OHanlons Thomas Hardys Ale (vintage 2003 and later)

Brewed by OHanlons
Style: Barley Wine
Whimple, England

LCBO bottle sample- Pours murky brown, topped with a dusting of beige spider webs. Huge blast of burnt brown sugars open the initial whiff, caramel, butterscotch, lots of wood and spices, fig, candied prunes, malts, rye bread, I am sure the list goes on and on. The flavours are bold and upfront. It’s big on sweet caramel, toffee, malts, burnt sugar, cotton candy, a little wood, and molasses. Bitter and quite sharp in the finish. Very full bodied, and its quite tight and young. It certainly needs some age to mellow, and round out some aspects, but I’ve had American barley wines that tasted like this after several years of age. This one’s a keeper.

Wow. Color is perfect (dark not misty). No head. . .No foam at all. It -yet it still has a bite to the texture. Delicious sweet woody malt flavor slight hop bitterness . . .. Little bite of alcohol. Almost a barley wine meets a scotch ale.

Bottle. Vintage 2006 - bottle #48065. A rather clear ruby color with no head. A quite vinous aroma of malt, caramel, raisins, a bit of plums, notes of wood and some alcohol. Very sweet and malty flavor with brown sugar and some dark fruits. Finishes on a drier note with very subdued notes of hops and a slight alcohol burn. Medium to full body. Surprisingly for such a sweet ale, it grew on me more and more with every sip. A very good and quite complex beer (even at this young age). Let’s see how will this one do with some aging.

250ml bottle, 11.9% a/v 2007 vintage. Pours a very murky brown with pretty much no head at all. Smells like dar malt, apricots, and raisins. Tastes very alcoholic, with alot of dark notes, deep caramel, licorice, chocolate, slight coffee and spice. Full mouthfeel and a very deep warmth in the stomach from the alcohol.

(25cl bottle, vintage 2005) Slightly hazy, copper colour with a small beige creamy layer. Sweet, dark malty, moderately roasted aroma with caramel, fruity accents (apricot, pear) and a touch of chocolate. Sweet flavour, full bodied and soft on carbon with an almost oily mouthfeel. Toast-malty taste, subtle fruity with caramel, liquorice and chocolate; sweet and slightly bitter, Sherry-like alcoholic finish. Complex and quaffable brew.

2007 250ml bottle (which I got for a ridiculously reduced price due to LCBO issues)(and also claims to be 11.9%abv as opposed to 11.7%abv). Pours a murky brownish mahogany colour, with, absolutely no head! Aroma: Decent malt backbone, with a more evident presence of hops, some fruitiness, peach, and, ALCOHOL, uh oh......this could get interesting. Taste: Oh man, this beer is weird, in that it simultaneously is too much, and too little! Starts off, weird, I don’t think it was sour, but it was something similar. Then straight away, ALCOHOL, then a touch of malt sweetness, followed by a pretty significant alcohol burn. It mostly just seems like a dull, highly alcoholic ale. The aftertaste is actually quite nice, fruity esters mostly, with some yeasty sediment. I guess it’s meant to sipped on, not chugged, maybe that was my first mistake! (note: I didn’t actually chug this, please don’t be offended, I was only kidding!) Good thing I bought 2 bottles, I hope it’ll be less flat and dull in say, 50 years. Oh wait no, they say 10. Alright, well, see you guys again in 2017. I look forward to it. EDIT: Sipping on an ’08 now, and I must say my palate has changed. It’s still not quite ’drinkable’, but the highly chewy, nutty malts are actually much tastier than I remember. The hops in the aroma are a nice touch as well, although they probably fade with age. I can wait to try one of my aged bottles of these in years to come.

2006 Vintage. Very sweet, malty aroma. Appearance is a light caramel brown, cloudy with some yeast in it. Medium hops, sweet , notes of dark fruit. Alcohol noticeable but not overpowering. Excellent!! A+

A special bottle for my 100 rating, my first T.H.’s. Brown appearance with no head at all. Has a powerful aroma of malt, honey, vanilla, wooden sherry or vinous like, with a complex ripe fruit bouquet of apricots, cherries, pears, apples, raisins, plums, figs. Little toffee and butter as it warms, candy floss and a bit too ethilic, think because it’s still a baby. Never drank anything so full-bodied, but absolutely not cloying, but smooth and silky. Balanced and warming indeed.