OHanlons Royal Oak

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

Deep amber orange/red. No head. Smell apple peel, sweet malt, a little hops bitterness. Nice bitter beer. Has some stout qualities, chocolate bitterness in there. Nice. Leads to a grapefruit peel flavor as well.

Cloudy amber with lite head. Notes of hops, malts, & furit in the aroma. Balance flavour of malts & hops with notes of roasted nuts. Full bodied with a mild bitter finish.

Bottle (500ml). Poured bronze with a small, rocky, off-white head which lasted very well. An almost herbal aroma with parsley, star aniseed, fantastic fennel-like hoppy notes, ginger, caramel malts, plums and blackberries. Flavor was a good hop bitterness with tart blueberry, juicy blackberries, currents, caramel malts, basil, fennel, gingerbread, roasted hazelnuts and a dry finish. Medium bodied with soft carbonation, a dry mouthfeel and a good finish.

Bottle as picture. Poured into a half pinter. First beer I’ve had that blew out straight head. nO liquid to be had and spilled over. jaysus its a gusher when added to the glass. That happened again and again with each new pour. Head is massive Frothy and creme thick like. Amber clad colour. Well balance look with yeasties coming through at the end. Sweet floral nose with mild warm fruits. Taste is slight bitter malt, dry, floral and somewhat fruity...not juicy fruity, but decent, enjoyable fruity. Very well balance and enjoyable. I could sit down for 6 of these if they werent so damned expensive.

Poured from fat bottle. Unique aroma of brandy, molasses, raisin. Opaque amber, thin head. Flavor is also unique with lots of roasty malt, but not sweet. Bitter backtaste. Sour cherry notes. OK beer but did not quite work for me.

Bottle. Pours attractive orange, fairly clear. Second pour, with lees, is murky russet. Initial fluffy beige head dimishes to a fuzzy cap that stays to the last sip. Lovely streams of tiny bubbles and nice lacing. Aromas of buttercream malt and a decent bit of pungent resiny hops. Fruity flavor with caramel apples, spicy hop, and citric tartness. Light creamy palate is scoured clean by perfect pinpoint carbonation. Tangy citric aftertaste with very mild bitterness leaves you wanting more. Pleasant and true to style.

Monsrtous, rocky, off-white head that looks good...for a belgian ale. I have never seen bubbles rising to the surface like this in an English ale. Color is a nice orangey amber. Aroma is spicy, floral, and different from anything I have ever smelled...an almost maple-like, floral fruitiness and some undistinct malt. The hops dominate but there is also some orange pith and passionfruit esters as well. An odd flavor profile that it is long and complex though not completely pleasant. A nice bitterness rides thruoghout the palate. It starts out with malt and spicy hops, a solid acidity coupled with some hard water character at mid palate then a staightforward, overly solid malt returns in the finish with a big hit of tangy hops and that odd, overcooked, maple/floral flavor integrating. Unique for a production brewery beer. It reminds me more of an underpitched (too little yeast for fermentation) homebrew than the beer I drank in 6 pack bottles as late as 1997.

500 ml bottle - pours a muddy amber with a two-finger off-white head and sort of cinnamon circle in the middle from the yeast in the bottle. Beautiful aroma of musty earthiness, plum, kiwi and some citrus from the hops. Really nice aroma. Flavour is a good balance between yeast, lighter malts and hops, with the hops being slightly more prominent in the finish, which is mildly bitter. Overall has a real earthy quality to it, and is quite delicious. Really nice beer.