Gearys Winter Ale

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

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Most American versions of IPA have a very aggressive hop profile, and use a blend of American hops. Geary’s Winter Ale, is a British inspired IPA, and uses British hops such as Golding and Fuggles, but being this is an American beer, a good dose of Mt. Hood hops are used as well. The malts used are English(clarity, crystal, and wheat malt), and this beer uses a very distinctive British yeast strain known as Ringwood. Ringwood gives the beer an earthy/buttery character in both aroma and flavor, and gives the beer another dimension. Geary’s Winter Ale pours to a beautiful deep golden to light amber color with a thick and creamy white head, and a good bit of carbonation. The nose on this beer is fantastic with flowery and citric hop aromas, which marry with earthy/yeasty aromas. The palate is firm with lots of good pale and stewed crystal malt flavors, with yeasty and buttery undertones. Geary’s Winter Ale finishes with more malty and buttery flavors up front, then ends with a very pleasing hop bitterness that lingers. A very well done domestic example of a very British inspired IPA. This is a hearty beer, and is a great beer to match up with hearty dishes, and that of course means steamed or baked stuffed lobster, or New England clam chowder if you are in Maine. This beer is available in select good beer markets from November to February, so get it while supplies of this beer lasts.

UPDATED: DEC 14, 2004 One of the more perfect IPAs that I’ve had. I settled into this one while contemplating the onset of a winter night and the telling chill that comes before a day that is forecast for snow. I stepped out to observe the night on the neighborhood in which I grew up in while I sipped this from a pint glass bought in Montreal. I consider where I’ve been and what I’m doing, and how I’m not the person I was when I was growing up, yet in some ways hope to retain myself from then and still am that person. Hints of orange, just the right amount of hops. I’m proud of Maine, proud of Portland, for this beverage I just sampled. It’s not my hometown, but I feel allegiance to it from summers spent on the Maine coast nearby. Returning back from the ethereal, this is a damn satisfying beer. Goes well with almost any feeling you have in the depths of winter. Refreshes with that corn-sweet pleasure that you had when you drank fresh Pepsi as a kid at a restaurant. Best tasting with the full aroma, in a glass rather from the bottle. Delicious, and good for the season.

IPA? Winter Ale? Both? Yea I guess it would be both. Odd taste, great aftertaste.

Amber body with thin off-white head. Smells malty and fruity (apricot?). Tastes like apricot, with some malt and floral notes. Medium in body. Rather tasty and enjoyable, but doesn’t tast much like an IPA. Reminds me in some ways to DFH Aprihop or Magic Hat #9... I like it.

12oz bottle. Not what I expected from an IPA. Subtle honey undertones. Hoppy after affect. Slight linger. All in all, a surprising beer from the the north east!

Darkish amber, medium foamy head. Aroma orangey, earthy, light pepper/oregano. Earthy and caramelized aroma. Thickly sweet finish with herbal overtones. A bit candyish. Curiously clean fermentation profile, making this a bit one-dimensional in its caramelly sweetness. I'd like to see some fruitiness here, in the absence of any particular hop presence.

Fresh 12 oz bottle - Gold, creamy white head. Soft earthy floral nose with lighter notes of toasted caramel and grains. Dry floral bitterness rests on a soft bed of nutty earth and toasted swet malt. Decent balance. Light to medium bodied, medium carbonation, semi-bitter finish. Not sure if prior rates had bad batches, but this one was not nearly as bad as the score indicates. Going way against the grain here, but I thought it was a nicely crafted sessionable IPA...

UPDATED: AUG 16, 2006 Hard to believe this is an IPA. I would say English Strong Ale. Anyways, pours a mostly clear reddish-brown with a huge white head. Big yeasty smell, slightly spicy, with some soft fruit flavors as well. Medium bodied, low carbonation, moderately sweet, subtle, soft hops. Yeast flavors are great, cherries and apricots? Malt is just right, not too dry, not too sweet. No hint of alcohol. Not terribly complex, as is usual for this brewery, but just wonderfully even.

Bottle: Poured completely still, bronze, with just a thin fizzy of a head. Nice aroma of hops, strawberries, bit of floral goodness. Also nicely flavored -- lightly sweet malt, lightly mixed with a hint of spicy hops, and again with an almost strawberry note, this is a nice flavorful brew. (#2969, 6/9/2007)

Pours orangish golden color with initial tan head. Nose is sweet, fruity and of caramel. Very nice. No significant hop presence. Flavor is rich and malty, almost chewy. Finish lingers. Doesn’t fit the traditional IPA mold but does seem much more like a holiday ale.