Chestnut brown with a frothy off-white head and a sweet, malty aroma. It's malty and sweet, lots of toffee/caramel and raisin/sultana, with a relatively strong hit of alcohol and some soft bitterness in the finish

# 2913; 4/2022. Aroma of caramel, vanilla, old wood. Brilliant copper body; off-white head with low persistance. Caramel, wood, dried fruit, earth, cardboard. Good aged english ale. 0,5 l, clear glass bottle, local shop, Lincoln (Lincolnshire, England).

English style strong ale from this originally 18th-century brand, most renowned for its Old Speckled Hen; from a colourless (!) 50 cl bottle with crown cap. Thick and frothy, yellowish pale beige, uneven-bubbled but dense and moussy, paper-lacing, stable head on a crystal clear, deep glowing amber beer with darker copper red hue and lots of visible sparkling. Aroma of heavy pasteurization (damp cotton cloth, freshly ironed clothes), damp autumn leaves, unsalted peanuts, wet toast, moist nutmeg, hard caramel without the sweetness, hints of Earl Grey tea, green walnuts, dried apple peel, unsmoked cigarette shag, brown bread dough, dry beech tree bark, very vague paraffin and brown soap. Crisp, clean onset, low in sweetness, some dried apple peel and apricot perhaps but very vague, lively and minerally carbonation, smooth and supple body, medium thick; slick hard-caramelly and peanutty maltiness, toasty edges with a nice bitterishness to it accentuating the overall dryish character of this beer and gaining prominence towards the end. Herbal, tea- and even slightly tobacco leaf-like hoppiness greatly enhances the end bitterness, aided by the toasty aspect and by an all too subtle, but certainly noticeable woody note of oak chips (quite tannic in the end even) - but everything still feels 'cooked' and somewhat soapy due to that pasteurization. The 'macro treatment' by owner Greene King - including the choice for cheap 'white' glass and the pasteurization - overpower the whole beer, which does show a basic degree of complexity but only in a superficial way; feels a bit akin to that oak-aged Leffe Charactère we had in Belgium some years ago, in that sense. Could be great when cask- or bottle-conditioned, perhaps, but I doubt if I will ever know...

Bottle from Tesco. Pours a clear copper colour with a thin white head. Aromas of toffee, caramel, dry dark fruits, a hint of cherries, bread, wood and a touch of alcohol. Taste has more of the dark fruits and caramel, also a touch spicy with some warming alcohol and some earthy wood on the finish. Medium to full body. Nice enough but i am sure the beer would benefit more from being bottled in a brown rather than clear glass bottle.

500ml clear bottle but hey ho, I've not come across anything light-struck yet. Chestnut brown, thin off white head, some circular retention. Big malty aroma, toffee, wood, raisins, stone fruits. Taste is big on raisins and toffee malts, also dried fruits and vanilla, a slight orange resinous note in the finish with a mild bitterness. A good strong English ale but it doesn't touch Adnam's Broadside

Fles 50cl thuis. Sticky mouthfeel, caramel, eikenhout duidelijk aanwezig, wat zurig, rozijn, wat rood fruit, zoeten, bitters, wat kruidig, zacht. Prima. (15-3-2019).

500ml bottle from Stonemanor, The British Store near Brussels. F: medium, tan, good retention. C: coppery, clear. A: malty, toffee, fruity, caramel, dried fruits, bit roasted tones. T: solid malty backbone, raisins, toffee, dried fruits, woody touch, decent harmonic bitterness, medium body and carbonation, good balanced beer, enjoyable.