Old Dan
(has 2 batches)

Brown 33cl bottle, same as the picture, best before 07 Apr 2011: bottle conditioned drank 20th Dec 2011. Poured carefully into a ’Palm’ badged stemmed tulip glass: looked impressive, bright, clear and a good chestnut reddy brown colour, on top a huge crown of off-white foaming bubbles. Those foaming bubbles fade to a full collar and wispy islands as the tasting progressses, but it did look very good initially. The smell was of yeast and malty goodness, a rich plum bread sort of aroma, with butter on of course. The taste is also plum bread with butter, the label mentions fruit cake, but I’m sticking with plum bread, add a thin layer of liquorice as the beer warms and you’ve got the flavours of an interesting beer: the label also mentions mellow, I’ll agree with that. Smooth mouth feel, this slips down far to easily considering its strength. The 7.4%ABV is hidden well but this isn’t a quaffing ale, more of a fireside sipping brew for those who prefer the finer things in life (like a job with a pension). There are better Old Ales on the market, but this isn’t bad at all, the liquorice arriving late on was an bonus: well above average and worth trying if you find it.

Bottle bought at Tescos in Amersham, Bucks. A brown/chestnut coloured pour with a thin white head on top. Interesting sweet, spiced fruit aroma. Tastes fruity, malty, sweet, caramel, spice. This was quite a surprise, I wasn’t expecting much from a Thwaites brewed ale, would definitely buy some more.

Bottle 330ml.Clear medium amber colour with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, toasted, caramel, malt extract, fruit cake, light toffee. Flavour is moderate to light light heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20111209]

A bottle conditioned beer, 330ml, picked up at The Real Ale in the Bottle Bar at GBBF ’11. Near-clear amber coloured body with a dark red shade. Decent beige head. Dried fruity aroma added by toffee. Sweet berries mixed with plums and malts to the taste buds. Partially bittersweet end. Mellow impression. Has got its moments of joy (shared with Finn, Skibotn session 16.09.2011).

Bottle from Waitrose down Tonbridge way. Clear copper brown pour, no head. Caramel, treacle, toffee and a little vanilla aroma. Toffee and burnt sugar flavour with some milk chocolate lurking in there too. With a little tweaking this could be quite nice, not complex enough unfortunately. Sweet, malty finish.

Bottle purchased from Tesco Extra, Aylesbury, Bucks Wednesday 10th August 2011 Consumed at Cropredy Festival, Nr Banbury, Oxon Friday 11th August 2011. Pours dark amber, full of banana, toffee, toffee apple and with a bit of bitterness. Fine. A6 A4 T7 P4 Ov14 3.5

Bottle. Dark brown and reddish beer with a reasonable head. The aroma is lightly roasted and the flavour is malty and roasted with a bitter finish. Overall a fairly average roasted and fortified flavoured beer.

33cl bottle from Morrisons. A beautiful reddish chestnut, but the head lasts only a few seconds leaving a lifeless appearance; rich malty aroma; smooth with a medium body, sweet but with some sourish malt flavours; and a finish that has some rough alcohol and herbal bitterness.