Thomas Hardy's Ale

lagerale · Post by **lagerale** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:11 pm

I really like Thomas Hardy's Ale! I haven't had much else like this before ad bought 8 of them hoping it was good - I think I'll buy a few more. It has little to no head, a rich brown/mahogany colour and flavours of brown sugar, caramel, some rich concentrated fruit (fig/prune) and a few other things I can't even put to words. Some might say still young and needs aging, but I enjoyed it and hope to indulge in one every six months or so....

I was impressed by the Aventinus Eisbock and even more so by this one. Don't miss out.

Jan Primus · Post by **Jan Primus** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 6:54 pm

Quite the beer...surprised the LC hasn't sold out yet. I'm curious why there is no carbonation, especially for a beer intended to be laid down awhile.

grub · Post by **grub** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:38 pm

Jan Primus wrote:I'm curious why there is no carbonation, especially for a beer intended to be laid down awhile.

old ale's typically have low carbonation. hardy's in particular usually has very little.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:10 pm

This beer is good now, but certainly needs some age. It is far too tight and young at this point. The alcohol is very upfront, while the hops are there, but are overpowered by heavy and chewy malts.

grub · Post by **grub** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:27 pm

SteelbackGuy wrote:This beer is good now, but certainly needs some age. It is far too tight and young at this point. The alcohol is very upfront, while the hops are there, but are overpowered by heavy and chewy malts.

yeah, i found it definitely shows its youth. all the elements are there, but a bit of a mash up and not really nicely meshed together. i can see the potential though, and look forward to having some of these a few years down the road.

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:12 am

A friend and I each bought 2 "nips" and a larger bottle from the Eldridge Pope brewery in Dorchester back in 1983. We went back to our B & B and immediately drank one nip a each. It tasted like malt extract and alcohol at that time. It was really too young. So upon returning to Canada, my friend put his larger bottle down in his cellar and promptly forgot about it. In 1998, he found it again and we sampled it together. WOW. It was dry, mellow and loaded with complex malt flavours. There was very little carbonation, but it didn't need it. Put those babies away and try to forget about them for a decade. Its worth it.

grub · Post by **grub** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:24 am

PRMason wrote:Put those babies away and try to forget about them for a decade. Its worth it.

i was given a 1992 bottle for my birthday in september. i've been trying to decide whether to drink it now (already 15 years old) or let it get even older. i've heard of people drinking bottles much older so i've been trying to resist the temptation and let it sit a while more. we'll see how long i manage to hold out...

so what do you think: drink it now, or give it another 15 (at which time the rest of my stash will be roughly 15 years old)?

lagerale · Post by **lagerale** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:19 am

I don't have the benefit of tasting older vintages, but I am already impressed wiht it. Anyone have an instant aging machine???? (How can you get a beer to get married and have kids

)

KwaiLo · Post by **KwaiLo** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:19 am

grub wrote: so what do you think: drink it now, or give it another 15 (at which time the rest of my stash will be roughly 15 years old)?

Put it away grub. Not too often that you get an opportunity like that one.

lagerale · Post by **lagerale** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:24 am

grub wrote:so what do you think: drink it now, or give it another 15 (at which time the rest of my stash will be roughly 15 years old)?

If you have an occasion worthy of this vintage bottle, enjoy it! I wouldn't think the next 15 years of aging would contribute as much as the first 15 years....

Raptor2023 · Post by **Raptor2023** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:52 am

lagerale wrote:
grub wrote:so what do you think: drink it now, or give it another 15 (at which time the rest of my stash will be roughly 15 years old)?
If you have an occasion worthy of this vintage bottle, enjoy it! I wouldn't think the next 15 years of aging would contribute as much as the first 15 years....

No it probably wouldn't, but at least you get to say you have a 30 year old bottle of THA!

shintriad · Post by **shintriad** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:59 am

Grub: Open it now, drink half, pour the other half in a clear, unwashed jar and leave it on a south-facing windowsill for 15 years. Now sit back and watch the flavours mellow!

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:26 am

lagerale wrote:Anyone have an instant aging machine????

Actually, high doses of radiation have been used to 'age' wine (to see how well a vintage will cellar, rather than waiting decade to see if it's any good).

Wine (and beer) is mostly water, which is hydrolyzed to form free radicals in solution (oxidizing agents).

So all you need is a big source of radiation!

(No I haven't tried it).

Jan Primus · Post by **Jan Primus** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:42 am

grub wrote:
Jan Primus wrote:I'm curious why there is no carbonation, especially for a beer intended to be laid down awhile.
old ale's typically have low carbonation. hardy's in particular usually has very little.

OK I can live with the low carbonation...but does the beer become less syruppy with age? I love the flavours but the mouthfeel leaves alot to be desired.

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:54 am

The beer will always be "heavy" in the mouth. A combination of low carbonation and tons of malt will do that every time. The sweetness level will decrease however.