Hook Norton Old Hooky (Cask)

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

Serve in English pint

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UPDATED: MAR 4, 2012 Sept, 2004: Wenlock. A well rounded and enjoyable ale. Oak. Fruit. Musty. Old. Rusty. Some apple acid. Pleasant. [3.3]
June, 2005. JDW, Boston, Lincs. At one time this was one of my favourite beers and I have very fond memories of it from my time in Oxford. Here it seems tired, washed out and dull. [2.7]
April, 2007JDW, Rochester Beautiful reddish colour. Nice butterscotch flavour and good hop tickle. Perhaps a little too sweet and barley-sugar like, but still an enjoyable drop. [3.5]
Feb, 2008 Rose & Crown, Oxford. Good to be drinking this in Oxford - the place where I first encountered it many years ago. This has a wild heather quality which lifts it above the ordinary. Earthy and satisfying. [3.4]
Feb, 2012 JDW, Gatwick airport. I always enjoy this beer. Touch of toffee, spurt of fruit juice, spank of dusty hops in the finish. An old fashioned ale. Tasty and enjoyable. [3.6]

Hand pulled pint in my new Wetherspoons pub on 19 Aug 2011. Lovely amber body and a cracking cream coloured foaming crown on top. The aromas given off were mild hop esters with a fruity overtone, hardly any malts to be found. The taste is maltier than the smells would indicate, this is a well balanced brew and very easy to drink, the alcohol being hidden by the various flavours the ingrediants have produced: unsweetened shortbread biscuits and brown toast come to mind. Not rich, but certainly not thin or wishy-washy, it’s just about right for a top quality English Bitter.

Mid-brown, clear. Fruity, malty backbone. Low but lingering bitterness. Pleasant but nothing startling.

First tasted thi in the Boswell Hotel, Glasgow in January 1993. Cask, handpump dispense. Clear garnet in colour with a thick creamy buff head. Strong fruity aroma of red grape juice. Thin mouthfeel and good lacing. Dark malts give a fruit loaf base with syrupy cherries, damsons and raisins. Spicy hop resins add some bitter flavour to the short aftertaste. Finish is dry and vinous with vanilla oak cask and a hint of liquorice. A traditional Old Ale in style and worth seeking out.

Very Acidic BBBB - really didn’t do it for me, not pleasant and with nothing to shout about. Drinkable but a struggle.

Pint at the Queen’s Head in Wokingham. Slightly cloudy blond, with ok head. Its quite bitter, but the fruitiness grows on you. Slighty fruity non-descript aroma.

A great beer from Oxfordshire. Reliable in cask and bottle. Smooth flavour.

Pours copper with substantial white head. Nose is caramel, herby, minerally and fruity hops. Taste is a real mixture. Bit of caramel but not much. Nutty, citrous, fruity hops. I wonder if this was on the turn.

Cask at the Windsor Castle. Deep amber-brown, orange tints, and lace. Cloudy looking. Faint nose of caramel, butterscotch, light orange. Flavors the same. Rather sweet and malty flavor, with caramel, light earthy hops, grass, and a touch of orange. Ok and taste enough with a good peppery finish.

Cask at Charlies. Clear amber - offwhite bubbles. Caramel. Fruity. Grainy. Grassy. Toasted. Nutty. Light medicine. Dryness. Hay. Ok.

(cask) clear dark copper colour with a frothy stable off-white head. aroma of dark candied fruits with a hint of yeast and liquorice. flavour is heavy liquorice and treacle, with light notes of earth and grass. medium body and carbonation.