Best Beer Review with David Harris
Thomas Hardy Ale (original brewer, bottles yeared 1968-1996)
This aged label (middle aged compared to Scotch names, but ancient as far as beers are concerned) has a varied past, which is one of the quirks I find so intriguing about these unique and decidedly perfect brews with their distinctive parchments and red ribbon medallions. The original brewer, Eldridge, Pope & Co. at the Dorchester Brewery in Dorset, England, (which has been brewing beer, by the way, for 175 years) created an 11.6% ABV masterpiece English Barleywine style ale in 1968 and held onto his secret recipe all the way to 1996 (exclusive of 1969-1973 and 1976, during which years no vintages were released). A second brewer produced the majestic ale for Pope from ‘96 to ‘99, but for some reason the Pope line failed to continue. The loss was bewailed by enough true ale lovers that another company purchased the recipe from Pope and began a new era for the elixer; these O’Hanlon labels date from 2001.
Alll vintages are marked by year, and some have bottle and packaging distinctions. The 1968 vintage was bottled in pints, half pints and nips. All of the ‘74-’75 and ‘77-’79 bottles are nips; the pints were brought back in ‘80. The ‘83 vintages were labeled as special edition to mark Charles Eldridge’s 150th anniversary and a very limited number of the ‘87 vintages were also given anniversary treatment (for Sarah Eldridge’s first brewing). The ‘91 and younger vintages no longer had any neck adornment, neither ribbon nor medallion. The ‘93 vintage had a silver anniversary label (25 years of the actual beer itself), and nips were no longer made after ‘94.
As these finely crafted and very rare beers are best at 25 to 30 years old (stored correctly, of course), this incredibly complex ale (not actually labeled as a barely wine) should be sought out and held until perfection. The new O’Hanlon brewer does NOT create the exact same brew as Pope though it seems most the young unmatured flavors are there, though only time will tell how O’Hanlon’s matures on the shelf.
As for specifics on the drink itself, it is, without question, the best English Strong Ale there is. Deep burgundy, thin head but leggy, clear, aroma of malt, toffee and vanilla, herbal bouquet, creamy and fluffy, strongly sweet vinous flavors of caramel, chocolate and plum, balanced but estery, lingering notes of bitter nut and sweet rum, soporifically warming and strong. It has no equal.
Drink with appreciation and wistful sadness, for once you begin drinking your bottle, you already lament the time when it shall end. I found a stash of 25 to 40 year old bottles at Max’s on Broadway in Baltimore in a locked cabinet in the quiet upstairs bar, and actually negotiated via the bartenders and the busboys with the bar’s owner to purchase a perfectly aged 30 year old bottle. It happened to be my brother’s bachelor party, so I spent over $100 for the drink so I could bring it downstairs and present it to him; of course, being a bar, they had to open it before handing it to me, and, of course, being who I was, I had to take a sip, just because I had to know. Mind you, I had already had about 20 very good and very strong beers, but this one cut through them all with its flavor, power and perfection. I took just a little sip each step on the way downstairs, but by the time I found my brother, I totally forgot about giving him the bottle, and, arm in arm with him and our best friends, I finished the bottle in his face with not a care in the world. I’m still not sorry.
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