Morland Hens Tooth

Brewed by Greene King
Style: English Strong Ale
Bury St. Edmunds, England

Well… not really a fan of this one. The beer looked nice sitting in the glass. Hazey bronze body and a tall white head. The aroma has some earthy yet spicy hop characteristics. There was some unnecessary sweetness that I didn’t much care for… as it seemed somewhat contrived. I think it was the house yeast that I found most off-putting. Too doughy, tart, like green nuts… All the fruity esters held a compounded bitterness of rotting fruits…. I just didn’t dig it. The mouth-feel was rather pleasant though!

bottle conditioned: are you kidding me, nobody likes hens tooth!!! nice robust malty flavor and great british hops that are pretty mellow. some sweetness possibly from the high 6.5ABV. drink it an enjoy, not as good as it used to be, because now the greene king is brewing it. long live cask ale.

Looks like light whiskey in its odd bottle. The pour delivers a lot of foam. Enjoyable carbonation. Slight cherry notes, astringent and gives the face a slight grimace. My buddies didn’t care for this but it was decent and i can see how it can be a pleaser to some.

Another clear bottle,balls up.Usual boring,cardboard flavours.

At first I thought I got an infected sample, but from reading the other ratings it sounds like this one usually tastes bad as a result of the clear bottle and other factors. Skunky aroma, cidery, sour taste. I poured it out. Boo.

Good frothy head,great amber coloured beer,with good carbonation.Aroma buttery,mild grass notes,malt,nut,all plesant.Flavour nut,citrus hops perfect,nice sweetness of stonefruit(peach),a smooth ale with good tastes,I like the brewery also,could drink this all day.Finish fruity mixtures,bitter sweet,dry good.

After tasting a few English Strong’s with similar characters of late, I get the impression the brewers are emulating ESB’s as far as flavour and just pumping up the alcohol. The drastically needed complexities of the style have all but gone out the window, especially with this one. Tasted from the bottle after a short stay in the cellar, and poured into a large flute glass. Sparkling, burnished copper body with a well-charged flurry of fine carbonation raising up to a compact 1" beige head that showed good retention and left some legs. It looked good! Quite soft and subtle on the nose. Zesty marmalade, citrus fruits and a little toffee; quite pleasant. Quite sweet and aggressively raspy on the tongue, bitter in the back reminiscent of eucalypt leaves. Strong note of burnt sugar came in after a few mouthfuls and belies its rather thin body. Soft in mouthfeel, it has the lightest touch of melonous fruit flavours mid-palate, before all hops and a little alcohol filled the rather short, fresh and lightly warming swallow. Not a bad Bitt...err, Strong Ale! Easy to drink, but a lower ABV would be a better fit. (50cL, 17/02/06)

A hoppish aroma with a slight malty sweetness is detected. The pour is bronze with a white head and the flavor has hops with a malty sweet balance.