I'm wanting to seek out a 1978 bottle for my upcoming birthday. Can anyone tell me is this worth seeking out? Or should I seek out a different brew?
Cheers!
Matt
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Hell yeah it’s worth seeking out. There is no beer on the planet that ages better than Hardy’s. |
Indeed they age well, but you are looking at a 36 years old bottle, and that’s a bit too much.
I had a 1977 last year and although it was a good beer, it was definitively not at its peak: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/beer_name/999/1786/
After so many years, your bottle may be better or may be worse than mine.
I suggest that you try a younger vintage first, to know what you are going to drink.
And when you open yours, you should drink it slowly and watch it develop aromas and flavor (I once used one hour to drink a 33cl bottle). |
Just post an ISO: 1978 Thomas Hardy’s and see what happens. Yes, it will be difficult to track down such an old bottle, but this is one of the only beers that people have collected over the last few decades (i.e. before the modern cellaring craze) so there are bottles of most vintages somewhere out there; the issue is finding the one you want.
If you really want the 1978, I would suggest throwing out as many lines as possible by posting trade ISOs on RB, BA, Facebook, and anything else you can think of.
Is it worth the effort? Opinions will obviously vary. If you just want to try an old Thomas Hardy’s then just post an ISO for that. Thomas Hardy’s is one of the only beers around where you can find a vintage that’s pre-1990 and it is fun and educational to try old/ very old beer. But the effort involved with tracking down a specific vintage, such as your 1978, might be more effort than it’s worth. |
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Definitely worth seeking out. I agree that they age extremely well, under the right circumstances, but at 36 years old, it will have to have spent its whole life in a cold cellar. Even well-stored, it will be past its prime, for my tastes (my favourite is 5-10 years). But there are plenty of people who like heavily-aged beers who would disagree.
If it’s spent its life on display on someone’s shelf, it will probably be a horrendous marmitey mess.
There’s a guy who sells (or at least used to sell) a fair amount on ebay. He’s English and used to have a separate website too, though I can’t find it right now. He used to cellar it properly and the few bottles I got from him were good. I can’t find him googling right now, but it’s definitely worth trying to get your bottle from someone who knows their stuff, rather than a random ebay bottle which could have been stored on top of a radiator.
If you’re set on something from 1978 for your birthday, Thomas Hardys is definitely one of the few beers of that age that has a hope of being drinkable. Others are Bass no. 1 Barley Wine, Gale’s Prize Old Ale, Courage Russian Imperial Stout and whatever Belgian lambic (or sour brown ale for that matter) from that year that you get get your hands on - acidity is definitely your friend at this age. |
Relatedly, I REALLY hope a competent brewer gets this up and going again. I absolutely love this beer, both Eldridge Pope and O’Hanlons. I even liked it fresh. I was gutted when they stopped making it. |
Originally posted by GarethYoung
There’s a guy who sells (or at least used to sell) a fair amount on ebay. He’s English and used to have a separate website too, though I can’t find it right now. He used to cellar it properly and the few bottles I got from him were good.
That would probably be Steve Hannigan http://www.thomashardysale.org.uk/ |
Originally posted by chriso
Originally posted by GarethYoung
There’s a guy who sells (or at least used to sell) a fair amount on ebay. He’s English and used to have a separate website too, though I can’t find it right now. He used to cellar it properly and the few bottles I got from him were good.
That would probably be Steve Hannigan
http://www.thomashardysale.org.uk/
I thought that might be the site, but it looks a little different than I remember and, from a brief scan admittedly, doesn’t seem to be advertising the bottles as for sale. If he’s still selling them, though, this is probably the guy to contact. |
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Originally posted by GarethYoung
Originally posted by chriso
Originally posted by GarethYoung
There’s a guy who sells (or at least used to sell) a fair amount on ebay. He’s English and used to have a separate website too, though I can’t find it right now. He used to cellar it properly and the few bottles I got from him were good.
That would probably be Steve Hannigan
http://www.thomashardysale.org.uk/
I thought that might be the site, but it looks a little different than I remember and, from a brief scan admittedly, doesn’t seem to be advertising the bottles as for sale. If he’s still selling them, though, this is probably the guy to contact.
I haven’t seen Steve for a while so don’t know whether he’s still selling Thomas Hardys. |
Thank you all for the suggestions and comments. Now I'll have to figure out what route I will take.
Cheers!
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