OHanlons Royal Oak

Brewed by OHanlons
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Whimple, England

500mL bottle: Rich, frothy tan head of two fingers on cloudy brown body. Aroma is floral, malty with bitter flavor foreshadowing. Bitter / rich combination of malts and fuggles or challenger. Bitter finish. I love ESBs in general, this one is in the upper crust.

500 ml bottle from LCBO. Hazy amber with a medium beige head. Aroma is yeast, herbal and floral hops, roasted malt and brown sugar. The body is medium with a soft carbonation. Flavor is yeast, sweet malt, roasted malt, fruis and pipe tobacco with a bitter finish. My first commercial bottle conditioned bitter.

500 ml bottle from LCBO, served at cellar temp. in a tulip glass. DE07/07

App.: Medium copper, clear, large off-white head. Aroma: Some caramel/toffee and dried fruit notes beneath a vail of organic acids – seemingly lactic and acetic (uh-oh), light nuttiness and piney hops, biscuit and bread crust, light citrus notes. Palate: Medium body and carbonation. Flav.: Fairly fruity, very light bread crust/biscuit, citrus hops; dry, a little tangy with a fair hop bitterness.

The acidity was troublesome and dragged the experience down for me.

500 mL bottle. (I don’t know that I’ve ever had a bottle conditioned bitter before, other than my own.) Hazy copper-orange with a very small head. The aroma is mild and sweetish - burnt (okay, singed) caramel and candied fruit. The flavour is surprisingly mild and the beer is thinner than I expected as well. There is some spiciness, some thin malty sweetness, and a light fruitiness. Fills out a bit near the end. Slightly bitter finish. Not that this is a bad beer by any means. It’s just that I expected something a little grander due to the bottle conditioning. I don’t know why. I’ll age a couple of these and see what happens.

hazy amber color. nice bubble beige head, wicked lacing on the glass. Aroma is typical english hops, some caramel maltiness, and some bready buiscuit. Flavour is slightly grainy, and bready. I’m getting a bit of hops, but it’s wattered down. Finish is somehwat bitter, meh, average.

Bottle (500ml). Hazy deep amber with a large foamy lasting tan head. Sweet, Pretty standard sweet grain aroma, bready with lightly funky herbal hop bitterness; standard. Tastes more bitter, there’s an iron/peat tang to it - still nice and malty, but the finish is fairly long and bitter. Average chewy body, dry and astringent, a bit of a hash aftertaste, and ultimately pretty sour. Odd.

500ml bottle, 5% a/v (As Royal Oak Traditional Bitter) Pours murky brown with a large tan head. Nose is very hoppy, citrus, and mild fruit. Taste is somewhat bland, grapefruit and some spice. Least bitter of all the bitters I’ve ever tried. Not bad, just doesnt stand out in any way.

Pours a hazy amber colour with a thin sticky tan head. The aroma is light and sweet with malty chocolatey notes. Flavours are light, but crisp, malty, chocolate milk taste, with a touch of hoppy, citrus grapefruit in the finish. A pretty good bitter but the fullers bitter is much better.