About
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.
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.
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
2016 catch up - A nice strong bitter. Lots of malt and a good bitterness from the hops, but not a memorable beer.
Tried
on 03 May 2017
at 10:55
9/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
2016 catch up - A very smooth, flavoursome and tasty imperial stout. This is a classy beer that has a lot of flavours of malt, coffee, chocolate and tar. And so smooth! The quality of the beer is fantastic.
Tried
on 03 May 2017
at 10:54
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 6
2016 catch up - bottle at home - What I would describe as an "showcase" beer; one that is so well made that it is almost perfect. However, for some reason it didn’t really do it for me. There was a lot of malt and the alcohol was very forward, but it resulted in a very good mouthfeel. It was tasty too, with a good bittering of hops that offset a sweetness. Maybe I was just having a bad day.......
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 May 2017
at 10:40
5.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 4
2016 catch up - Bottle at home - A very sweet beer that to me was almost cloying. It left a strange mouth feel and this is a beer I didn’t enjoy.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 May 2017
at 10:29
8.8/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 9
Flavor 8.5
Texture 10
Overall 9
21/4/2017. From cask at the 26th East Anglian Beer & Cider festival, Bury St Edmunds. 9.2%. Pours black with a lasting beige head. Aroma of banana, roasted malt, chocolate, rum truffle, dark jammy fruits, light liquorice and alcohol, and burnt toffee. Medium to heavy sweetness, moderate toasted bitterness. Full bodied, slick texture, soft to flat carbonation, So good! Also 29/3/2025. Bottle from ABV store, Norwich. BBE 09.2019 which I think makes it a 2015 or 2016. 9.6% abv. See photo.
Tried
from Cask
on 21 Apr 2017
at 19:00
5.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle 330ml. at [ Pre-Borefts Ratebeer Tasting ] @ Deanso’s place (former ABC Beers), Korte Koediefstraat 5 Den Haag, Netherlands 2511CE. [ As Old Chimneys Red Stag ].Unclear medium amber colour with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, fruity malt, sweet malt, flowers, marmalade hops. Flavor is moderate sweet and light bitter with a average duration, sweetmalt, fruity malt, caramel, marmalade. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft. [20160922] 5-3-6-3-11
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Apr 2017
at 06:41
6.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle 500ml. at [ Pre-Borefts Ratebeer Tasting ] @ Deanso’s place (former ABC Beers), Korte Koediefstraat 5 Den Haag, Netherlands 2511CE. [ As Old Chimneys Scarlet Pimpernel ].Unclear medium amber orange color with a average to large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, nutty, sweet malt. Flavor is moderate sweet and light bitter with a average to long duration, sweet malt, nutty, fruity malt, caramel. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft. [20160922] 6-3-6-3-13
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Apr 2017
at 10:30
Lots of chestnuts and walnut. Sticky. Toffee. Caramel. Old skool Emglish broon ale. Marzipan. Interesting.
Tried
at
The Ale House
on 04 Apr 2017
at 20:50
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
275ml bottle (thx, Alex!) at Alex’s in honor of my birthday and CPA PREP finish. Vintage 2009. Pours a very dark brown with almost no head. Aroma is dark fruits, molasses, liquorice. Same taste with woody notes. Very rich and nice.
P.S. My rating is #444 for this beer, hehe.
P.S. My rating is #444 for this beer, hehe.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Mar 2017
at 21:05
8.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9.5
330ml bottle thanks to Colin. Inky, oily black pour, small beige head. Deep, rich smoky malts, coffee, anise. Taste is pure roasty sweet malts. slick and slippery. Simple stout, but pure and genuine. One of the best.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Mar 2017
at 13:59