O’Hanlon’s Royal Oak

Brewed by O’Hanlon’s
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Exeter, England

Serve in English pint

Sampled from bottle at Danish Beer Festival 2004 (#23).
Creamy off-white head on a cloudy amber colored body. Woody, dark malty, beeries and somewhat earthly aroma. Quite full flavor, malty and spicy. Also pepper, fruit and hops. A really nice and different beer.

Bottle. Slightly hazy amber color. The initial pour gave a 1/2 inch of beer and 7 inches of off white foam. Had to wait patiently for the foam to go down before I could even get a decent sniff. Spicy hops aroma with sweet apples backing it up. Flavor begins with caramel malt and blends quickly into a toffee sweetness and piney bitterness. Medium bodied, creamy on the palate with a slight yeast tingle on the tongue. This one is definitely not meant to be drunk ice cold but is excellent at the right temperature.

From a 1pt. 9oz. short narrow neck brown bottle with a blurb and history lesson, along with serving and pouring instructions, on the back of label and I too, have a best before date of 02.28.05, but the pale ale held up well. Made a good appearance, the cap popped when I opened it, poured an hazy orange and gold hued copper with a large billowing foamy head that slowly settled into a thin rocky, foamy lacing, good carbonation. Had a big, sweet berry fruity and earthy nose with a little dry yeast and molasses in the background. A crisp, carbonated textured, smooth light bodied mouth feel, good drinkability. Nice berry fruity, with a subtle banana, taste, a buttery, syrupy molasses maltiness, a dry earthy hop bitterness, a balanced bitterness with the sweet malts, and a dry earthy and malty finish, well done. I really enjoyed this English Pale Ale, balanced and tasty. When I saw the best before date, I was expecting the worst, but this ale held up well, recommended for anyone liking pale ales and ESB’s, English or American. In Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide, this listed as a pale ale.

Really enjoyed this beer, i’ve been feeling like a west country beer for a while so this was extremely welcome. pours with a pillowy head and the nose on it is extraordinary, reminds me of stewed rhubarb and apples in a crumble, gorgeous! doesn’t look that great in the glass, i had a bit of trouble controling the pour and there’s a lot of sediment! I’ve had this on cask and this tastes very similar, it has the same astringent quality that balances out the malt presence. all in all a great beer!

Poured out a deep burnt orange brew that was not entirely clear - probably due to my pour. I was pretty careful but got greedy near the bottom. The large super light brown crown is really thick and has amazing retention and lacing - an excellent looking brew, no doubt. The aroma is pleasant but quite mild. Found a bit of bread and caramel, the latter being the weaker of the two, fruit that comes from the darker side of the citrus family. Something faint a short that reminds me of chocolate milk powder...?? The more this warms the more the hop character comes out. The taste is really goo, so good that I’ve put another in the freezer. I’ve really gotten hooked on English bitters lately. Neat blend of malts - I know there’s some bread and some caramel but it all seems a mystery.... comes across dry. Tasty hops that come over the top of the malt but do not overpower the flavour. The hops really become more sour as I bottom my glass. It’s almost like this beer is layered. Something Xmas hard candy like in the spice. It might even taste like bark. Nears medium bodied. Smooth brew with a lengthy bitter and bready finish, more so later on. I think I’m in need of a blind English Bitter tasting and let these suckers battle each other to the death. Did I overrate this? I’ll have to hit it up again, me thinks.

Bottle. Has Red color, hard and brilliant. The head is light, of a clear bronze color. The aroma is fruit, perhaps of very mature citruses, with something of caramel at heart. In paladar is smooth, with a light sweet, remembers many fruits to me (That good is). The hop is very right, almost imperceptible, but it is there. Long time that i did not find something equal. Today I will not continue proving other beers. I remain with this beer

Bottle-conditioned. Pours slightly cloudy, brown-orange. Aromas of stone, caraway, toffee; medium bitterness on the taste, with an afteraroma of caramel and haylike hops. Dry, slightly sticky finish. Very nice ESB.

Bottle, Pours a medium brown, slightly hazy. Very creamy slightly off white head. Hop aromas and some malt sweetness. A little port also. Aromas are reasonably subdued but very well balanced. Flavours are extremely complex, initially showing plenty of bready malts, toffee and caramel. The finish shows heaps of bitter hops and plenty of port and whiksy smokiness. Very well balances and as I said quite complex. Mouthfeel is a little thin but it seems to work for this beer. Bllody good beer I reckon.