OHanlons Royal Oak

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

The Plain Kitchen, Göteborg. Light flowery hops, mild ozone, some oak, apple skins. Dark amber red, mild haze before dregs, with almost no head. Medim watery body with mild carbonation. Starts with mild sweetness, light apple flavor, and light acidity. Fruity hops with mild bittering at the finish. After is tart sweet acidic, with mild bittering. Nice ale. Adding dregs gives extra bitter, acidic tang.

Tons of raisins and alittle alcohol in the aroma. A fluffy long-lasting head. The flavor is definitely English, with the fuinky malts and hops, yet it’s grainy dry and pretty tasty overall. The best OHanlons I’ve had, and perhaps the highest I’ve rated a beer of this style.

Bottle. Deep amber-orange with a small white head that sticks around to the end of the glass. I made a point of leaving the sediment in the bottle. Great aroma right from the get-go - earthy, almost funky malts, some caramel, a bit of alcohol, and pungent hops. Soft, creamy mouthfeel. Lovely flavour of sweet and woody malt, a hint of honey and peach in the middle, and a well-hopped finish with notes of citrus and wood. Really nice!

BCA (from Sainsburys). M ainly malt and fruit aromas with a light background of caramel. Thin with a metallic finish. Not great.

Pours with a lightly hazy, darkish, ruby amber color. The head is topped by an amber-tinged, tan colored head that leaves a bit of lace as it falls back into the main beer. As I pour this beer an deep fruity note is immediately noticeable; a sort of cross between red grapes, raisins and sweet plums. As I go in for a deep smell, an immediate tart note is noticeable. It is a bit like tamarind, and definitely reminds me of a sour plum.

The beer is quite well carbonated, at least much more than I was expecting. There is still a touch of sweetness here though, it accentuates a caramel like note that in turn accentuates a raisin, sweet plum and even apple like fruitiness. A touch of hop bitterness is found throughout this beer, it adds a bit of tingle to the throat, which competes a bit with the tart flavors. There are other hop flavors here as well; lightly grass, a bit herbal, and even a touch of fruit character (a hint of citrus, and even some currant like berry notes perhaps).

This is on the verge of being quite tasty, I can’t tell if the tartness is just a product of the yeast (sort of doubtful), or is a low grade bacterial infection. Either way it is still quite drinkable, I easily finished this bottle of, perhaps slightly infected, brew.

<font size=-4>Purchased: <a href=http://www.58degrees.com/>58 Degrees & Holding Co., Tucson, AZ<font size=-1>

Bottle ࿒ cl) at Bishops Arms, Vasagatan, Stockholm, Sweden. Clear amber, medium fluffy off-white head. A bit oxidized-like malt aroma with red apples, spicy and citric hops. Light to medium bodied, medium carbonation. Dry, slightly acidic, with medium bitterness. Despite best-before-date being well into 2010, I suspect that this bottle was beginning to get infected.

How easy drinking this was - malty smooth, sweet fruits, nuts, citrus juices and a nice lightly bitter finish. Nice orange body, great head and lacing. Tasty tasty

Bottle: Poured a orangey brown color ale with a large foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma consists of dry malt with some light bittering hops presence also noticeable. Taste is also dominated by some dry malt with some hints of nuts and a nglish hops finish that is also quite dry. Body is above average with some great carbonation. Well done for the style but not necessarily something I would care for very often.