OHanlons Thomas Hardys Ale (vintage 2003 and later)

Brewed by OHanlons
Style: Barley Wine
Whimple, England

[2006 ed.] Big nose, sweet smell starts sipping out as soon as the bottle is opened. When poured the smell increases in intenseity. Dark reddish in the glass, some off-white head that soon disappears. The beer itself is malty with some acidity. Lot’s a "dark" notes: sweet toffee, dades, japanese soy(?), caramell, licorice and probably lots more. However, something about it puts me off, maybe it’s too intense. Quite fiery and suprisingly carbonated. Very full, a 0.25 l bottle is really for two.

0.25 l bottle, 2006 vintage. Reddish brown color with small head. Thick sweet, malty, fruity, berryish and vinous aroma with notes of apple and ripe banana. Thick malty flavor with toffee and ripe fruits. Bitter, fruity and toffeish finish. Maybe needs more aging.

04 bottle shared by Crosling. Poured a golden-orange color with a slight off-white head that diminishes totally. Aroma of sweet malts and ripe fruit. Sweet caramel malt flavor with great brandy-like undertones of apple, plum, and apricot. Slight alcohol on the finish, but smooth and clean. Very complex and flavorful. Awesome beer. Thanks for cracking one of these for me to try Nick.

2007 bottle Q11560 from LCBO. A dark reddish brown ale with almost no head, off white, light carbonation. Aroma is pungent, caramel, molasses, with light licorice and cognac. In mouth, a sweet burned caramel with light lactic points, woody, chocolate and licorice. Warming alcohol warms you up. Very rich and heavy. A classic BW. Room temperature in chalice.

2007 bottle, #47842. Pours an opaque purple with nice head. Rather quadruple-like heavy nose with plum, spice and alcohol. Incredible mouthfeel/body. Flavour of licorice, dark fruits, but without much sweetness. Fruity, sherry-like finish with a sting of alcohol. Very, very heavy. 2008-02-20. 7/4/7/5/15. 2008 bottle, #34075. Aroma of sugar, raisins and plum. Sweet taste again. Alchohol in the finish, along with some very pleasant bitterness. Very much like the unmatured 2007. 2008-12-29. 7/4/8/5/15.

Aroma has caramel, butterscotch, malt and some alcohol. Beautiful burgundy, pours a finger of tight toffee foam. Flavour has treacle, caramel, toffee, butterscotch, pitfruit and again alcohol. Full bodied, complex, very warming, due in part to the alcohol, rich, creamy mouthfeel. Terrific! Should be even better with some aging. Fine job OHanlons!

Bottle 250ml from Waitrose, Christchurch. Pours a deep rich bronze colour with a neat but small off-white head. The aroma changed as it warmed. It started with a strong smell of strawberrys with champagne, then a cider smell and finally wet newspaper. I am afraid this bottle just did not do it for me. I was surprised at how sweet the ale is and the alcohol is much in evidence and rough on the back of the throat. Okay, perhaps I should have waited another 5 years, but the bottle was just begging to be be opened. Still, I have another bottle and so I will mark it forward for 2013.

My my my, what a brew. I’d picked up two of these, both 2005 vintages, and just couldn’t wait much longer, so I cracked one open last night, slightly chilled. Poured into my snifter a perfect ruby, with a frothy white head that didn’t dissipate until I was about half done. The aromas explode with caramel, molasses, and very rich plums. My taste buds detect more plum and raisin, with some dark berry, heavy malts, a significant hop backbone, and of course a rush of caramel. My only gripe is the sweetness, but this is still relatively young. I’ll try and save my other bottle for another couple of years.