Geary's Hampshire Special Ale

First Brewed: Between 1986 and 2001
Brewery Location: Portland, Maine, United States
ABV: 7%

History & Availability: Hampshire Special Ale used to be Geary's winter seasonal before the popularity of the beer made them turn it into a year-round production, after which their Winter Ale was introduced. It's generally considered as one of their best and so you'll find it in most any Geary's variety pack.

Appearance: Dark oak in color, still noticeably lighter than a stout though. Smallish tan head with good retention. Can't tell much regarding carbonation or clarity from looking at the beer since it is fairly dark. I guess the difference is it's not quite as opaque as a stout, and you can certainly see some amber color at the bottom of the mug. Still one of the darkest beers I've seen that's still decidedly transparent.

Smell: Can't smell much through this thick head. We'll see if that changes as I start drinking. -- Ah, yes, here we go. Interestingly there's a lot of hops in this aroma, which is certainly present in the taste but in equal quantity with the malts. I'm getting essentially no malt in the smell at all, and instead mostly just bitters. It's a really interesting pairing with the aftertaste which is almost 100% alcohol/sweet.

Taste: Lots of roasted malts coming through here, but at the same time there's a huge rush of hops trying to counteract the sweetness. The combined effect is one of a really tart fruit like currant or raspberry, but without the overtones of any fruit in particular. On the other hand, a really heavy sweetness dominates the aftertaste. You can feel the alcohol lingering on your breath after each sip, perhaps not quite as much as an imperial IPA but present nevertheless.

Mouthfeel: Lighter in body than the color would have you believe, but about as light as any other pale ale. Carbonation is a little much for my liking, but again, I'm willing to forgive that since it only overshoots by a little and it's necessary to keep the head rolling.

Drinkability: Not bad. I was really expecting this beer to be almost undrinkable after the first one since the malt and hops both hit so hard, but as the beer warmed it became significantly less aggressive. Definitely stick to the suggested serving temperature of 50-55 on this one and you'll be fine.

Overall verdict: B+, I was really hesitant to put this one above the Winter Ale since I enjoyed the multiple flavors of that beer, but I have to admit HSA is a really good blend objectively. I'll probably still prefer the Winter Ale on a personal level.