Midnight Special Pale Ale
Clay Pipe Brewing Company

22 oz bottle courtesy of Dithyramb

Pours a golden yellow with a very nice white head. Both retention and lacing are impressive.
Aromas are fruity malt, some honey character, hops, and just a hint of caramel.
Sweetness somewhat dominates the palate but it is balanced out quite well by the bitter hops in this. Honey is a definite characteristic as quite a bit of fruitiness (grapes, cherries, pears, green apple).
Mouthfeel is nice and makes this one really easy to drink.
Overall, an interesting and quite enjoyable take on the Pale Ale style. I feel pretty fortunate to have been able to try this as I understand that the run on this was extremely limited.

This beer was created by a member of the Midnight Homebrewer's League of Carroll County Maryland and created commercially as a special release of Clay Pipe. I found this one after the store split up an ordered case that was never claimed. Having run into the creator of the recipe at Maryland Homebrew I was anxious to try this.

This beer has a homebrewed character to it. Pours hazy gold with a fine white head. The aroma is hoppy with cascades maybe? The flavor is a balanced of hops and malt with sweetness and a little alcohol in the finish and a lingering hop bitterness. This is probably due to the honey they add after fermentation. The mouthfeel is fuller than expected and smooth. Overall a good pale ale with lots of flavor. This really embraces the spirit of homebrewing. My personal tastes shy away from the honey additions, but its very well done with this beer and fun to drink.

1 pint 6 oz brown bottle with gold foil lining the cap. Special labeling on the bottle--a crescent moon imbibing a tall, frosty one--and an attached paper label explaining the significance of the brew.

This was the winner of the annual Homebrewer's League of Carroll County on their 10th anniversary. Brewed by hand at Clay Pipe.

Pours a clear amber yellow orange with flecks of carbonation and a rocking tannish white head. Reduced down to nice ringlet with excellent retention.

Spiciness and hops on the nose.

Medium mouthfeel is accented by bitter hops in the front and back end. Candy-like sugarness in the middle and the sticky spicy finish--must be the Carroll County honey used for the mix. Lingering astringent bitterness.

Quite drinkable, worth many more, which would be extremely difficult, given its distribution and nature.