#geary's

Geary’s Pale Ale-Portland, ME

Now this is a fine pale ale, bitterness, hops, and awesome flavor that stays with you until the cows come home. Geary’s hit the nail on the head with this one with a consistent flavor and a smooth finish aftertaste that you can enjoy with a heavy red meat or shellfish seafood dish.

Geary’s OG Lager-Portland, ME

Why they called it OG is beyond me...anywho I am here to rate this fine lager brewed by Geary’s brewery in Portland, ME (The colonial one, not the hipster one.) Geary’s brewery, what I got from their website, was founded and incorporated in 1983, at that time there were only 13 micro-breweries in the US at that time Saint-Arnold’s being one of them, and after a few years got their first pints of beer sold to the “masses” (joke would have been funny if this was in MA, not ME.) you can go to http://www.gearybrewing.com/history for more info.

Now that intro is out of the way, time for some actual reviews, right off the bat as indicated by the second picture, the beer came out in a yellow color with very little head-foam. Yes, I did pour it right. Kind of turned me off, but the wheat-like smell you should expect in a lager pulled me right back in. when I first sipped it there was an excellent balance of wheat, hops, and bubbly texture, however despite the fact that the flavor is alright, the finish was a bit too foamy and not smooth as a lager was expected to be. although I would enjoy this with a chicken fried dinner, the whole experience is not really that far different than that of Coors light. A little disappointing, yes, but I would still recommend this brew to any craft beer lover ordering a chicken fried chicken dinner to go at puffabelly’s.

oysters, ohhhh oysters. they've had a growing presence in our lives in the last year. the true love affair started with a visit to the north haven oyster company on the tiny island of  north haven, maine where anna's family spends the summer. you roll up to a small oyster hut in the middle of the island with $10 dollars in hand, you pluck the baker's dozen of oysters (or more) from the rattling old refrigerator outside the hut and leave your money in a basket, the honor system of course. they're lovely little guys, that go down all too easily. our visit to the island between christmas and new year's included a full tour and explanation of the oyster farm and what creates the unique flavor of each and every oyster. it's good to know the fisherman!

while walking along the water on our way to j's oyster, we popped into harbor fish market to have a look at the gorgeous fish. i was overjoyed to see north haven oysters being sold there. when i overheard a woman asking the fishmonger about them, i immediately jumped in to make the sell. she was really pleased to hear my passion about the way the farm is run and even asked me to send her pictures of the farm from my phone so she could show her husband- food makes friend!

My friend Ian is just the best.

I don’t know how else to describe him.

And we have a standing date every Thursday at Ruski’s in the west end.

Ruski’s lies a block and a half from my apartment. And I love it almost as much as I love my friend Ian. Not only is the bar a total dive – neon lights, darts, graffiti in the bathroom – but the food is delicious, greasy and mostly covered in cheese and the waitresses are as rude as can be. A little slice of heaven on Danforth St.

How can you go wrong?

On one of our nights at Ruski’s, I decided to try Geary’s HSA. It was a rainy, disgusting night and the tap looked like concrete – I was intrigued.

The D.L. Geary Brewing Company is a Maine based brewery started in 1983. When Geary’s was started, there were only 13 microbreweries in the US. The hipster beer scene was just starting, and the Geary’s were pioneers. They wanted to create quality, small batch beers for the region because most microbrews were made on the west coast.

The Geary’s HSA, Hampshire Special Ale, is an English Strong Ale. These ales are bigger in flavor than pale ales and much darker in color. The alcohol hits at around 7%, but you can definitely taste it. To me, this is that strong, sour grape taste that accompanies beers with higher alcohol content.

The color is a rich brown – chestnut with a small amount of off-white head at the top. Quickly the head becomes a small layer of foam.

“This is one of my favorites,” Ian says to me over his mountain of fries.

While aesthetically, this beer is pretty, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cause me some concern. For some reason, I’ve always associated darker beers with strong, hoppy flavor. I think this steams from drinking crappy, light beers are an adolescent. Darker beers were the opposite of whatever 30 rack was brought to a party, therefore it had to be the exact opposite in taste, right? I will admit, my 18 year old logic was not fool proof. Obviously, this is just not true at all – some of the lighter beers I’ve had are the hoppiest in flavor.

I take a breath and a sip.

Hops… yes. But not just hops. This beer is thick. It has depth. The bitter flavor from the hops is accompanied by a warm, malty flavor. This tastes like caramel and sunshine. The toasted malt flavor and the bitterness of hops come together, neither over powering the other. Warm, malty flavor first, with a slightly bitter finish. The flavor stays on the side of my tounge for a while and hits the back of my mouth.

The flavor is deep, in general. The depth comes from the complexity of the warm flavors and bitterness of the hops.

I actually like it.

I like the color – dark and strong with tints of red. I like the malty, toasted almond flavor and texture. I don’t even hate the bitterness at the end because it cuts through the creamy malty taste.

I like the way it accompanies my order of poutine and helps break through the evening rain.

Is she starting to like hops? Don’t get your hopes up. But Geary’s HSA definitely lands a place on my “order again” list.