BEER REVIEW: 77 

BREWER: Hogs Back Brewery, Surrey, England

STYLE: English Ale

ABV: 4.2%

VESSEL: 500ml brown bottle

DATE POSTED: 29th March 2019

SAMMY SAY’S…

Most people are familiar with the late Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series.  In that series, the world is on the back of a turtle.  To cut to the chase and to make my ramblings clear, the label on T.E.A. follows a similar theme, with a Surrey Village (I’m guessing) propped on the back of a hog (a nod to the brewery name).  A good theme, which is outlined by the distinctive green and orange colour scheme. 

The strength of T.E.A. lies in its very English bitterness (and I mean the brewing style, not the ill feeling one might have to others).  In the glass, you’re faced with the reassuring colour of good old English bitter.  On the nose, well, it’s what you’d look for in a good old English bitter.  And, yes you’ve guessed it, the drinking is like having a good old English bitter.

I don’t want to be insincere or unfair to T.E.A. or other bitters for that matter, but what T.E.A. is is exactly that.  You know what you’re going to get and you know when you want to have it.

It’s a solid brew, which has its place in the beer world.  O.K., it won’t set the world on fire but we all need steady eddies in our lives, even the fantasy Discworld had them. 

Sammy’s Rating: 71%

JYMI SAY’S…

Dolly once spilt a cup a of tea on my back when I was just a wee piglet and I was being looked after by herself and my man Grampy Syd (who would have been 110 on this very day incidentally). There was a full panic flap about it I seem to remember, I learnt the word Scald for the first time, but I also remember being totally fine throughout the whole experience and enjoying the warm electric fire and dull lighting (plus the attention).

Syd, the husband of the aforementioned Dolly and my aforementioned man taught Jymi to never ever say no if offered a cup of tea or a cigarette. Seriously wise words at the time as so many of my endless friendships were founded on those two forms of relaxant.

Worthing, where the legends Fred and Ena relocated from West London to once upon a time. Jymi and the Ma, Pa and Sis (if she could pull herself away from embroidery club) used to venture there a lot. I remember check points (to monitor progress) and points of interest being mentioned so vividly on the way there.

We’re at the Devils Punch Bowl.

We’re past The Hogs Back.

Arundel Castle on the left kids.

I can see Amberley Chalk Pits.

Dolly, Syd, Fred and Ena were my Grandparents, just in case you hadn’t picked that.

When it comes to TEA by Hogs Back Brewery I have to say it pulls a lot of lovely memories back to me… Even though the beer itself has nothing to do with TEA at all (it stands for Traditional English Ale).

So praise be that this is an absolute belter of a beer!! A mighty fine glass of ale I have to say.

Up front there is a great amount of flavour. A large growing taste of almost fruity caramel envelops your moosh immediately and then it switches to a long softly fading aftertaste of what, flavour wise, can only be described as … Splendid.

I genuinely love this beer and everything it’s about. Even to the little passage on the side of the label:

All our Fuggles hops are grown locally here in Surrey, either in our own hop garden or 4 miles away on the other side of the Hogs Back. And whilst we enjoy the beer local hogs enjoy the spent grain from our mash tun… perfect harmony in Tongham.

Love it!!

Perfect harmony in Tongham.

Perfect harmony in TEA.

Perfect harmony in me.

Jymi’s Rating: 84%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 77.5% 

MOB review next weekend: 3 WEISS MONKEYS by LONDON FIELDS BREWERY

muse on booze

BEER REVIEW: 76

BREWER: Bad Co., North Yorkshire, England

STYLE: New England Ale

ABV: 5.8%

VESSEL: 330ml tin

DATE POSTED: 22nd March 2019

JYMI SAY’S…

Other than Boston Tea Party tasting pretty good, everything else about this beer annoys the hell out of me, I’m sorry…

The Brewery name that play’s quite the part in the packaging of this ale is an acronym. Pretty cool… until you know what it stands for.

A misplaced trident.

A name that does not reflect the beer and a beer that does reflect that C18^th moment.

The zero effort put into the packaging other than the one retract only convertible tin.

Stuff this, I’m off… for another Boston Tea Party New England Ale as it goes, because as I said, it’s pretty good.

Bye.

Jymi’s Rating: 69%

SAMMY SAY’S…

The actual Boston Tea Party, as we all know, was a protest against the Tea Act, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea in American colonies without paying tax.  What the hecky decky has that got to do with a beer brewed in England you may ask.  Well…I don’t really know…

Anyway, a point of interest is the way that the can opens.  I’m not even going to enter into trying to describe it.  The best way to find out is to get your hands on one.

Boston Tea Party is a lively little number and has an incredible colour, which is made all the more tempting by its natural, unfiltered haze.  

