OHanlons Thomas Hardys Ale (vintage 2003 and later)

Brewed by OHanlons
Style: Barley Wine
Whimple, England

[bottle; 2006] Nearly sherrylike aroma, full of cereal grain pumpernickel as well as plenty of floral hops. Raisins, tobacco, and dried fruit. Potent and complex in the nose. hazy brown-garnet with only a thin, white ring and some dots along the glass. Grainy and sweet pumpernickel with a potent bitterness that is just right for the heavy sweet malt. Definitely some floral hops flavour combined with plum/raisin/tobacco. The bitterness is slightly too much for me, but this would probably mellow with more aging. Full body, syrupy, low carbonation, bitter finish.

Bottle Vintage 2003, cellared at home for 4 years, served at 16 C. When serving it a complex vinous aroma instantly fills the room letting my expectation shoot rocket high. Pours with no head, cristal clear and a most beautyful dark reddish brown color that reminds of dried cherry wood. The aroma is highly complex but seems to be dominated by beach and oak wood smoke, dates, alsacian munster cheese. In the back I can find a little alcohol, which during the entire tasting never gets warm or even hot, caramel and little roast like the crust of toasted white bread. The flavor is a harmonius explosion of chewy caramel and toffee, congac soaked figs, butter scotch and I am not talking about diacetyl here, lots of milk chocolate with hazelnut in the finish, so complex yet so harmonius. On the palate it is rich, oily, highly viscous but never cloying or unpleasently lingering, just perfectIy balanced with hop that hardly shows its present. I would not know what to improve in this beauty other then increasing bottle size. I am looking forward to next year to try the 2004...

Meeting at DØ, Aarhus Syd, DK. Bottled, 151008. Brown with small head. Aroma of alcohol and toffee. Flavor is malt, dried fruit and lots of alcohol.

2004 Bottle, cellar temp, into a bordeaux crystal. Hospitable aromas of warm spice cake, vintage leather, and vanilla infused toffee. Imagine Tawny Port dancing with Amantillado. Full embrace of the beer begins on the tip of the tongue and evelops the senses entire. All sides are confronted and it seems that even the gums have taste buds. The Tawny continues as a wave of cream and honeyed spice meld with golden raisins and a dose of oak fruit. Rich, velvet glove mouthfell gives way to brown sugar. Gracefully checked with a wool coat of alcohol and a touch of hop bitterness. Amazing, complex and needs several more years to mellow, although this one seems to have it’s life figured already.

2005 bottle. Poured a cloudy brown color...I don’t even want to say what it actually looked like...with a very thin tan head. Aroma of some malts, but huge alcohol notes. This was a little obnoxious. Flavor was figs, raisins, brown sugar and molasses. Loved the flavor. Thick syrupy mouthfeel.

Ruddy copper with red highlights and minimal head. Slight toffee aroma, malty, typical of a barleywine. Thick and syrupy flavor, alcohol quite evident, a true sippin’ beer. Raisins and dates dominate the fruit undertones of this big English barleywine. Would love to try well aged TH’s.

Graaaande cerveja! O aroma é de malte, complexo, intenso, doce, defumado, logo de início percebe-se tratar de uma cerveja diferenciada. A espuma, bege, é praticamente inexistente. Zero de carbonatação. Quando servida, lembra mais um licor pela consistência viscosa. A cor, caramelada, é opaca em razão dos sedimentos, conformando um visual pouco atrativo. Vale lembrar que a garrafa não deve ser agitada antes de servir, para não misturar os sedimentos, que alteram o sabor. No paladar, destacam-se os maltes, quase um "whisky", num conjunto bastante complexo e encorpado, um pouco amadeirado (carvalho), mas perfeitamente harmonizado e equilibrado. Amargor médio, mas discreto em função do excelente equilíbrio. No final, curto pela falta de carbonatação, sobressai o malte, convidando para um próximo gole.

Bottle from 2005. Thanks to ekstedt. Deep red/brown color with a minimal beige head. Aroma: Very sweet and malty, alcohol, raisins, nuts, caramel, cherries, and dried fruits. Flavor: Very sweet and syrupy, toasted malt, caramel, raisins, figs, cherries, nuts, chocolate, alcohol, and oak. Full bodied with very little carbonation. My kind of barley wine. Re-rated 090626.