Had a little celebration at the weekend and I decided to break out the last remaining bottle of Thomas Hardy's Ale that I stored away in 2001. Its a bottle conditioned live ale that gets better as it ages. The label explains where the idea for a Thomas Hardy ale came from:On the now defunct website (the Eldridge Pope brewery went bankrupt largely through horrible mismanagement in 2003) they explain what happened next:
The refurbishment of the Trumpet Major pub in Dorchester was the catalyst for the fledgling Thomas Hardy's Ale. 1968 was the 40th anniversary of the authors' death and what better way to commemorate it than by attempting to bring fiction to life and creating the brew that Hardy imagined. This was to be no ordinary ale. Matured in oak sherry casks for nine months and corked in decorative pint and half pint bottles. The strength was a whopping 12% and it was bottle conditioned. Thus the legend began and bottles were laid down with the expectation of improvement as the beer matured.
Thomas Hardy's Ale is legendary in beer drinking circles. It's up there with the mighty Westvleteren as the holy grail of ales. I put my four pack in storage several years ago and I felt it was time to tackle the last remaining one. So what did I think? Was it worth the wait? Here's my review in the somewhat florid style of Beer Advocate and Beer Rater:
Pours light brown with little carbonation, an immediate aroma of caramel, rust, wet cardboard, apple, dandelion. Looks dangerous, like James Bond in a dinner jacket with a hint of scuba peeking out the collar (Sean Connery of course). At first sip I can taste malt, more apple, acidity on the roof of the mouth, no alcohol, which is scary considering that this is a barley wine. The velvety aura in the back of my throat has hints of caramel, cider, wildflowers and nettles. There are layers upon layers of texture - this beer does more flavours than Meryl does accents (and both under a slightly chilly demeanor). The aftertaste is that of a half remembered kiss in a dark cinema or a shot of moonshine at a country shabeen or the smell of grass as you touchdown after a brilliant breakaway try from the heart of the pack. This is a comfortable, easy going, powerful drink. Opium is like must be like this. The afternotes are of a leather sofa that's been sitting in the Reform Club since 1832, ship's biscuit from HMS Victory, a mysterious, delicious cake that you might find in the fridge of the Tardis. It's really quite spectacular. An amazingly drinkable beer for the style with a gravity defying Kardashian-like behind. Little lace to speak of. No residue in bottle. And of course this beer should be sipped not gulped. A+
14 comments:
It sounds like a beautiful thing.
Obviously your gifts have been wasted on crime fiction, when beer fans the world over have been waiting for your talent for imbibing and describing. I almost wrote imbinging, but meant nothing by it, I swear.
Glenna
Its rather good.
Seana
The problem is that neither Beer Advocate nor Beer Rater actually pay you so I'll have to stick to crime fiction, at least until my lottery jackpot comes in.
Wow. Insanely parched and envious!
Dennis
The slightly ironic thing about the Thomas Hardy is that it does in fact leave you a little parched and thirsty. And melancholy too. I doubt I shall ever drink the like again. The Japanese have a term for this: "mono no aware" - the bitter sweetness of things.
Sounds excellent. Perhaps bit like the 'Owd Roger that Everards, I think, used to brew in Leicestershire. I tasted it in a pub called the Oadby Owl, which sold it only in half pints because selling it in pints seemed to lead to alcohol-fuelled violence. A barley wine, really, although almost treacly. A half pint was enough for me.
David
I know that Marston used to brew an Owd Roger. Maybe its the same one? I'd get it in the midlands. It was good stuff. Marton's Pedigree was and maybe still is my favourite pint.
Marston's, you're right. Pedigree is a lovely drop, as was Ruddles County. And Everards Original. I had three years on the Leicester Mercury 30 years ago and although it was a fairly soulless city, there was no shortage of good beer. There was an old pub in Humberstone that had no pumps, just barrels on a tilt with wooden taps. I even went to Burton just to see the brewing museum. It must have been a period when I didn't have a girlfriend.
Some girls would go, Dave. In fact, and yes, I know I am committing a bit of sacrilege here by even mentioning the name, when we lived in Denver my parents used to take us kids along whenever they took anyone on a trip to the Coors brewery. I'm not sure what was in it for us kids, but I don't remember being bored.
Adrian, I suppose that you could include a few beer descriptions in subsequent crime novels, and point to Hardy as a precedent.
David
I also visited Burton. Funny thing is that you can smell the town a good four or five miles before you see it. Its a good smell. I took a girl with me, unsurprisingly the relationship did not last.
Seana
And yes I visited the Coors brewery more than once. In fact there were times when we went to Golden, Co every weekend because its a pretty nice place with spectacular scenery.
You had me at "gravity defying Kardassian-like behind".
Lew
Its funny because its true.
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