Hampshire Special Ale

D.L. Geary Brewing - Portland, Maine

Style: English strong ale

Serving temperature: 50˚F

Alcohol content: 7% abv

For an early American craft brewer in the 1980s, there was nothing like the official first visit by famed English beer critic Michael Jackson. Most of these brewers were inspired by Jackson's writings; all of them valued his expertise and insight.

David Geary remembers Jackson's visit shortly after his brewery - the first microbrewery in New England - had conditi oned its earliest batch of Hampshire Special Ale in 1989. Geary had modeled the strong English ale after the many cask-conditioned ales he'd sampled while learning the trade in Scotland.

It was time for Geary to show the master what he'd learned. Could this magnificently malty ale from Maine stand up to those served in the traditional pubs of London?

"I remember him sitting in the tasting room. I poured him a cask-conditioned Hampshire. He smelled it and did all the beery things. And he looked up at me and said, ‘This is a very special beer.'

"I felt giddy."

With a rich copper hue, this ale proudly shows off a big malty aroma with a dense fruity character. The first sip crosses the palate with a spike of hop bitterness, quickly countered by lightly sweet caramel and toffee. Light citrus lingers in the smooth finish.

-Joe Sixpack