BALTIMORE — Heavy Seas Beer proudly announces the release of 25, a double barrel aged strong ale brewed in celebration of their 25th anniversary. First aged in bourbon barrels and then finished in rye, 25 comes in at a whopping 15.5% ABV. 25 will be available in stores in 16oz four-pack cans starting in early December. A curbside release at the Heavy Seas taproom is planned for December 4, 2020
Heavy Seas will commemorate this milestone with a virtual anniversary party on December 4th, 2020. Fans are invited to tune in to the Heavy Seas Beer Facebook page at 5:00pm EST for a virtual Q&A with Heavy Seas founder, Hugh Sisson, moderated by Jim McGreevy, President & CEO of The Beer Institute.
Hugh Sisson comments, “Much has changed in the MD beer industry since my Dad and I put in the original MD brew pub legislation in 1987. What a ride! 30 years of brewing, first with Sisson’s for 5 years, and now 25 years at Clipper City/Heavy Seas! I never foresaw a career in business (I was supposed to be an actor), much less in brewing! It has been a blast. I am so grateful to everyone who has supported us along the way. Thanks to everyone – from my partners, my associates, the employees, our wholesalers, and my family. 25 years doesn’t happen without you!”
About the Beer:
Heavy Seas Brewmaster Christopher Leonard comments, “For this incredibly special anniversary we’ve brewed a Barleywine-like English-inspired Strong Ale that harkens back to our Clipper City roots. We started with imported malts and hops and a special strain of highly attenuative English yeast. We then aged the beer in fresh dumped bourbon barrels for 5 months. We then barreled it AGAIN into freshly dumped (local Sagamore) rye whiskey barrels and aged it an additional 3 months. The result is a complex, undeniably balanced beast that starts with aromas of vanilla, toffee, and marshmallow, morphing into fusel alcohol, licorice and tobacco. The flavors of dark fruits, brown sugar, and just a hint of spice, lead to cocoa powder, and (of course) whiskey. You might find some maple and treacle, estery fruit flavors like apple, pear, and strawbery in the background. The beer has a medium body with an incredibly dry, lingering finish, and a comforting warming quality. At 15.5% ABV, it has a wonderful smoothness and complexity for such a strong beer. One of our tasters described it as a “hug in a glass”. This was a 10 month labor of love for our entire production team and we hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we did making it. We brewed it as a gift to ourselves – a reward for a quarter century of the pursuit of quality, excellence, innovation, and consistency. We’re so happy to share it with you and thank you all for supporting us for so long. Here’s to another 25 years! Cheers, Christopher Leonard.”
The 25 label artwork was a collaboration design created by local Baltimore artists, Chris Gipple, of Nightshift Creative, and Owen Murphy, of One Drop Design Studio. Owen Murphy created the Heavy Seas Taproom exclusive beer labels for 2019, and passed the baton to Chris in 2020.
About Heavy Seas Beer
Heavy Seas Beer was founded by Hugh Sisson in 1995, and has grown to become one of the most respected and award-winning craft breweries on the east coast. As the first pub brewer in Maryland, Hugh was responsible for the legislation that made brewpubs legal in the state. Now over two decades later, Heavy Seas is celebrating its 25th year of brewing independent craft beer in Baltimore. The brewery also continues to expand its beer portfolio, now producing 23 different beer styles and distributing to 20 states as well as Washington D.C. Heavy Seas was also named Beer Connoisseur Magazine’s 2017 Brewery of the Year. For more information, please visit www.hsbeer.com.