Gearys Hampshire Special Ale

Brewed by D.L. Gearys Brewing Co.
Style: English Strong Ale
Portland, Maine USA

Serve in English pint, Trappist glass

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Pours a beautifully clear reddish amber with a frothy off white head that dissipates quickly. Smells of alcohol and a bit of floral and perfume, some sweet malt in there bread and biscuit. Really great nose. Taste is sweet malt up front some toffee and caramel. With some alcohol and hop bitterness mid to finish. Some raisins or dried fruits in there too. Medium to thick body. A syrupy oily mouthfeel. Low carbonation. Great Strong ale, if not a touch sweet. Not cloying, but a little sweet.

1/10/11. 12oz bottle courtesy Cavie. Not quite clear amber red pour with a small khaki head. Caramel aroma with toast, brown sugar, and prunes. Sweet burnt caramel aroma with prunes and a bitter dryness.

Poured into a pint glass. 4.5 A: Must say that this is a fine looking beer. Crystal clear amber in color. Off-white (with a touch of yellow) creamy as hell head with above average retention and tons of lacing. 3.5 S: Nose is full of sticky sweetness and a touch of graininess. No sign of hops as malts dominate. Crystal malts. 3.5 T: Way more balanced that I was expecting. There is a pleasant hop bitterness that I wasn’t expecting. Buttery diacetyl accompanies lots of sweet caramel malt flavor. A touch grainy as in the nose. 4.0 M: Medium body. Good creaminess. Could use more carbonation, but carb is fine for the English style. 3.5 D: Not a bad brew, but not really my cup of tea. I’m not a big fan of English styles. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 09-09-2009 03:29:52

Spot on for the style, this beverage emmits a rich though pale malting. Medium golden coloured body with a generous, intially enormous foamy white head. Above average mouthfeel, themalting is complex and tasty, with a dryish and slightly bitter finish.

12 ounce bottle from the Beer of the Month Club. Dark mahogany color with ruby highlights and an off-colored head. Malty, caramel aroma. Initially, I just picked up some peaty scotch malt flavor. But the beer really opens up as it warms, picking up some fruity grape flavors, a bit of alcohol, caramel malt and a slightly bitter finish. Full bodied, light carbonation. Nice malty sipping beer if not served too cold

Bottle from Cavie. Light brown pour with a small white head. Aroma is sweet and sour sauce. Taste is sour, bitter, and burned caramel.

Bottle. Clear orange color. Little amounts of head. Aroma is cough syrup, sickly sweet syrup and alcohol. Flavor is dry and sweet. Weird finish.

UPDATED: MAY 7, 2012 Re-rate 5/6/12: Bottle sample at a tasting at Ariel’s place. Thanks kerenmk. Hazy dark amber. Aroma of unpleasant phenols with yeast, bubblegum and a bit of spiciness. Sweet flavor with malt, phenols and a finish with strong weird bitterness. Light-medium-bodied. Something’s obviously wrong with this bottle - score is not calculated. 3/3/3/2/6=1.7

Bottle. Beer of the month club. Clear deep red-amber color with a medium beige head. Hoppy aroma with pine needles, floral notes, some fruitiness and a bit of caramel. Flavor is bitter with some caramelly maltiness (though not too much sweetness), earthy hops and some resin and pine. Medium-bodied. Not bad. 7/3/6/3/13=3.2

12 oz. bottle- Pours clear dark amber with a thin yet sustaining off white head, lacework is good, the aroma has a crisp clean and light maltiness with hops as the background, there is a nice honey aroma and floral hops too, nice. The first thing I notice in the flavor is the pungent bitterness, wasn’t expecting that, then the alcohol becomes apparent, what I like most about this beer is the light yet flavorful malts, tasty brew.

Pours a hazy amber, small white head. The flavor starts out sweet caramel but is balanced with a fairly dry, bitter finish. It’s a pretty straightforward, well-done beer.