Hook Norton Old Hooky (Bottle)

50 cl bottle on October 13, 2009
Clear copper color, off-white head. Malty, sweet, fruit cake, grainy scent. Salty, malty, fruity, phenolic taste. Smooth mouthfeel. Medium bitterness. Salty aftertaste.

Pours amber/red, thin off white head.
Nose is fruity and bready - a bit of cherries.
The flavour has the classic English bitter character. Bready malt, toffee, fruity hops providing a good strong balancing bitterness. A bit of spice.
Mouth filling flavour, very balanced.

Two finger head that recedes with peaks and valleys. Very cloudy liquid. Dark amber or light rust color. Spotty lace (light for the style). Strong caramel aroma from the malt. Light bitter hop. There is the typical English "roundness" that I smell in nearly all of Brit’s ales. Truly matches the profile of a typical English Pale Ales. Relatively mild for a Bitter. Great balance--malt on the front of the tongue, hop on the back. Interestingly, initially it seems undercarbonated, but the finish is quite bubbly. It is full bodied without being rich.

bottle from Waitrose Sidmouth. Clear chestnut/amber colour with a mid-sized off-white head. Malty, slightyl fruity with a hoppy touch. Old Hooky reminded me of a German Dunkel.

From Libations. Poured out a rocky white head above a body of clear copper; appearance was the best thing about this beer. Aroma was faint, maybe some malt? Taste was okay and just okay, thankfully not overly sweet. Finished a little less sweet and mouth was decent. A ho-hum beer.

Pours a slighty cloudy dark amber, with a nice one-finger head. No lacing. Aroma is fruity (raisins, cherry), with a touch of nut. Flavor is simlar (fruit and nut) with a touch of caramel, and suprisingly a slight alcohol warmth. Very well balanced beer. Palate is a bit thin and watery with a slightly dry finish. Overall I found this to be a very drinkable brew. I certainly wasn’t expecting to like it nearly as much as I did.

Sampled from a 16.9 oz brown bottle this beer poured a hazy orange color with a large orange-white head. The aroma was tangy, fruity and nutty. The flavor was tart, tangy and had a fairly strong fruity hop presence and undertones of nut. The finish was long, tangy and fruity. Solid.

Bottle, Thrrshers, Aughton. Thought he played bass for New Order?? This was deeply average and dull and not worth dwelling on really.