Heavy Seas
We headed to Heavy Seas for their Blackbeard’s Breakfast release. This coffee porter belongs to their Uncharted Waters series. Heavy Seas’ website has a great description.
“Blackbeard’s Breakfast is a robust porter with a new world twist. Aged in bourbon barrels and brewed with Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company’s Dark Sumatra coffee, this porter is flavorful and complex. Featuring unique English malts, this brew will have strong notes of caramel and a slight nut character.”
They had 3 versions of Blackbeard’s Breakfast: Cask, draught and without coffee. Between the 3 of us, we ordered all 3 versions. As a coffee light-weight, I found the coffee beers too much for me but loved the non-coffee version with its cherry notes and nutty, cocoa flavors.
I also tried a TropiCannon. We learned about this fruity Citrus IPA from none other than Heavy Seas owner, Hugh Sisson. He mentioned that they use a 3-step process to make TropiCannon, starting with lemon and grapefruit peel and finishing by adding a special fruit oil blend developed by McCormick Spice. He noted that after only 6 months, this beer is their #6 seller. I can see why; it is quite a refreshing, fruity drink with a nice hop backbone.
A few years ago, I saw Mr. Sisson at a Heavy Seas brewery event, which his wife used as a cover for his surprise birthday party. At that event, a life-size cutout of him was available so that patrons could get their picture with Hugh. It was a real hit. His daughter took that cutout with her when she went back to college, only to have someone take it. She wrote on social media, “Someone stole my father, please return him.” I’m not sure if he was ever recovered but I managed to get my picture with the real thing.
I mentioned to Hugh that on my birthday, I had purchased a keg of Siren Noire for the celebration. Hugh said, “that’s a shoulder brushing beer because you go to brush something off your shoulder and you find out it is the floor.” By the way, Siren Noire is a 9.5% ABV Imperial Chocolate Stout and delicious!
He also mentioned that the brewery was expanding to allow for a larger dining area. This area will probably triple in size and be open for business by 2018. They plan to keep the same food truck supplier.
On the way to our car, we found this rarely seen Heavy Seas animal. I was lucky to capture a picture.
Cheers!
Warren
Hugh said, “that’s a shoulder brushing beer because you go to brush something off your shoulder and you find out it is the floor.” – Good one, hope that does not happen anytime soon!