Theakston Old Peculier (Cask)

Brewed by Theakston
Style: Old Ale
Masham, England

Chocolate colour with an off-white foam head. Malty scent. Very thin and quite carbonated, even from the handpump. Slight bitterness, some chocolate and berries in the mouth giving it a bit of sweetness. Not much in the way of hops but maybe a hint of straw.

Cask at the Whitelocks Pub, Leeds. Pours a clear deep ruby with an average size lasting creamy off-white head. Nice lacing on the glass. Mild aroma is malty, slightly roasty, along with dark fruit and brown sugar -- there’s more here but it’s hard to pin down. Flavour of lightly roasted malt, a little sweet, along with some dark fruit and a light bitter finish. Medium bodied. Very good, and easy to drink, but based on it’s reputation I expected more.

The first beer on my European tour at the Roundhouse Westminster on 5-24-07. Poured into a nonick pint glass with a 1 finger tan head and a nice dark burgundy color. Aroma of roast, dark dried fruits, and a hint of floral hops. Taste was Grapes, dried fruit, floral hops, along with woody and roast notes. Finish was earthy, roasty, woody, and floral. Creamy smooth hand-drawn palate with no real carbonation. Great mix of floral hops and roasted barley for sure. The aroma probably would have been better in a less open space.

Cask half-pint at NERAX on 5/4/07
Finally here it is in front of me. This was the first beer that I rated on RB and a beer that basically got me in to good beer (the bottled version). So 5 years later, with the unpasteurized, unfiltered version, it’s quite a milestone for me.
And to top things off, this one was one hell of a challenge to rate. As if old ale isnt already an obscure/vague enough style, this stuff didnt really strike me as the archetypal old ale. Not quite bright either, with still some light haziness, it’s hard to tell with these extremely dark beers what flavors/aromas are intended. Definitely it had lots of vinousness and cola notes. More roasted flavors than I would expect from an old ale, with sweet caramel and chocolate malts backed by soft pale malts. Fairly strong attenuation, definitely not too sweet nor did I have any trouble drinking it. A lot of strange flavors going on though, with some leafiness, mustiness and earthiness in particular. Cherry-vanilla notes seem the most enjoyable, and the carbonation was rather tight, giving it a zesty texture as it slides down. Strange beer and quite different from the bottled version.

[NERAX 07] Dark brown in color, with some ruby highlights. Aroma of molasses, dark roasted malts and wood. Flavors are quite complex- strong, dark malts, tar, and more sweet molasses. A subtle woody spiciness shows through in the finish.

Cask at GBBF 2006. A dark brown beer with a huge brown head. The aroma is spicy malty - a bit weird spicyness. The flavor is sweet malty again with the weird spicyness, leading to a dry bitter and woody end.

Deep red brown, with a touch of malt in aroma, smooth creamy chocolaty with littlebitter linger. TK 2 Mathers West End Edinburgh ... Brown, light malt ... smooth chocolate malt ... lots of sweet roast malt ... creamy ... buildin bitter linger ... 2.8->3.7

[CASK: The Salisbury Ale House, Manchester 24/06/06] This is an ale for the strong ale lovers out thier! A dark and strong ale that surprisingly is not seasonal only at winter... Old Pec can be enjoyed all year round. Strong, Dark... What more do I need to say. Extreamly Pleasant.