Hook Norton Old Hooky (Bottle)

Brewed by Hook Norton
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, England

Clear coppery hue, decent head formation. Strong malt aroma, braedy, dark fruits. Mild palate, slight caramel and burnt raisin bread. Dry in the finish.

Amber, fizzy carbonation, medium frothy head. Clay nose but weak. Very thin, light bitterness. Decent.

Sept, 2002: Bottle. I lived in Oxford for a while in the 80s, and this, fresh from the pump, was always enjoyable. This bottled version is not as strong, rich and complex as I remember - but is still one of the decent regular British beers such as Speckled Hen and London Pride. [3.4]
Feb, 2009500ml bottle from Shropshire. Vintage 1989. 4.3%. A lot of cardboard melded with the toffee. Very drinkable and attractive. Feels richer and stronger than 4.3% - the original gravity is shown as between 1047 and 1051, which accounts for the rich mouthfeel - this is a strong beer, but not fully fermented, leaving in a lot of residual sugars. Well, it works for me. [3.2]

(on bottle)The word "old" is important; this beer is very matured and I like that. Gode/deep brown in color and both sent and taste is kind of square, hard ans young, although of the name. Very strong lash of wood and barreloil in the finish. Oh yeh, as Dalle says, pine in there too.

500ml brown bottle.Poured a clear dark amber with white head. Sweet malt aroma. Treacle toffee malt flavour with citrus bitterness. Refreshing mouthfeel with long bitter finish. I enjoyed this beer so much I went back to Sainsbury’s & bought four more.

Bottled version. There it is, that luscious, juicy malt I want in a true English ale. Soft, toasted, caramel aroma with an underlying butter note. Salt is also noticable in the aroma. Bitterness is prevalent throughout the profile. Toasty, light caramel makes up the bulk of the malt character. The beer is not overwhelming but it has a slight chewy character to it. The earthy, spicy, woody Goldings come out in the finish and combine with a touch of malt sweetness on the middle of the tongue for a phenomenal exit.

Bottled. Dazzling amber, frothy head, real touch of thornton’s special toffee to it, caramel with a hint of fruit and a little hoppy roughness in the finish. Bit much on a warm night but still a damn fine beer.

Bottle: Copper coloured with a decent head. Toffee aroma. Sweet-ish toffee flavour. Nice hop-bitterness on the finish.