In the drinking, Boston Tea Party is light and very pleasant.  This is fully supported by its aroma, which is very fruity.  What’s a little different about BTP is that it’s short on length in the flavour.  Personally, I prefer something a little longer on the palate and a smidge heavier on the flavometer. 

It doesn’t jump out from the crowd, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good.

Sammy’s Rating: 78%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 73.5% 

MOB review next weekend: T.E.A. by HOGS BACK BREWERY

MUSE ON BOOZE 

BEER REVIEW: 75

BREWER: Malt Coast Brewery, Norfolk, England

STYLE: Amber Ale

ABV: 4.7%

VESSEL: 330ml brown bottle

DATE POSTED: 15th March 2019

JYMI SAY’S…

Good ale this I have to say.

Very dark pour for an amber which took me aback. Also the nose though actually very pleasant was very, very faint. Add this to packaging that doesn’t draw the eye nor say to the consumer… GRAB ME.

So it wasn’t until I actually sipped this beer that I started to get excited. So light, so delicate, she is a delight. The taste is of semi sweet malt that is then finished off by a soft bitter hop after taste. What is clever about MCAA is that it would fit into the majority of drinking situations.

Hot Summers day? Yes, due to how light and soft it is.

Chilly Winters evening? Yes, due to the warming malty nature of the taste.

Swifty after work? Yes, due to it tasting great.

Long session in a rustic pub? Yes, due to it’s warming nature again but predominantly because it’s so light and smooth you could drink it for hours if not days or possibly even months.

Few quick ones in a snazzy bar? Yes, the taste though soft is great so three or four of these would satisfy the drinker due how generally enjoyable it is.

And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised as the lead up was not inspiring.

The bottle though not at all bad hasn’t got a lot going for it. I like the art work however.

As mentioned, the nose is weak and the colour surprising.

So when it came to the drinking of this all round understated ale it was a very pleasant surprise indeed.

CALLING ALL BEER HUNTERS… Go find and consume, you will not be disappointed.

Jymi’s Rating: 77%

SAMMY SAY’S…

Some facts on Malt Coast and on one of it’s core beers, Amber Ale: 

1. Malt Coast is not actually a real place, so don’t try to Google it.
2. The label on this fella is packed with loads of great facts.
3. There’s a painting on the logo.  It might be by someone famous but it might not.  It’s probably of a Malt Coast.  But this is a beer review, so enough of that.
4. Amber Ale is described by Malt Coast as a sundowner.  I assume they mean it’s great for drinking at sundown and not that it will actually make the sun fall out of the sky.
5. When in the glass, Amber Ale is definitely amber.  I like that.
6. It smells nice and light and is definitely a great balance of hops and malt on the nose.  Makes me want to drink it.
7. When I do start drinking it, I want to keep drinking it because it’s a very well balanced beer.
8. This is one of the best amber ales I’ve had.  It bridges modern and old brews incredibly skillfully.
9. All beer drinkers should try Amber Ale by Malt Coast.
10. It’s a great beer.

Sammy’s Rating: 86%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 81.5% 

MOB review next weekend: BOSTON TEA PARTY by BAD CO. 

muse on booze – since 2017

BEER REVIEW: 74

BREWER: Wimbledon Brewery, South-West London, England

STYLE: Red Ale

ABV: 4.5%

VESSEL: 330ml tin

DATE POSTED: 8th March 2019

SAMMY SAY’S…

Sammy’s Rating: 76%

JYMI SAY’S…

4.5% you say Wimbledon brewery?

Ok then.

So why oh why whilst gently sipping this brew and reading the info put forward on the tin can I not actually make out what you guys have written?

1. Am I too drunk? I’d say no after two sips, though it has been a very long week
2. Have my eyes just gorn generally nowadays?
3. Have you just printed the abundance of information way too small?

The answer is 3.. (I hope anyway).

Also, when it came to the packaging generally it got me in a wonder as to why I didn’t particularly like it… considering I quite liked it! After a fair bit of musing I worked it out. It was the copper section around the top of the tin. Disaster stuff. Without that this pin striped packaged Red Ale would look super classy but as it is… it doesn’t.

A final thought on the external, the griffin like being rising from what I hope is a hop is great! However the regurgitation of an over sized sprig of rye is disconcerting to say the least.

Anyway, let us get the internal external.

Oh no, I’m off straight back to the tin design. Reason being is it’s such a shame that Wimbledon Brewery stuck the copper at the top of the can thus reducing the class of this brew…. Because on tasting Copper, this sucker is oooozing class!!

It’s so so soft and delicate. Super light to drink and just great. There isn’t a huge flavour hit or anything complex going on but that doesn’t matter as this is just such a tidy, smart and neat brew. Well worth a try I have to say.

Wimbledon Brewery you have done a smashing job with this American Red Ale, just have a word with the team who are in charge of the upper 20% of the tin design yeah?

