OHanlons Thomas Hardys Ale (vintage 2003 and later)

Brewed by OHanlons
Style: Barley Wine
Whimple, England

Bottle Vintage 2008 No. 19715. Pours very dark brown with ruby highlights. A thin layer of beige head diminishes leaving only a trace of lasting bubbles. Rich aroma of toffee, figs, prunes and alcohol. The flavour is toffee, stewed dark fruit and alcohol. Very low carbonation. Smooth and warming finish. A beautiful, complex beer and would only improve with age.

2007 Bottle. Pours murky reddisg caramel brown with basically no head, no apparent effervescence. Aroma is caramel, earth, dark fruit, light old dusty wood notes, aged rum, as it warms; chocolate, prairie weeds, licorice and tobacco. Flavor is sweet caramel, tobacco, dark fruit, overripe grapes, lots of spice, even a little hotness, sweet hay, and poppy seeds. Mildly bitter hops, dark fruit and prune juice to the finish. Palate has a heavy body, slick-somewhat dry feel throughout with plenty of alcohol warmth and very little carbonation, which works well in this case. This bottle doesn’t seem as good, or as complex as bottles I have had in the past, so I will probably rerate this one in the near future. Still, even though this seems like a lame bottle from what I have had it is a nice barleywine.

***review from Sept 12, 2007***

2005 Bottle # 79918...I’ve got # 00008 as well as two dozen more - I plan to open one every year till I run out. Poured very carefully to avoid disturbing the sediment as per the labels recommendation. Left about 7mm in the bottle. Produced near zero head. Appears very thick with near murky brown with red hues. The aroma is qute large and stiff at first but mellows out to sweet caramel malts, dark fruit (figs, raisins), honey, notable alcohol - there is some similarities to a nice aged port as well as some red wines that are borderline to old. As it warms (75% left) I’m noting nice fresh blackberries. The first sip went straight to my head. Very very smooth. Noticable alcohol but I don’t mind. Massive malts, plums, peppery but not pepper, caramel, sugar, cigars???, interesting spice - reminds me of things that I would never eat at XMas....at 30% left I’ve smelt chocolate and now I’m convinced that I can taste it however faintly. How is this mouthwatering? Very cool. This stuff is quite syrupy but it’s not a sickly thickness. Obvious alcohol presence that hits hard during a deep breath. Faint carbonation, smooth malt middle and finishes with long hard bitterness....just noticed prunes....I swear I can feel this in my eyes when I breath that direction. Awsome...I do wish that the alcohol would hide a bit, but it is 11.7% after all. Just drank the bottle residue - slick feel, hard, and I mean hard back of the mouth burn.... waaaaay better without the sediment...and I ALWAYS dring the sediment.

"2005 vintage. Brownish red to a deep burnt orange but there was no cap at all just a few small bubble islands floating on top, nice looking body but too bad it had no cap. Intense aroma and so very complex there is so much going on I’m having a hard time picking it all out; apple, wood, pine, flowery alcohol, some chocolate possibly. I like this aroma but not too sure about it at the same time there something throwing me off don’t know what though. Flavor is very intense slightly rotten apple and wood dominate the malts are very rich and dark tasting. The alcohol is very peppery and noticeable but not as much as you’d think for the amount in here and it does warm the stomach. The mouth feel is thick and syrupy and the after taste is very sweet. I think I can see where a lot of people say they taste red wine but I don’t 100% agree with it. This is a sipper the flavor is insanely intense and it makes it almost undrinkable, I still enjoyed it but wow could never drink more than one a night. I’ll be saving my remaining bottles for sampling in a few years maybe time will mellow this slightly."

8.5 ounce bottle - - $7.99 at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia. 2008 vintage. No. T 27021. Appearance: Pours an opaque, medium brown body with a large, lasting, faintly beige head. Surprising amount of lace on the way down. Smell: Brown sugar melted with a surprisingly large dose of table sugar. Juicy, ripe notes of dates, green raisins, and maybe, just maybe, a faraway hint of unripened strawberries. Taste: Pure, genuine taste of caramel with an added kick of sugar, a touch of candied nuts, and an all-around full, damned vivacious sweetness. Cordial fruitiness, but it doesn’t eclipse the sweet maltiness. Some earthy bitterness, but, again, it doesn’t eclipse the sweet maltiness (and given a few years won’t even be evident). Quite warming and certainly noticeable, but all that unyielding sweetness and rich malt flavors keep it from being harsh. Finishes sweet, warming, but with also a twinge of bitterness (at least as this young age). Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Thomas Hardy’s Ale, we hardly knew ye! The thought of buying a full case of this and retiring to a beach or pristine forest is almost too much to resist.

Pours a tanish brown with small white head. Sweet toffee aroma with a caramel choc flavor. Sweet on the palate with a little alcohol finish. Great barley wine.

Bottle 2007 #11269...Pours the same color and consistency of Apple cider, with no head. Taste starts out not bad with notes of caramel and apples, with some other light fruit. As it warms a sweaty funk and light bitter show up and smack the back of the throat with a very Bourbony pukish hint. Im not liking that very much. It almost tastes like an infection of some variety. Rated somewhat low in comparison, though I may try it again. Maybe not.

Bottle from La Bodega in Riverside.. 2008 bottle #32838...Pours a muddy brown with a off white head that dissapates to a ring around the glass.. Smell is very sweet with some caramel, toffee and some booze..Has a sweet salty caramel thing goin on in the taste. Has a nice bite to it.. Verrrrry thick.. Kind of harsh for being a new bottle but I bet this will be the shit in a few years.. Maybe 26 or so!!