Plank II, Dopplebock style lager (Heavy Seas)

Baltimore holds a space in my heart. About a month or so before I got married some friends and I went there for a gentleman's weekend. The only thing on my agenda was to visit the Heavy Seas brewery and to check out some local watering holes. I have since been back to the brewery with work and have fallen in love with the scene that Heavy Seas has created in Baltimore. What man doesn't like pirate themes and hometown beers. The brewery isn't as much of a destination as say a Devil's Backbone or even a Hardywood park. It is in an industrial park and there is no where within a few miles to grab a bite to eat. They have in the past year opened a brew pub but I have yet to go there.

Heavy Seas releases there beers in three series, the clipper fleet, the pyrate fleet and the mutiny fleet. The clipper fleet is your standard portfolio of styles, a golden, a pale, a lager, a marzen and a summer ale. The next step up is the pyrate fleet which are beers of higher alcohol content or a little extra process in production. This series has IPA, black IPA, pilsner, stout, saison, double IPA. Richmonders are in love with the IPA's from this line. Loose cannon tap markers can be found all over town, and black cannon the black IPA is a highly anticipated beer every year. Then the mutiny fleet are 22's of flavor, that are released with every season and holiday change but what I am drinking this evening is the second installment of their plank series.

Although barrel aging has become all the craze with craft breweries, heavy seas has chosen to circumvent the pain of securing and storing the barrels. Instead they carefully select planks of different woods to age in whatever style of beer they chose. The Plank I was an old english ale and now the Plank II is a dopplebock style lager, and a dark one at that. I have chosen to smoke a cigar with this beer so I cannot give you idea of the nose, but it has velvety mouth feel that goes well with a cigar. I appreciate that this run doesn't have the heavy residual sugars like the first one. At 10 dollars for a 22oz bottle I probably will not be purchasing another, and I am not sure lagering this beer would enhance the flavor. I like this periodic series and look forward to new offerings.

http://hsbeer.com/beer/plank2/

Be on the look out for Land Ho! a collaboration between heavy seas and virginia's very own Devil's Backbone.