Thomas Hardy's Ale (1968-1999)
(has 14 batches)
Eldridge Pope in Dorchester, Dorset, England 🏴
Traditional Beer - Old Ale Regular Out of Production|
Score
7.73
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Creamy butterscotch notes flood the taste buds, laced with subtle complex fruit...and a subtle suggestion of vintage port. Elegant and seamless, this beer was a waltz on the palate.
In ’The Trumpet Major’ Hardy wrote of Dorchester strong beer "It was of the most beautiful colour that the eye of an artist in beer could desire; full in body, yet brisk as a volcano; piquant, yet without a twang; luminous as an autumn sunset;..."
In ’The Trumpet Major’ Hardy wrote of Dorchester strong beer "It was of the most beautiful colour that the eye of an artist in beer could desire; full in body, yet brisk as a volcano; piquant, yet without a twang; luminous as an autumn sunset;..."
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6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle @ Christers. 1982 vintage. Pours dark orange with a small offwhite ring of foam along the glass. At first the aroma is pretty awful with sourness, oak, heavy oxidation, mold, but after a while in the class settles or opens and becomes alot nicer. Oxidation still there, but sweet malts, caramel, port, dark fruits and oak is present aswell. Flavor is sweet malt, caramel, oak, heavy oxidation, port, light brett notes, dark fruits. Thin to medium body, flat carbonation. Tip : let it sit in the glass for some minutes before drinking 041212
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Dec 2012
at 10:30
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle @ Aarhus tasting. Vintage 1982. Hazy reddish brown with a small off-white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel, dried fruit, wood, oxidated, tart and alcohol. Flavor is quite sweet and moderate bitter. Sweet finish with warming alcohol. 041212
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Dec 2012
at 13:26
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
An extensive sampling of various Thomas Hardy Vintages was carried out at two separate occasions, 16. September 1998 and 8. June 2012. Most of the beers where acquired in 1997 and some more beer where added later. We have strived to achieve the optimal storage conditions and the people attending to these two tasting where with a few exceptions identical. The rating score is based on an awerage from the best ones.
1982 (sampled 2012): Clear, mahogany body with a tiny off-white head. Almost intense aroma of noble caramel and warming alcohol like Sherry, with oxidation and cellar notes. Flavor is really sweet malt, caramel, English orange marmalade, a hint of acidity and some bitterness. This beer is really sweet, but the bitterness makes a delicate balance together with the alcohol and some acidity to avoid feeling sticky. This is just perfect. Full body with a long and warming aftertaste, it feels almost dusty after a while. A wonderful beer for sipping and enjoying over a long time. The best among the one I have tested.
1983 (sampled 1998): Clear mahogany body with a small off-white head. Aroma is malty with alcohol and mold. Flavor of sweet, heavy malt, dry fruit, cellar notes and bitter. Full body and aftertaste feels a bit earthy with bouillon. It feels rather mature already with notes of damp basement.
1984 (sampled 1998): Clear mahogany body with a small off-white head. Aroma is malty with alcohol and a bit spicy. Flavor is sweet malt, dry fruit, warming alcohol and a bit spicy. Feels more bitter than the previous vintage, could be an affect of lighter malt style.
1985 (sampled 1998): Clear mahogany body with a small off-white head. Aroma is malty, a bit roasted with smoke and warming alcohol. Flavor is malt and dark chocolate, some roast, bitter and warming alcohol. Feels mature, but not to oxidized. A bit different from both previous and later vintage but still a fine balance.
1987 (sampled 1998) the 150th anniversary vintage comes both with regular crown cap and natural cork, both sampled: Clear mahogany body with a small off-white head. Aroma is more vinous than the previous, especially the cork version. Some pleasant oxidation and really smooth malt flavor, some molasses.
1988 (sampled 1998): Clear deep amber body with a small off-white head. Aroma is vinous with some acidity. Flavor is sweet malty, but feels a bit less sweet than the previous. Fine balance with a little hint of acidity and quite bitter. Vinous and complex.
1989 (sampled 1998): Clear deep amber body with a small off-white head. Aroma of sweet and dark malt, caramel and some roast, less vinous. Flavor is sweet and malty with caramel. This is the last vintage to be brewed in the heavy malt style.
1990 (sampled 2012): Clear dark brown body with practical no head. Less and different aroma than previous and later vintages. Feels dusty and moldy. Flavor has old wet wood, some malt and alcohol. Feels old and above top. The biggest disappointment from the tasting.
1993 (sampled 2012): Clear, beautiful paler amber body with practical no head. Fantastic aroma, pure malt and caramel, vinous warming alcohol. Flavor has sweet malt, caramel, wood, nuts and dry fruit with cherry like alcohol. Very good, different from 1982 but one of the best vintages.
1994 (sampled 2012): Clear mahogany body with a small beige head. Aroma is vinous with strong caramel. Flavor is sweet malty, caramel and feels a bit acidic vinous. Long aftertaste.
1995 (sampled 2012): Clear amber body without any head. Aroma of malt, and caramel with alcohol, but more moderate in aroma than the previous vintages. Flavor is sweet malt, caramel, meat broth and warming alcohol. Milder in flavor and quite sweet aftertaste.
