Hook Norton Old Hooky (Bottle)

Brewed by Hook Norton
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, England

A sentimental favourite. Half a lifetime ago, this was my buddy’s regular pint when he and I worked just across the county border in Gloucestershire. We were inseparable for many years until jobs and broken relationships drove us to different parts of the globe. I drifted to Australia while he fell for another woman and destroyed his world for her - wife, kids, friends all gone... His parents didn’t talk to him for two years. Nothing was ever the same. I saw him a few years ago for the first time since his personal cataclysm and he carried heavy scars. The beer: bottled bitters are inevitably pale reflections of the cask versions, but this is better than most. It looks great - lucid copper with a tall wash of suds painting the glass. The aroma is corrupted by pasteurisation but retains some of the cask’s ripe fruitiness. Otherwise it shows boiled sweets, Ginger Nut biscuits and port. Nice soft mouthfeel, moderate carbonation. Lots of crystal malt toffee notes and nuts balanced by red apple esters and a long bitter finish. To Rossco, wherever you are, may your pint glass always be full, old friend. (500ml bottle from Purvis Cellars, Melbourne)

Bottled. Dark amber colour with medium white head. Aroma of mixed berries and a bit fruity. Taste is sweet fruity at first with bitter tone in the finish. Nice bitterness in aftertaste.

500 ml. Clear copper with a lasting half-inch of creamy foam and Jack Frost all over the glass. Typical earthy-spiced caramel apple aroma. Initial flavor follows the aroma with slightly more apple and some oak. Finish turns to a pleasantly bitter toasted pecan nut and oak wood. Light-medium body is smooth and soft, with some hop tingle and a nice dry finish.

Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. Light amber in color with a small off-white head. Aroma is very fruity with some toffee and malt. Taste is of caramel, malt, and fruit. Very mellow.

Bottle from Tesco. Dark red/amber with white head. Fruity malty aroma with hops noticeable at the edges. Caramel fruity taste with a good dry, bitter finish. Well balanced and a very enjoyable drink.

Old Hooky has a deep amber, almost copper colour. The aroma is sweet fruit which dominates the flavour although there is a nice hop quality to the finish.

500 ml bottle. Clear coppery orange colour, creamy off-white head, nice lacing. Simple sweet malty aroma with a hint of hops. Slightly roasty and dry malty flavour, with some fruits and a nice dry finish.

Pours darker amber with a soft tan head. Toasted malts with a soft fruity hop finish. Lightly mineral quality to the palate. I enjoyed the flavor to this, the warm caramel flavor paired nicely with the fruity finish.