O’Hanlon’s Thomas Hardy’s Ale (2003 - 2008)

Formerly brewed at O’Hanlon’s
Style: Barley Wine
Exeter, England

Serve in Snifter

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Poured a vert of 05-08, thought the 4 were practically the same. Had the dark fruits and caramel aromas, taste of dark fruit with malt, and has a bit of sweet booze finish. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

2004. Dark fruits, booze, caramel, leather, and rich malts make up the nose. Notes of tobacco up front. Big fruit presence: plums & prunes are on display. Middle is sweet with caramelized malts front and center. Nice body is plenty viscous, minimal carb. Mild alcoholic presence at the end; much too easy to drink. Good stuff.

Pours amber in color. Little to no head. Tastes of plum, caramel, alcohol, sweet raisin. Smells the same. Very complex. Tried to convince my friend to cellar longer but couldn’t say no when he didn’t!

Okay, my second perfect score. Am I getting lax in my ratings? I don’t know, but I seriously can find nothing to complain or nitpick about with this beer. Maybe it was just the environment in which I had this beer and I had just enough to drink to make this experience mind blowing. 1999 vintage 12 ounce bottle. Super generous share! Pours a dark copper with a creamy, lasting, beige head of foam. In the aroma I get chocolate covered raisins predominantly. Very complex, malt forward beer. Some cherries, caramel, nuts, toffee all come through plain as day. I cannot get over how awesome this beer is. It’s a pit it’s not being made right now. The taste is everything the aroma had to offer, but an explosion of flavor on the tongue instead of just sticking my nose in the snifter. Smooth, creamy mouthfeel. Lasting chocolate covered raisin aftertaste that lingers for a long time, but that still isn’t long enough. I want more of this beer.

Bottle from CBS via Phil. 2006. Pours a very dark cloudy color. No head at all. Aroma is incredibly rich, leather, vanilla, brandy. Body rich, malty, finish slightly tart, lacto, some warming, affect of barrels. I get it.

Sehr süßer Antrunk mit angenehmen Malznoten. Minimale Herbe, zuckrig, alkoholisch, dennoch weich. Zu süß, nicht ausgewogen. 8/9/8/9/12/9

Bottle (2005) @home, 250ml. Head: almost none, beige. Colour: clear, brown. Aroma: ripe fruit. Taste: malt, bread, fruit. Palate: overwelming, strong bitter-sweet finish. Overall: very nice.

Bottle conditioned, 250ml, 2003 edition No. 02269 from Abbey Stores, Salisbury (now closed). Chestnut to auburn with short lived head. Super rich palate, full on with a barley sugar fruitiness, some treacle, some sherry flavours. The alcohol is present even with 10 years of ageing, but this gives it the required depth of flavour rather than burning the palate. Plums and sultanas are all amalgamated in to the mix. A beautiful beer.

2004 vintage - My 2000th rate! Pours rosy copper with no head at all. Nose is tons of sweet honey, faint rye bread, sugar-crusted raisins, and subtle yeast. Taste is sweet and decadent, heavy on the honey again. with a layer of dark bread underneath. Syrupy and sugary, this is one to sip on for awhile. Lightly warming boozy finish--real smooth with a long sugary honey/sherry note. Interesting, though not something I’d like very often. Have four other vintages in the cellar, and it’ll be fun to let them go for years and see how they turn out.

2008 #48011 well presented with gold foil and medal A Red with copper with short but thick head that left nice lacing with every sip, well done S caramel, sweet malt, apple perhaps a little brandy T sweet caramel, booze but would not guess the 11.7% M/D a great pleasure to savor slowly, there’s a reason this was only a 250ml bottle i wish i had some older bottles i could see this getting even better with age. however I d’ont think i could age it too long knowing how much i enjoyed it Serving type: bottle 07-17-2009