Heavy Seas Steal the Pint Night at Billy’s Monday, July 23rd, With Special Guest!

On a truly personal level, I owe a rather large thanks to Hugh Sisson and his brewery – and mainly to one beer in particular. It was still early in my days of craft beer curiosity, yet already I was bent on acclimating my taste buds to what I had heard was the wonderful world of hops and all the flavors and aromas they brought to the table. Time and time again though, I couldn’t get past the overall experience of “hoppier” beers like the IPAs I was trying. True, beers such as these, for most, are an acquired taste. The citrus like hop flavors drew me in, but the accompanying bitterness was something I couldn’t overcome. Undaunted, I kept moving forward though, one twisted facial expression after another. That was, until I tasted Loose Cannon.

In all honesty, it wasn’t the first, or even second attempt of this delicious but well balanced IPA to pull me in. If memory serves, it was around the third try when I finally “got it”. There may not have been any fireworks necessarily, but it was a life changer nevertheless. It was more like having a bit of wisdom, that someone much more experienced had been trying to convince me of for some time, finally sink in. Beer lovers talk often about that first, singular IPA that suddenly opens the door to the flavors of all such beers. This was mine. I had been brought to the top of the mountain. I was finally there, a hop head in the making.

That was nearly three years and many, MANY, IPAs ago, and Loose Cannon is still an absolute “go-to” IPA for me. Of course, it is only one of many delicious beers that Baltimore based Heavy Seas puts out. On Monday, July 23rd, Billy’s in downtown Roanoke is hosting a “steal the pint” night with Heavy Seas, so chances are, I’ll get to taste another great Loose Cannon. And to top it all off? The man himself, Hugh Sission, is going to be in attendance. I may just get to thank him for starting one heck of a beer journey. You should come down too, perhaps you have enjoyed a similar adventure – or perhaps this will be the very moment of inspiration which begins one.