Musty earthen mossing of frothily cascading English porter secures dry coffee roast, black chocolate bittering and sharp hop-charred nutty residue. Yet watery texture provides silken crisping against moderated tar-like molasses bittering. Sticky, strong, but not distinct… and hardly London style (unless they mean London, Ontario).
All posts by John Fortunato
GEARY’S HAMPSHIRE SPECIAL ALE (’00 WINTER ’01)
One-time tawny-hued seasonal deepens prune-soured nose with English-styled hop-spiced tingle and swerved Scotch malt splendor. Mild caramel wheat bed sweetens grape-fig tartness, candied apple sweetness, vegetal gourd astringency, and tobacco leaf resonance.
GEARY’S HAMPSHIRE SPECIAL ALE
Boundless honeyed malt terrain surrounds hop-fueled bitterness embedding zesty dark fruitiness to musty finish, but so-called Special Ale proves too predictable.
GEARY’S AUTUMN ALE
Though expected spiced pumpkin autumnal feel lacks, off-dry auburn-hued Brown Ale envelops initial caramel-burnt butterscotch-maple sweetness with wheat-backed Fuggle-hopped roasted nut promenade. Tinny backdrop and minor astringency subdue soured fig scamper.
GEARY’S AMERICAN ALE
Mildly clouded amber appearance, oily mineral grain essence and dreary red fruited subtlety lack resolve. Sparkly carbolic fizz becomes phenolic. Blasé IPA similitude stays unengaging. Lively, refreshing, but undistinguished.
(GAYANT) SAINT LANDELIN LA DIVINE
Serviceable moderate-bodied amber-cleared Belgian-styled strong ale (a.k.a. Biere de Garde) retains bruised banana sweetness above lemon-wedged herbal-tinged cinnamon-clove spicing. By ambiguous finish, buttery Chardonnay notes trickle through.
GAVROCHE FLANDERS RED ALE
Puffy beige-headed bottle-conditioned red ale remains creamy, buttery, and robust as floral-hopped raisin-plum conflux fills out earthen wood backdrop. At lusty finish, pleasant rosé and barleywine sweetness appears, quelling French wine expectancy.
(PACIFIC HOP EXCHANGE) GASLIGHT PALE ALE
Well-calibrated malted grain sweetness and dry hop bittering provide English ale-like distinction for excellent pale body. While hearty guzzlers may be put off by sugary opulence, confident fruit-spiced finish showcases an impressive array of undefined adjuncts.
GAFFEL KOLSCH ALE
Flatulent olfactory aroma, fizzled white head, low key biscuit dalliance, and lazy lemon-apricot tinge dampen resolve of dry-lagered floral yeast influence. Moderate hop resonance and barest banana-clove notch turn metallic as soapiness reminiscent of simpler Eastern Euro pilsners hurts clear straw light-body.
FULL SAIL STOUT
Coffee flavored cola is more like it. Not as heavy as it pours, and a bit watery for such a dark stout. Kind of like an ice coffee with a bitter bite. Could be richer or pack more body, but that’s just nitpicking an otherwise unique li’l stout.
FULL SAIL RIP CURL ENGLISH PALE ALE
Spritzy hop luster of soothingly sharp bronze-hazed medium body given toasted grain retreat, elegant orange peel resonation, and earthen mineral tinge. Roasted caramel malting and citric-peeled apple-apricot-berry fruiting contrast earthen herbal hops to biscuit-y bottom.
FULL SAIL PILSNER
Perky spice-hopped summertime pilsner with sharp orange-peeled clove-ginger persuasion gliding above pleasant wheat essence. Moderate citric-embittered finish retains floral backdrop.