Heavy Seas: Loose Cannon

type: IPA

origin: Baltimore, MD

price: $1.59/12oz at Joe Canal's (Princeton, NJ)

abv: 7.25%

website

Arrgh matey! This beer makes me feel pretty piratey and reminds me of the good ol' bucaneer days at Two Harbor's. If you're in California in the beginning of October you should bring your pirate garb, grab some wenches and booze, and sail west until the sea turns to booze and you find a thousand pirates in the midst of wreaking debauchery, orgies, and tomfoolery; profane parrots guarding seaworthy kegcraft, and you'll know what I'm talking about.

If it comes on to blow and Davey Jones stirs it up, you might even feel a bit of the 'heavy seas', but unless a loose cannon bumps your galley wenches three times and they drop a whole treasure chest of hops into the kettle each time, you won't necessarily know this beer much better. Right, back to the beer...

It has a nice clear reddish tinge and a... holy damn I've drunk near the whole thing since starting this passage! OK, before I get too arsy versy here, lets get down to business. There's a blustery hop nose on this brew, but it's hardly bitter unless you're really looking for it on the finish. The malts give it a nice mouth feel, coming through nice and solid, but the overall character isn't too heavy. If I were a pirate on heavy seas with a loose cannon rolling around, I'd be perfectly happy if I put back maybe three of these, but being a grounded science monkey I'm perfectly happy putting back only one of them! Not to say that I'm finished or anything...