Small Craft Warning
Heavy Seas Beer

Small Craft WarningSmall Craft Warning
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From:
Heavy Seas Beer
 
Maryland, United States
Style:
Imperial Pilsner
Ranked #22
ABV:
7%
Score:
84
Ranked #22,133
Avg:
3.74 | pDev: 12.3%
Reviews:
594
Ratings:
1,104
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 16, 2023
Added:
Mar 12, 2004
Wants:
  26
Gots:
  111
Über Pils

Arguably our most well-balanced beer, Small Craft Warning seems at once hop-forward and malt-forward; our brewers debate over which flavor force prevails in the beer. Small Craft exemplifies a robust pilsner - it's crisp, well-carbonated, and slightly sweet. The beer is characterized by a firm malt backbone and a pronounced hop character. A fine aroma, from an array of hops, completes this quaffable beer.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by blackie:
Photo of blackie
Reviewed by blackie from Oregon

3.86/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
appearance: The pour into my pilsner glass gives a huge, slightly off-white, meringue like head. It takes quite awhile for it to recede enough for me to take a sip. Great lacing. The beer is a pale golden amber in color.

smell: Corny ethanol notes, the concentrated sweetness of pale German malts, and grassy noble hops.

mouthfeel: The carbonation is a high medium, and the body medium.

taste: Very interesting. It's just like a standard pilsner with an extra dose of malt. Somehow, it manages to be heavy in flavor but subtle at the same time...ok, hard to explain. Big German pale malt flavors, moderately sweet, with a corny note. Noble hop flavors and a light bitterness. A little too sweet, a slight more bitterness would be nice to provide some balance. A touch of grainy ethanol.

drinkability: Quite easy, and a tasty beer. Very much, to my palate, like a malt liquor...in the same vein as DFH Liquor de Malt.

Acquired in "These go to eleven...a bif" from goodbyeohio. Notched as best by Jan '07.
Sep 25, 2006
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.04 by gardner254 from Ohio

Mar 16, 2023
Photo of RickDietz
Rated by RickDietz

5/5  rDev +33.7%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Live this beer, just can’t find it.
Sep 25, 2021
 
Rated: 3.6 by Bajdog from Maryland

Nov 29, 2017
 
Rated: 3.85 by DMc8ride from California

Jun 19, 2017
Photo of q33jeff
Reviewed by q33jeff from New Jersey

1.38/5  rDev -63.1%
look: 1.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.25 | feel: 1.75 | overall: 1.25
**
03/14/13

Bottle to pint glass

AROMA: Rice, Aldehyde
LOOK: Beer color, small white head.
TASTE: Rice cereal, Aldehyde - not pleasant at all.light

A Dumper.

**
Jun 15, 2017
Photo of Lone_Freighter
Reviewed by Lone_Freighter from Vermont

4/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Into my pilsener glass, it pours a light golden color and leaves the same color body. A one inch white foamy head appears and settles to a half-centimeter fairly quickly and leaves a nice show of speckled spider web lacing. Carbonation rises at a moderate pace. The smell has the malts up front with a nice fighting punch from the noble hops helping to give a decent spiciness. The taste is well balanced between the malts and hops helping to make it slightly sweet and bitter in different ways. The palate is about a medium with nothing harsh on the tongue, great balance all around. I would say this is very drinkable. Overall, this is good and I’d come back to it.
Jun 10, 2017
 
Rated: 3.5 by Kurzman from Rhode Island

May 21, 2017
Photo of dean2017
Rated by dean2017 from Ohio

4.87/5  rDev +30.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Overall a great beer
Apr 30, 2017
 
Rated: 3.49 by Timtac from New Jersey

Jan 12, 2017
 
Rated: 4.55 by TheBen5 from Alabama

Jul 18, 2016
 
Rated: 3.61 by Tlloyd417 from Colorado

Jun 18, 2016
 
Rated: 4.5 by CDBeerDisappear from Ohio

Jun 03, 2016
 
Rated: 4.02 by deereless from Colorado

May 27, 2016
 
Rated: 3.92 by Fitzy01 from Maine

Apr 30, 2016
 
Rated: 3.81 by mflamar from New York

Apr 17, 2016
 
Rated: 3.94 by rjd722 from Maryland

Mar 31, 2016
 
Rated: 3.62 by Merticois from New Jersey

Mar 11, 2016
Photo of Dirtyhands
Reviewed by Dirtyhands from Maryland

3.57/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Not balanced. Alcohol comes through, not heat but overpowering flavor-wise. Dogfish nailed a 10% imperial pilsner. I recommend that 1000% over this mess. Sorry heavy season, but toured going to have to try harder.
Mar 08, 2016
 
Rated: 3.86 by dtm426 from Michigan

Feb 27, 2016
Small Craft Warning from Heavy Seas Beer
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 1104 ratings