REVIEW: Heavy Seas Red Sky at Night

TL;DR summary : If you want to delve into
saisons this is a good place to start.

Beer style: Saison

ABV % 7.5

What I paid: $9.99

How it came (packaging): 6 12oz bottles

Brewery link: http://www.hsbeer.com/

About the Beer:
Heavy Seas Brewery is in Baltimore MD. Though the brand has only been around since 2003, its founder has been working in the craft beer movement since the late 80s. Heavy Seas aims to produce fun and exciting beers with a pirate themed flair. No, really, read the mission statement. They really do. You might stop and ask, “Isn’t that a little gimmicky?” The answer is yes, and if they weren’t able to pull off exactly what they aim for, you might be reading some really snarky comments right about now. But by and large, beers from Heavy Seas are fun, enjoyable, a little off center, and sometimes a little daring. I’ve appreciated everything I’ve sampled from their line so far, even if I haven’t particularly liked it.

This time around, I’m taking a swing at Red Sky at Night. In the quick notes above I called it a saison. In the description on their web site, Heavy Seas calls it a Saison inspired golden ale. I think that might be splitting hairs. They describe it as “wonderful spicy, fruity, herbaceous”, but crisper and more drinkable. I’m not really sure what that means. I’ve always felt saisons were crisp and very drinkable as a rule.

Color/appearance: golden light orange, slightly cloudy. Thin white head, dissipated quickly

Aroma: spicy, clove?

Mouth feel: clean light effervescent

Flavor: spices, clove, a hint of ginger. clean finish

Notes:

This beer is not overpoweringly spicy like some in this style can be. Flavors are subtle and not overpowering. It’s an, easy drinking beer. Other saisons are perhaps more complex, but this is pretty unpretentious and a good introduction to the style. It holds pretty true to the description on the Heavy Seas site.

Summary:
This is a nice, basic saison.  It’s great on a hot summer day. It also would be a good lead in to someone interested in this style, or possibly even someone who is new to craft beer and wants to try something different.

Rating : 3

Scale:

1 – avoid

2 – if it’s the only choice, I guess

3 – a decent beer. Drinkable.

4 – good beer – hard to turn down

5 – great beer - One of my favorites, pour me another.