Heavy Seas Beer Cross Bones

**Aroma:** “Fruity and spicy. Citrus notes followed by catnip. Fresh-mown lawn along with pineapple, banana, and a light earthy/woody base. Could benefit from a stronger nose.” **Flavor:** “Smooth malt, slightly sweet. Full body for a session-strength beer. Coconut, pineapple, black tea, and hints of toast. Bitterness is supportive but not overpowering. Finish is balanced between hops flavor, bitterness, and a light malt. Moderate fruity esters.” **Overall:** “Firm bitterness lingers just long enough. Nice mix of fruity hops and esters with a medium-sweet malt base. Just a bit of butter in the finish detracts from drinkability. An okay session IPA with acceptable hops character, but a touch watery and one-dimensional relative to others in the category. Seems more like a normal pale ale than a session IPA, but that’s just an arbitrary distinction.”

**Aroma:** “Surprisingly malty nose with light caramel and toastiness. Mild paper oxidation. Faint hops aroma is earthy, like damp soil, but hard to find. Cloves, orange peel, toast, yeast, and hints of black pepper..” **Flavor:** “More hops in the flavor, offering an herbal blend of mint and marjoram, but the malt is far more forward— grainy with some toasty notes. Papery oxidation here, too, and mild bitterness. Hops flavor seems muddled and indistinct. Instead, I get a more saison-like quality with yeast esters and phenols. Cloves and even a bit of cracked black pepper, then a dry, bitter nish.” **Overall:** “Is this a session saison? The yeasty aromatics and avors seem more at home in a Biere de Table than in an American session IPA. I actually quite like this beer, but it works better as a generic Belgian-style table beer. Tartness when I swallow lingers on the back of the tongue. Very dry finish.”

**Aroma:** “Spicy hops aroma with a touch of floral bouquet, maybe even perfumey, and mild citrus undertones. Caramel, tangerines, some evergreen. Very crisp and clean.” **Flavor:** “Hops flavor hits, emphasizing resinous pine with a bit of cattiness. A little bit dank—the citrus notes are still there, but I’m not getting the floral quality from the nose. Clean bitterness that doesn’t overpower. Orange zest, wet earth, and Capri-Sun. Caramelly malt character less apparent than on the nose. Resinous and mouth-coating fruity hops express themselves in the flavor, following through on the aroma.” **Overall:** “A good example of style, but I wish the flavor had more of the hops character from the nose. Tropical fruits dance alongside a rm malt depth (for a beer of this strength), and a sufficient bitterness. A fun session beer that doesn’t bite off more than it can chew.”