1982 (sampled 2012): Clear, mahogany body with a tiny off-white head. Almost intense aroma of noble caramel and warming alcohol like Sherry, with oxidation and cellar notes. Flavor is really sweet malt, caramel, English orange marmalade, a hint of acidity and some bitterness. This beer is really sweet, but the bitterness makes a delicate balance together with the alcohol and some acidity to avoid feeling sticky. This is just perfect. Full body with a long and warming aftertaste, it feels almost dusty after a while. A wonderful beer for sipping and enjoying over a long time. The best among the one I have tested.
1983 (sampled 1998): Clear mahogany body with a small off-white head. Aroma is malty with alcohol and mold. Flavor of sweet, heavy malt, dry fruit, cellar notes and bitter. Full body and aftertaste feels a bit earthy with bouillon. It feels rather mature already with notes of damp basement.
1984 (sampled 1998): Clear mahogany body with a small off-white head. Aroma is malty with alcohol and a bit spicy. Flavor is sweet malt, dry fruit, warming alcohol and a bit spicy. Feels more bitter than the previous vintage, could be an affect of lighter malt style.
1985 (sampled 1998): Clear mahogany body with a small off-white head. Aroma is malty, a bit roasted with smoke and warming alcohol. Flavor is malt and dark chocolate, some roast, bitter and warming alcohol. Feels mature, but not to oxidized. A bit different from both previous and later vintage but still a fine balance.
1987 (sampled 1998) the 150th anniversary vintage comes both with regular crown cap and natural cork, both sampled: Clear mahogany body with a small off-white head. Aroma is more vinous than the previous, especially the cork version. Some pleasant oxidation and really smooth malt flavor, some molasses.
1988 (sampled 1998): Clear deep amber body with a small off-white head. Aroma is vinous with some acidity. Flavor is sweet malty, but feels a bit less sweet than the previous. Fine balance with a little hint of acidity and quite bitter. Vinous and complex.
1989 (sampled 1998): Clear deep amber body with a small off-white head. Aroma of sweet and dark malt, caramel and some roast, less vinous. Flavor is sweet and malty with caramel. This is the last vintage to be brewed in the heavy malt style.
1990 (sampled 2012): Clear dark brown body with practical no head. Less and different aroma than previous and later vintages. Feels dusty and moldy. Flavor has old wet wood, some malt and alcohol. Feels old and above top. The biggest disappointment from the tasting.
1993 (sampled 2012): Clear, beautiful paler amber body with practical no head. Fantastic aroma, pure malt and caramel, vinous warming alcohol. Flavor has sweet malt, caramel, wood, nuts and dry fruit with cherry like alcohol. Very good, different from 1982 but one of the best vintages.
1994 (sampled 2012): Clear mahogany body with a small beige head. Aroma is vinous with strong caramel. Flavor is sweet malty, caramel and feels a bit acidic vinous. Long aftertaste.
1995 (sampled 2012): Clear amber body without any head. Aroma of malt, and caramel with alcohol, but more moderate in aroma than the previous vintages. Flavor is sweet malt, caramel, meat broth and warming alcohol. Milder in flavor and quite sweet aftertaste.
Tried
on 25 Jun 2012
at 14:07
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle 250ml vintage 1982 @ home
Pours brown with a small off-white head. Aroma has notes of malt, alcohol, raisin and oxidization. Taste is medium sweet and light sour with a long light sour, fruity, boozy and oxidized finish. Body is medium to full, texture is oily, carbonaiton is flat to soft.
Pours brown with a small off-white head. Aroma has notes of malt, alcohol, raisin and oxidization. Taste is medium sweet and light sour with a long light sour, fruity, boozy and oxidized finish. Body is medium to full, texture is oily, carbonaiton is flat to soft.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Jun 2012
at 14:53
7.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle courtesy Alex. Frothy white fair mostly deminishing head. Amber colour. Moderate malty and hoppy intense wonderfull aroma. No oxidising notes at all. Vanilla notes. Heavy bitter light sweet powerfull flavor with very strong vanilla notes. Long complex nice finish. Creamy palate. Wonderfull.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Jun 2012
at 02:16
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
20/11 0.33 l bottle courtesy of Marko via fiulijn, great thanks! It poured copper body with smaller head. Quite sweet aroma, caramel, oak, lots of orange. Exceptionally rounded flavor with little bit of everything - fruitiness, bitterness, bread, caramel, dried fruity etc. Not too heavy on palate, yet full, with longer finish that reflects only the best from flavor. Also not too cloying as it might be expected. A very pleasant and surely a valuable experience!
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jan 2012
at 01:23
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottled 330ml. -Courtesy of Marko, shared with him & heavy (thanks!) Vintage 1999. Red/amber coloured, no head at all, strong dried fruits in the nose with touch of wax. Sweet malty, dried fruits and alcohol with notes of caramel. Surprisingly not so sweet finish. Very nice indeed.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Dec 2011
at 02:34