Thomas Hardy's Ale (2003 - 2008)
(has 6 batches)

(Vintage 2006, bottle no 11256) Reddish brown colour, slightly hazy, with foamy, off-white, brief head. Huge, fruity nose with dried fruit (figs, dates, prunes), brown sugar, dark rye bread, roasted nuts, caramel. Sweetish and fiery. Huge, fiery, fruity taste with dried fruit (figs, dates), toffee and nuts. Hints of smoke, hints of black-currant and a dash of madeira towards the finish (or is that sweet oloroso sherry?). Lots of hops in the finish, but they’re almost overshadowed by the fruity sweetness and fiery alcohol notes. Full bodied, almost like syrup. Yes, it is sweet, but all the other flavours tend to balance the sweetness brilliantly, especially the hops towards the end. Packed with flavour, hearty, fiery and warming. Brilliant (and will probably improve after some years)!

2004 Vintage. Bottle shared by haukur at his tasting on 1 May 2008. Pour is clear ruby-mahogany with only a few off-white bubbles clinging to the edge of the glass. Aroma of toffee caramel malitness, some vinegar, some Brandy. Big nose. Scotchy. Taste is big caramel maltiness, some licorice, big and chewy. Big Bradny presence. Sweet blend of licorice and port like flowers. 8,4,8,5,16 (4.1)


2005 Vintage bottle, enjoyed on 14-Mar-07. Thanks to the guys at Kettle NYC for taking care of this one. Pour is cordovan with almost no head. Aroma is malt, and a bit of the spice (mulling?) to it. Taste is firm malt, and again the brace of the spice. A very nice barley wine, and one I hope to have again soon. 8,5,8,4,17 (4.2) - I’ll use this rating.

2005 bottle # P 37856. Tasted March 1st 2007. Mmm, I’m very pleased with this aroma. Deep, velvety fruits, fruitcake, rum and sherry, a touch of vanilla and nuts. Big full rich sweetness up front, rum-caramel syrup poured over fruitcake chock with figs. Lightly carbonated to give it life and lift, but soft enough to be smooth and full on the palate. Warming alcohol presence almost bites, but then doesn’t. Smooth easy finsh. Exceptional, as good as I remember the older vintages, and definitely cellarable. Rich lightly hazy reddish color, smallish head but elegant lacing. I seem to want to use the word rich describe almost every characteristic of this ale!

2006 bottle; Heart-renderingly young, of course. For the sake of Ratebeer... Beige-amberish medium, fine & relatively stable head over red-mahogany beer. Superbly vinous nose with the blue Cheese (old Stilton?) served included. Sweet with a slightly sourish, lactic lining. Madeira, cheese, nuts and raisins rolled in one. With a tuft of parsley. Very outspoken liquorice flavour, with a boatload of heavy and varied malts behind. Sweet taste with more than a touch of roastiness. Higher alcohols and complex esters; Christmas pudding with white buttercream sauce, and an inordinately large shot of brandy; chocolate chafings. Not aggressive, but unmistakable fizzy tonguelining. Oily viscous MF. More body than a Turkish coffee. Despite its potential, already superb, nay, superior ale. My Irish friend has understood it all, and the Eldridge Pope heritage is safe. More loss to them. I want more of this, aged 10, 12,... years.

Bottled (2005 vintage). Reddish brown colour, minor head. Aroma is plum, grapes, caramel malts, raisins and some toffee. Also alcohol gives a nice sting. Flavour is redwineish, a lot of grapes, berries, plum, alcohol. Long alcoholic finish. Just a lovely balanced thing.