Gearys Winter Ale

Brewed by D.L. Gearys Brewing Co.
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Portland, Maine USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

Pours a golden color with a white head. Aroma is malty, caramel, toast, and sweet fruity hops. Flavor is malty, caramel, toasty, and a bitter sweet citrus hop finish.

My first question is why do they call this an IPA. It didn’t smell, look, taste, or feel at all like an IPA. It wasn’t bad, but hardly an IPA, and definitely not intense. It had an aroma of malts and sweet fruit, hops if present were very faint. It looks orange in the pour, with a lacy head. It leaves a nice lacing during consumption. It tastes nice an tart, rather like an US Lager. The tartness, and malt qualities peak through, the hops seemed to have missed my bottle apparantley. It was a smooth tasting beer. I gave it lower marks, because it seemed to be out of the margins of what I expect from an IPA. See Troegs Nugget Nectar.

Intense hop floral finish? Ummm... not really. Still though it was a pretty good beer. Pours a darker golden color, medium bodied and a pretty good amount of head on top. Not a ton of aroma, seemed a little more malty than hoppy in the aroma. More flavor that I anticipated though, although it doesn’t have that aggressive hop bite most IPA’s have. Definitely more subtle. Some hops do come out in the flavor with a sweet malt taste in there. Pretty good balance and smooth. Could use more hoppiness and a bitter bite to be a true IPA.

Bottle. Big English hop presence in the aroma, with caramel and some sour fruity tang, but a little too sharp and has a touch of cardboard. Pale orange pour with a soapy beige head. Earthy, funky taste, dry and hoppy with a little resin and very little sweetness. Light bitterness. Crystal malt is a bit too sharp, and the funk is not as appealing as it should be - somewhat stale. Aftertaste is dry and bready, body is full and a touch hot. The Fuggles are nice here, but the overall effect isn’t one of cleanliness or particular excitement.

Jan. 2007 - Clear brown honey color, minimal head. Aroma was honey and fruity pears. Strong citrus hops, but not overly bitter. Fruity and really sweet, but not in a really pleasant way. I split a 12 oz with my dad and I’m not sure I could have handled much more of this.

From a 12 fl. oz. (US) bottle without any expiration date or lot number. 2007-2008 edition. Pours golden-bronze. Aroma of wheat, matls and something like honey. Not a lot of head or lacing. Almost creamy in the mouth. Smooth anyways. Sweet flavor. Not a bad brew but far from extraordinary.

Draft sampled. Pours a light gold/copper color with a white head. Aroma of light caramel, grains, floral, and notes of spices. Flavor follows the aroma with a light to medium body and a bitter finish

Bottle: Pours a clear amber color with a white head. Aroma, grassy and herbal, some toasted malts. Flavor, spices, caramel, some herbal hops. Highly mediocre.