Hogs Back OTT (Old Tongham Tasty)

Brewed by Hogs Back
Style: English Strong Ale
Farnham, England

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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Bottle. Brown colour with a small baige head. Light roasted malty plum aroma and taste. Medium body and a sweet finish.

Bottled 50cl. Malty buttery aroma which is reminiscent of earthy hops. Caramel throughout. Medium to full bodied. Decent.

Bottle. Dark brown colour with a small beige head. Aroma was fruity and malty. Taste was quite enjoyable; some sweetness, liquorice and fruit, as well as a fair dash of chocolate. Could have had more bitterness.

(Bottle) Pours deep dark red. Light roasted, dry-ish aroma with with some fruits and bitter cocoa. Dark malt flavour with some raisins. Light sour with a dry finish. Medium body.

Bottle. Pours a black colour with a thin white head, rich malty aroma with some winter fruit, the taste is bitter with fruit with a short dry finish.

Bottle as part of Hogs Back christmas pack Aroma - Powerful, sour malty chocolate with alcohol aftertone. If this tastes as good as it smells, I’m in for a treat. Appearance - small but creamy and persistent head over a deep, deep amber brown. Pleasant. Taste - ...sadly doesn’t carry through from the aroma, quite. Too sour for my tastes, sour and bitter dominating the pleasant chocolate and malt undertones. Pleasant enough, but I wouldn’t seek it out. Palate - Thin and watery, a disappointment.

(Cask at Bricklayer Arms, London) This beer was dominated by berries. It wasn’t really unpleasant thing but it made me wonder whether something had gone wrong either in brewing or during conditioning. In any case: alcohol was quite hidden and sweetness was bit too much present. Bitterness was quite low and could have been stronger so that it would have cut the sweetness.

A strong dark beer ideal for winter, it really does warm you as you drink it but it’s strength is not transferred into the taste. It has a strong coffee taste with hints of caramel and a slight bitterness but generally smooth. There is a smoked malt and coffee aroma, with only a small head it is a still a brilliant beer from Hogs Back!

UPDATED: FEB 6, 2008 2008-01-29, 6-3-6-3-12=30
Dark brown color. Aroma of chocolate and caramel. Good body strength, good mix of caramel and chocolate malt, with some sweetness and strong bitterness, in the end there is a rising roasted malt. Quite good.

2003-04-17, 6-5-8-4-15=38
Dark amber color. Some roasted malt aroma, a touch of carbonic gas in the nose. Full mouth, beautiful roasted malt character, well balanced by the body structure, some sweetness (only 6%ABV for an OG of 1066), malt, caramel. Beautiful; with some fruitness would be perfect (such as Henry’s, Crouch Vale Crackling...).

I have now had quite of few of the Hogs Back beers, and I am getting rather pessimistic about their brewing. This one has some nice features, such as the roasted and nutty flavors. However, as with other beers by this brewer, I feel that it disappoints by letting it down in a big way in some particular dimension. Slightly syrupy appearance, cola-like carbonation, although flatter in the mouth. Very soon into the beer, the sweetness dominates with negative consequences. Imbalanced flavors lead to a sour face, sometimes because of the sweetness. And once it goes completely flat--which happens all too quick--it becomes very difficult drinking. (my 100th beer rated for July 2002--a simple landmark for some people, but a personal best that is likely to stand for some time).