Drunken Adventure on the Heavy Seas

ExtrAARGHdinary Beers

Part of the joy of choosing to drink crafty beer is the adventures that always seem to go hand-in-hand with the drinking. Adventures, of course, lead to stories, and stories are how we humans pass our experiences and life lessons on to each other and future generations. A recently made acquaintance, and partner in the beer brewing industry, Hugh Sisson, likes to say “Sailors tell stories… Pyrates make legends!”

 

What does that quote have to do with anything? I gave you that quote because Hugh is the founder and owner of Clipper City Brewing Company in Baltimore, which is where the Heavy Seas fleet of beers is made. A few weeks ago, I set out on an adventure to his brewery, and here is my account.

 

The whole thing started with the wild beer-obsessed pizza-heads at Brixx Wood Fired Pizza in Woodbridge, VA. I know I’ve told about these guys before, but it bears repeating. Brixx is one of the few restaurants in the Woodbridge area that has a really good beer menu. They usually have in the neighborhood of 32 different beers on tap, and most of them are craft beers. Not only that, Brixx has what they call their Masters of Beer Appreciation (or MBA) degree, in which patrons can get credit for trying all of the beers they offer, as well as enjoying some organized extra-curricular activities with the Brixx gang. If you complete your beer checklist, you “receive your degree” and reap further rewards and legendary status.

 

Owner, Hugh Sisson, in
the brew house

This quest to Heavy Seas started out as one of the afore-mentioned extra-curricular activities. I met up with the Brixx gang, as well as other thirsty beer drinkers, which included my friend Billy (not his real name), at the restaurant on a Saturday afternoon and had a pint of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. After engaging in malt-fueled discussions that were relevant to the topics of the day, 50 of us loaded up a party bus of sorts and began our voyage north to Baltimore, Maryland, or as the locals call it, “Balmer.”

 

The ride up was not your average bus ride, as the majority of the riders had been pre-gaming, and many of them continued to engage in copious beer drinking while en route. Needless to say, the crowd was raucous to say the least.

 

An hour and a half or so after departing from Woodbridge, we arrived at the Clipper City Brewery, located in the warehouse district south of Baltimore city. From the outside, the place resembled a generic looking warehouse, but it had a big Heavy Seas sign hanging next to the door. Upon entering the tap room/gift shop, we were given a Heavy Seas pint glass and five tokens, each one good for four ounces of beer. They had seven beers available in their tap room, including their Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA, Peg Leg Imperial Stout, Marzen Bier, Gold Ale, Plank II Dopplebock, Small Craft Warning Uber Pils, and a cask aged Loose Cannon Hop3 IPA. That cask-aged Hop3 IPA was sublime.

 

Stainless steel giants

After a few minutes of settling in, and drinking beer, the owner of the joint, Hugh Sisson, who had apparently been there all along wandering around the crowd and sizing us up, piped up. He launched into a well-rehearsed soliloquy, welcoming us to his brewery and setting the mood for the impending tour. It was obvious that he had given this tour, and had delivered his speech countless times before, and that he really enjoyed doing it.

 

We then proceeded into the brewery (I stopped by the taps first and got a refill) and found ourselves inside a daunting labyrinth of stainless steel. Fermenters, conicals, mash tuns, lauter tuns, whirlpools, and bright tanks all towered above and seemed to stretch to the heavens. Pipes, tubes and hoses wove in and around the various vessels like branches in a dense forest. I can’t speak for everyone in the tour, but I was like a kid in a candy store.

 

Hugh showed us the bottling line, the fermenters, the kiln, and the brew house. He also showed the newly acquired section of the brewery where his casking operation will be housed. According to the man himself, casking is going to be the future of Heavy Seas, and he plans on making his company the East Coast’s leader in cask-aged beer. Exciting stuff.

 

The Jolly Roger flies over
the bottling line

There was also an opportunity to get our hands on hops and malted grain. The grain was delicious, and the hops smelled wonderful. Note: If you ever go on a brewery tour, and someone gives you hops to hold in your hand, DO NOT eat them. Hops make beer delicious, but eating them straight will most likely make you sick.

 

When it was all said and done, we ended up back in the tap room and gift shop – the mark of a good tour is that it ends where there is an opportunity to spend money. I quickly spent my remaining tokens on the cask-aged Hop3 IPA, bought an additional pint glass and a t-shirt, rapped with Hugh about the brewing industry for a few minutes, and then boarded the bus back to Virginia. The bus was a lot more rowdy on the way home as people had plenty of Heavy Seas beer to keep them well lubricated on the way home. We arrived in Woodbridge an hour and half or so later, and that was the end.

 

All in all, it was a pretty cool adventure, as most adventures that revolve around beer are. I recommend the Heavy Seas Brewery tour to anyone who lives in the greater DC Metro area, and if you don’t, go on a tour of your local breweries. They are all similar, but no two breweries are the same, and they’re always a good time. Plus, beer is delicious, and drinking it always gives you a good story – maybe even a legend – to tell.

 

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!