrate Fleet
Name Availability Style ABV% Loose Cannon Year Round American Hop3 IPA 7.25 Peg Leg Year Round Russian Imperial Stout 8.0 Small Craft Warning Year Round Uber Pils 7.0 Black Cannon January-March Black IPA 7.25 Dubbel Cannon April-June Belgian Style IPA 9.0 Red Sky At Night July-September Belgian Style Saison Ale 7.5 Winter Storm Ocotber-December "Category 5 Ale" Extra Special/Strong Bitter (ESB) 7.5 Mutiny Fleet
Name Availability Style ABV% Siren Noire January Imperial Chocolate Stout flavored with Belgian chocolates 8.0 Aarsh Red February Imperial Red Ale 7.0 Holy Sheet March Uber Abbey Ale 9.0 Hang Ten April Weizen Dopplebock 10.0 Big DIPA May American Double IPA 10.6 Letter of Marque June A different style selected each year through the Letter of Marque Homebrew Competition Davy Jones Lager July Imperial Cream Ale 7.0 Prosit! August Imperial Oktoberfest Lager 8.0 Great Pumpkin September Imperial Pumpkin Ale 8.5 Great'er Pumpkin September Imperial Pumpkin Ale brewed in bourbon barrels 8.5 Smoke on the Water October Smoked Imperial Porter 8.0 Yule Tide November Holiday release that changes each year Below Decks December Aged Barleywine Ale 10.0 References
- ^ a b Ladd, Jenn (2011-10-05). "Ale Blazer - News and Features - Baltimore City Paper". Citypaper.com. http://citypaper.com/news/ale-blazer-1.1212892. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
- ^ "Brewery Tours | Heavy Seas Beer". Hsbeer.com. http://www.hsbeer.com/category/event-type/brewery-tours. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
- ^ "Directions To The Brewery | Heavy Seas Beer". Hsbeer.com. http://www.hsbeer.com/directions-brewery. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
- ^ "American Craft Brewing Modern History". Brewers Association. 2011-10-10. http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/about-us/history-of-craft-brewing. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
External links
- Heavy Seas website
- History of Sisson's and Oxford Brewing Company
- Profile of Hugh Sisson
- Heavy Seas Page on BeerAdvocate.com
Coordinates: 39°13′50″N 76°40′31″W / 39.23056°N 76.67528°W
Categories:- Beer brewing companies based in Maryland
- Companies based in Baltimore, Maryland
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
