Heavy Seas Dubbel Cannon Release Party

One of Lager On!'s intrepid reporters made his way out to the Heavy Seas Dubbel Cannon Release Party on Thursday, April 14th at Victoria's Gastropub in Columbia, MD. Overall, it sounds like it was a great, very well attended event. Below are his impressions.

Beer Impression: This is a very nice Belgian IPA, with a slight American twist (hoppy). It is unfiltered and has a nice dark amber color. The beer has a solid malty backbone with the wonderful tropical fruitiness of a Belgian ale and nicely layered with some spicy hops. Complex and delicious.

I sampled the cask conditioned version which one HS brewer stated wasn't ready. Thus, it was slightly under carbonated which resulted in a little head that dissipated too quickly. I think this contributed to a bit more sweetness then appropriate, but I found enjoyable.

Sounds like this is a beer worth waiting for!

The event: The restaurant and bar were packed. Victoria's Gastropub and Heavy Seas did a good job marketing the event, parking was very difficult, seating was impossible at the beginning. Joel and I almost gave up. Glad we didn't. At about 7:30, there was some breathing room, and a table. We spoke with Tristan Gilbert (one of the brewers) and his fiancé for about 30 minutes. Topics spanned a very wide range, from the growth rate of hops to why the ABV in beer effects to exponentially instead of linearly. It has to do with the amount of sugar and what slack your kidney can deal with while your liver is dealing with the alcohol. Interesting. We spoke with Tori (VGP owner) and I told her that she needed a stammtische.

For those whose German might need a little work, Stammtische is essentially a regular get-together (I had to look it up).

I'd like to give a special shout-out to @HoyaFan_1994 for going to the event and writing this up for me, and for the pictures. Also, thanks to Victoria's for putting on this event!