O’Hanlon’s Royal Oak

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

Serve in English pint

Bottle as picture. Poured into a half pinter. First beer I’ve had that blew out straight head. nO liquid to be had and spilled over. jaysus its a gusher when added to the glass. That happened again and again with each new pour. Head is massive Frothy and creme thick like. Amber clad colour. Well balance look with yeasties coming through at the end. Sweet floral nose with mild warm fruits. Taste is slight bitter malt, dry, floral and somewhat fruity...not juicy fruity, but decent, enjoyable fruity. Very well balance and enjoyable. I could sit down for 6 of these if they werent so damned expensive.

UPDATED: OCT 10, 2007 Bottle: some malty sweetness, pretty fruity and juicy, some honey, caramel and grapes, some weak yeasty sourness notes, and a good dose of hoppy sharp bitterness, long dry and bitter finish, needs a bit more body but nevertheless another good beer from o’hanlons.

UPDATED: MAY 9, 2007 Bottled. Golden beer. Alcohol and bitterness in aroma. Warming, sweet and hoppy. Light bitter finish. (051104)

bottle. Copper colour, impressive and very persistent head. Lovelly aroma of wild berries. Fruity and malty flavours, hints of orange. Well-rounded with flowery hops. Long-lasting bitter-sweet aftertaste, again with hints of orange.

Pours an amber colour with a big tan coloured head. Aroma is sweet and light. Caramel, dandelion, spices, and citrus. Flavor is as refined as a good businessman from London. Caramel and brown sugar take the start with soft fruits and dandelion coming in behind it, a nice hint of citrus goes the whole way through and a spicy finish quenches and makes you want more. Soft effervecent mouthfeel. Excellent bitter!

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.

UPDATED: JUN 1, 2004 2004 bottle. Weird style here, is it a bitter? Is it an EPA? How bout an English Pale Bitter?. Wonderful pour, brilliant deep orange-gold. The small amount of yeast they inject (post filtration) dosent really add any significant cloudiness, but hey, post filtration yeast is better than no yeast, as the saying goes. . . Ahem, back to the beer, it's got a good medium body, some floral hops, orange blossom honey flavors, light sugar cookies and some dry yeasty flavors on the finish. I suppose this is pretty basic but everything is done right and it tastes of good quality, though it's hard not to subscribe to the more ingredients makes a better beer. I think it's wonderful example of the EPA style, though the aroms is not particularly strong (light nuttiness, yeast, lightly acidic hops). Oh ya, this had some of the best/most lacing I've seen on any beer.

The aroma is quite spicy with some citrus and bread. The appearance is a dirty orange with a moderate head. The flavor is fairly bitter with some grass and citrus fruit. The aftertaste is quite bitter. This is a pretty decent pale ale.