OHanlons Thomas Hardys Ale (vintage 2003 and later)

Brewed by OHanlons
Style: Barley Wine
Whimple, England

Poured a rich mahogany red colour. No head whatsoever, almost looked like a wine rather than a beer. Fruity aroma. The flavour is so rich and complex it can’t really be put into words. Very sweet and fruity with lots of raisin and prune flavours going on. Drinking this feels like a cross between drinking a beer and a brandy. I just wish I had the dedication to age me one of these!

2004. A beautiful, wine-thick hue of garnet brown, and a skin of calm, fulsome beige. A trumpet blast of regally refined sweetness in the nose. The most blanketing affectation of raisins, toffee, dried cherries, belgian chocolate desirable for a crisp autumn evening. Seemingly sharp with acidic sweetness at times in a pineapple vein, and in hints of cognac and bourbon, though the deeply buried anchor of these richest of malts is immovable. The purity and girth of this sweetness is something that could entertain the senses for hours; further notes of dates, leather, and salted meats expand these horizons, and a laid-low acetic character begins to breathe too much punch into this extremely relaxed aura after a while. It really seems that the pleasantries that begin to enfold the beer as it ages have just begun to wake up.

A similar rush of dense and classy sweetness defines the flavor, somewhat simply, with heavy amounts of dates, maple syrup, toffee and golden raisins; glazed with all types of sugary powders and syrups; vanilla, bourbon, cantaloupe and watermelon seed, and coconut shavings. Pure unmatured malt and sugar muscle. The myriad of decadent desserts this recalls is extraordinary; it’s like a pineapple hollowed out to make a bowl for a cognac and wildflower honey reduction, or an orange soaked in melted toffee and flambeed in spirit. Its unabashedly high-up sweetness is wholly tolerable, even when its pretentiousness is apparent. It’s hard to find fault for its being somewhat inarguably successful in a field defined by flamboyance and erudition.

Full and chewy palate; just enough carbonation to escape a syrupy texture; the full sensation roasts and bitter chocolate lends a balancing earthiness to the finish, while it still eludes those flavors and lingers back into the caramel-drizzled, citrus and toffee characterized malts and sugars otherwise dominant. Quite sticky and cloying in the end, though the flavor is still good, so it’s perfectly acceptable. Though a bit sugary yet, the flavors of this example are polished and muscular, and destined only to improve with age; I need to find a few older vintages.

Bottle 2008 No. T 14689. Pours deep amber-red with thin head. Very fruit, sweet aroma of red berries, with a hint of phenolics. Thick, malty sweet aroma. Big bodied and sweet, with not quite enough bitterness to balance. Slightly sour. Sweet, fruity and slightly phenolic.

2005 Bottle - No. P10152 Edition Pours a dark syrupy brown color with light tan head. Aroma is of intense brown sugar, dark fruits, malt, and caramel. taste is much the same but some light vanilla and peat flavors mixing it up with the dark fruit, malt and brown sugar. Very malty and a tad harsh for my liking. However, this is a decent sipper that surely will get great with age.

2005 Bottle - No. P10152 Edition Pours a dark mahogany color with a thin creamy off-white head with some residual lacing. Aroma is strong - cognac, vanilla bean, dark fruit, raisin, and alcohol. Taste is about the same - very rich with vanilla and cognac. I would push this more towards an old ale than a barley wine.

2007 bottle - only have one so here it goes. Opens with little carbonation and no head except a few quickly gone bubbles. Color is hazy dark orange/brown. Aroma very sweet, bit winey, raisins, and oranges. Flavor very sweet and syrupy fruity oranges, sweet grapes and a bit of caramel cream. Overall, i can definitely see how/why this would age well. Enjoyable drink. Wish I had another to age.

2005 Bottle. Pours deep amber with a large fluffy white head. Aroma is fig raisin, syrup and all other thing dark fruit and sweet. Sweet malty taste, smooth but still a little harsh. Flavor is sweet dark fruits, plums and the like. Very good. I’ll crack another 2005 in 2011.

2006 bottle, Pours a chocolate brown with zero head. The aroma is winey with a bit raisin. The taste is sweet, winey, definitely sweet. Almost overly so. I can imagine this beer would be incredible in 20 years. I can’t wait to find out.