Old Chimneys

Client Brewer in Diss, Suffolk, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Associated Venue: Old Chimneys Brewery - Out of business

Established in 1995

Contact
Hopton End Farm, Church Road, Market Weston, Diss, IP22 2NX, England
Description
Old Chimneys Brewery was started in 1995 by Alan Thomson, a Master Brewer who celebrated 40 years of brewing in 2017.

Located in Market Weston on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, Old Chimneys has achieved an enviable reputation for beer quality. The flagship brand,
Good King Henry Special Reserve, has for 8 years been the highest rated English beer on ratebeer.com

Alan ceased brewing at Market Weston in April 2019 to concentrate on collaborative brewing with top quality brewers in the UK and abroad,
starting with Grain (Norfolk), Northern Monk (Leeds) and Wylam (Newcastle).

The regular Good King Henry is now brewed under Alan’s supervision at Grain Brewery. The strength has been increased to 10% abv, and for the first time in 20 years it is available in KeyKeg as well as cask.

Changed to a client brewer as of 2019 on Brewver as Alan continues to brew elsewhere with the Old Chimneys name, mostly at Grain Brewery.

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6.1/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 6 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Bottle at Craig's. Pours golden, nose is peach, cheesy, floral, taste is sweet, fruity, dry. --- Beer merged from original tick of Fighting Foxes #4 Cascade Dry Hop on 09 Jan 2019 at 08:18 - Score: 6
Tried from Bottle on 19 Nov 2018 at 09:26

7.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7.5
Bottle at Craig's. Pours deep brown, nose is nutty, chocolate, dark fruit, taste is sweet toffee, chewy, fruity.
Tried from Bottle on 19 Nov 2018 at 09:26

7.8/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 8
330ml bottle just over a year old (lot 179, BBE 07/2019). Pours black with a big tan head settling nicely with good retention. Aroma of roast malts, burnt cocoa, dark fruits. Taste of roast malts, burnt cocoa, dark fruits, liquorice, toffee, burnt bitterness, alcohol. Medium bodied, moderate-high carbonation. Lovely stout, the SR version really does elevate this beer to great heights. I did feel this particular bottle was over-carbed, rather fizzy even after allowing it to sit for a while.
Tried from Bottle on 02 Nov 2018 at 01:12

8.8/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 10 Overall 9
Thanka to Craig dor sharingthia beer in Edinburgh. Heavy toast bit also some sugar. Red wine. Heqvy palate. Excellent.
Tried on 27 Oct 2018 at 02:55

8.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 10 Overall 8.5
275ml bottle. Thanks cgarvieuk! Pours pitch black. Aroma has plums, raisins, almonds, sweetness, marzipan. Flavor has sweetness, roastedness, plums. Very balanced. Lingering, slightly warm. Woody. Again, balanced. Wow.
Tried from Bottle on 20 Oct 2018 at 13:04

8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
(Bottle, 0.33 l - 2015 vintage, thanks cgarvieuk, 20181020) The beer black. Its head was medium sized and lightly brown. Aroma had dark chocolate, vanilla, burnt malts and sweetness. Palate was full bodied with low carbonation. Flavours were burnt malts, vanilla, dried plums, dark chocolate, ash, cocoa powder and bitterness. Aftertaste had burnt malts, vanilla and bitterness. A pleasant balanced imperial stout with wood notes.
Tried from Bottle on 20 Oct 2018 at 13:03

8/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 9 Flavor 9 Texture 8 Overall 7
Bottle at Helsinki. Thanks to CGarvieUK! Vintage 2015. Colour is almost black with very small brown head. Aromas and flavors: Dryness , some red vineous elements, coffee, dark chocolate, wood and roasted malts. Soft and heavy.
Tried from Bottle on 20 Oct 2018 at 13:01

7.5/10 Appearance 10 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
330ml bottle. Pours almost black with a creamy beige head with great retention. Aroma of dark fruits, chocolate, roast malt, liquorice. Taste is fruity, dark malts, liqourice, chocolate, roast, fruit cakey, a touch of alcohol. Medium bodied, smooth, soft carbonation. Bit of a weird thing about this that's hard to put a finger on, seen a couple of people say nail varnish, I kinda get that... aside from that it's a nice beer.
Tried from Bottle on 20 Oct 2018 at 03:00

7/10
Roast, sweet, berries, vanilla,
Tried from Bottle on 18 Oct 2018 at 19:32

7/10
Very dry, solid
Tried from Bottle on 18 Oct 2018 at 19:20