Gritty McDuffs Halloween Ale

Brewed by Gritty McDuffs
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Portland, Maine USA

Serve in English pint

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Very faint slightly malty slight caramel aroma. Slight peppery spices and maybe hints of Ivory soap in the nose. Needs a more robust nose. Nice transparent orage/copper/amber color with a nice frothy off-white head. Cool label. Start is slightly bland and a tad thin. The middle gets a little peppery and spicy. Finish has small bitter hops dancing around in circles with nice roasty malts to bring up the rear. This beer is hit or miss. The aroma is kinda crap, the start is kinda crap, but the finish and the appearance are gorgeous. Not sure where to rate this guy.

Verrry good! Nice dark color, decent aroma, and great taste. Seemed similar to an Oktoberfest. I'm going to look for this again.

The beer as it spills from the Bomber a transpicuous mahogany color, the head is smallish, frothy and a nice light tan color with the resultant lace a thin veil to hide the glass. Sweet malt is the major player in the nose, crisp, fresh and pleasing to the senses, I also detect a bit of vanilla, and a bit of Black Walnut, interesting to say the least, start is pleasingly sweet, decent malt profile with a touch of tartness, top is full in its feel to the palate,. Finish is amaroidal, hops definitive in their spiciness, dry, nay I say desert dry and the hops stick on your “Buds” to the very end, a nice drinking beer and a pleasure to sample, thank you “Gritty McDuff’s," your both a “Hoot”!

Bright orangey-amber; aroma is a mix of allspice & caramel. Fairly alcoholic palate, with fruity notes and the odd bit of caramel and earth. Decent brew, but why is this their smash hit?

I dedicate this rating to BeerAdvocate, because in their inimitable style, I will proceed to waste everyone's time by using far more words than necessary in describing an ordinary, run of the mill beer in the false belief that a. anyone really cares what is written here, b. longer, more verbose reviews are better than succinct ones and c. no one will notice that the flowery words I'm about to use are more intended to show that I know how to write prosaically than intended to help others grasp the nuances of Gritty's Halloween Ale. So here goes. Floral, herbal nose. The brew sits, beckoningly in the glass, casting a reddish malt stare my way. Rapidly thinning head, with wisps clinging to the side of the glass as I sip (glass used: orange juice, 12 ouncer). Definitely maltier (German, perhaps) and somewhat hoppier (Hallertau? Cascades?) than a standard UK Bitter ale. Warming alcohol tones trickle down my esophagus. Shades of chocolate, beetroot, summer squash and frankincense. More of a winter brew than a fall due to its heavy malt presence.

Wow. I am very happy with this. Deep garnet brown color, large fluffy head that dissipates fairly rapidly and leaves nice lacing. Very clear. Rich malty flavor like an english strong ale but with a nice bitter flavor. Getting richer in body as it warms. This is a quite tasty ale my friends. Enjoy…I wish I had more. If tyhey called this a winter beer, it would get a lot more play.

Pours a BOO-tiful deep red, with a large tan head that somewhat lasts, light amounts of lace cloak the glass on the way down. Body has a good bit of carbonation. Aroma is fruity, toasted grains, and some floral hoppiness. Flavor starts with some toasted grains, a hint of chocolate, some butteriness, and ends with a pleasant medium hoppiness. Medium body, frighteningly drinkable. A different but welcome take on a fall seasonal.

Has a great reddish amber color and a floral/hop smell. Taste was not very malty and finished with a good hop bitterness. Overall a pretty good bitter that I wish I could have tried on tap.

Draught: The beer pours a deep, rich copper/mahogany color. It was fairly clear. There wasn't too much head, but there was still some lacing. Some sweetness, including fruit and caramel to the nose. Hops are fairly subdued, but are balancing the sweetness well. Slightly dry finish. This went down far too easy, so I ordered a second.

UPDATED: OCT 5, 2003 Wow, this beer matches the commercial description extremely well. It's a very mellow, smooth, and tasty ESB. It's not very malty; the malts add just a bit of sweetness to the flavor & some bitterness. Very relaxing, really. The hop level is very good in my opinion, and they come through nicely in the finish. This stuff is so drinkable that I never would have guessed it was as high as 6% abv-I really slammed mine back pretty quick without even meaning to. The appearance is reddish/amber, with no lacing to speak of and a thin head. This beer cheered me up after a long day, so I commend the good folks at Gritty's for that.