Plank I (Rum Barrel)
Heavy Seas Beer

he new Heavy Seas Plank I. The beer is an old ale, which is not a style I assume most people are familiar with, so I will describe it briefly. In the US, the closest style you may find is an imperial brown. This British style is imperial, but unlike high gravity Belgian beers which get their punch from sugar, old ales get their punch from Treacle; a kind of British molasses. Thus, old ales (the classic example is Theakson Old Peculiar) are sweet in a southern desert way, like a shoo-fly pie, pecan pie, etc sort of way. In the Plank I, you can taste the subtle vanilla sweetness that comes from the wood aging and the dark complex sweetness that is carried by the Treacle. However, this is not to say the the Plank I is a standard old ale or even a standard wood aged beer. The wood flavors are unusually, this is because they use yellow poplar as opposed to a more traditional oak. The flavor is more unique and I like that. However, it’s reviews have been mediocre. I find this to be a shame. To judge this beer as an old ale, it falls a little short; there are odd/off flavors and frankly, it is too carbonated. However, to judge it as an imperial beer, it is very good. The extra carbonation carries the scent to the nose and the sweetness is well balanced.
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I'm really wondering if this is really any different from the regular Plank 1. Nevertheless, this was listed as the rum barrel version at Frisco's the other day.

The beer pours a fairly dark brown color with fairly good head retention and decent lacing. The nose is attractive, if not particularly profound. The beer smells like a fairly boozy brown ale, with a hint of underlying rum. The rum aroma is really not all that prononced. On the palate, this tastes like a fairly malty, slight oxidized, aged brown ale, with (once again) no more than a hint of rum in the background. The beer dries out a bit on the finish, and the flavor profile tends to drop off pretty quickly as well. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, and the finish is bit short.

Over all, this was a tolerable, decent beer from Clipper City, but not really anything to get excited about. At $6 a pop for a 10 ouunce glass, it's not a beer I plan to revisit any time soon.

Pours an almost opaque chestnut color. Lots of foamy dense head on a vigorous pour. A dense head that leaves some lacing.

Aroma is of rich dark malts.There are sutle nuiances of rum barrels or poplar.

A roasted malt taste with sutle hints of wooden barrels.

This beer has a border line thin feel it,s smooth and mellow.

Overall really not bad but it was weak in flavor, I was expecting a more robust and bolder flavors.

On cask at Friscos. Served in a goblet.

Does a rum barrel Plank cask sound like a good idea to you? Yea, didn't think so. Heavy Seas has yet to convince me they can nail a barrel aged beer and serving this on cask just highlights its deficincies. Not quite straight rum and water, but damn near close. The wood still gives the finish a little more depth than the body but it ia still ridiculously thin and watery and tastes like I just downed a shot of spicy rum without the booze burn. Ugh. I might as well just start lighting $10 bills on fire in Frisco's parking lot. Keep trying guys.