Jymi’s Rating: 79%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 77.5% 

MOB review next weekend: MALT COAST AMBER ALE by MALT COAST BREWERY

MUSE ON BOOZE

BEER REVIEW: 73

BREWER: Brouwerij HOOP, North Holland, Netherlands

STYLE: IPA

ABV: 6.4%

VESSEL: 330ml brown bottle

DATE POSTED: 1st March 2019

JYMI SAY’S…

Kaper translated loosely from Dutch to English means Pirate.
Now, I’m not saying my father in law hires canoes and then patrols the Thames with sinister intent looking for unsuspecting river dwellers to broadside and then pilfer their picnic. Nor am I saying that he sails off the coast of East Africa trying to spot vulnerable out of town ocean goers to relieve them of their gold. NOR am I saying that he has spent time on the Caribbean seas in a schooner waiting to pounce on a vessel carrying supplies. But I AM saying that he is a pirate, a proper full on pirate. I mean he has a beard named Mr Tuffty for crying out loud and it doesn’t get more pirate than that now does it?! Now I know I am not blood related to this legend of a man but I am part of his family so I’m kind of thinking that makes me part pirate doesn’t it? I do currently own a beard, I do love a rum and I also have holes in my ears on top of the ones that Gawwwd gave me. So I reckon I’m part pirate.

Now with a beer named (so brilliantly may I add) Pirate I’m looking for certain characteristics in look and taste to back this name up. I want the bottle to be rugged and piratey. And I want the taste to be strong with bags of character.

Visually, as much as I like the look of the bottle, I really do… it’s a bit soft and not all up in yo face like it maybe should be donning such a name. On the label there are a brace of galleon rolling on the high sea which I suppose is pretty pirate like but it’s not as angry and scary as it maybe should be. The skull centrepiece looks like it’s wearing a fez too, which is odd.
The taste is one of a bitter orange with a bitter pine taste to finish. But most importantly, the taste is strong and robust. VERY PIRATY INDEED! The nose I might add is terrible which again backs up this Pirate theme! Well done… I think.

All in all we have a very enjoyable IPA here that is stacked full of character and all packaged up in a thoroughly pleasant bottle with a chest load of info on it.
We’re not full on Pirate mode with Kaper but more like nice Pirate mode.
Which brings us seamlessly back round to my father in law… The nice Pirate.

Jymi’s Rating: 71%

SAMMY SAY’S…

Sammy’s Rating: 79%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 75% 

MOB review next weekend: COPPER by WIMBLEDON BREWERY

muse on booze

BEER REVIEW: 72

BREWER: Davo Bieren, Overijssel, Netherlands

STYLE: IPA

ABV: 7.5%

VESSEL: 33cl brown bottle

DATE POSTED: 23rd February 2019

SAMMY SAY’S…

Davo – ridiculous name for a beer.

Davo – appalling packaging, into which no thought has been put.   Poor colour scheme that is very outdated.

Davo – pulls on the salvia glands and sucks the life out of them so that the mouth is left incredibly dry.

Davo – Sharp taste when drinking, which is like paint stripper for the tongue.

Davo – not too much going for it.

Davo – it’s not the beer for Samo!

Sammy’s Rating: 44%

JYMI SAY’S…

It’s hard to get excited about a beer that externally looks like it has been discarded at an inner city bus stop by a drunken old goat. But here we have it, the IPA from Davo Beiren staring at me, and I was definitely not excited to be on the brink of testing it, I can tell ye. The fact that this ale was 7.5%, along with the look of the bottle only added to my dread and took my thoughts back to the soppy goat that chucked his beer at the bus stop. I was not feeling this at all I have to say.

But, after a fair amount of staring back at Davo IPA from afar it was time to pull myself together and get on with the task in hand.

On closer inspection of the bottle the finer detail of the label was actually quite cool, bringing an almost North West African vibe to the table. But there was still no getting away from it, the packaging was shockingly unappealing. Look, there are plenty of beers out there with poor packaging that taste great and conversely there are some incredibly dressed up beers out there that just fail to deliver. But there is still no getting away from it, if the bottle looks bad the appeal to the drinker to drink it has to dip.

When at last pouring my D’IPA from its murky brown bottle into my freshly dishwashed then hand polished glass things began to look up and my excitement began to grow. The nose coming off from this brew was lovely. A real malty but citrus whiff made its way to me and suddenly dread was replaced with intrigue. The look of this beer in the glass was also a delight which helped morale even further.

Now the drinking of this ale was actually very pleasant, a citrus yet malty taste as you would expect from an IPA. There was also bags of carbonation but somehow Davo remained smooth enough when chugging down. So I’ll state now that I enjoyed the taste of this IPA, the only trouble is THIS IS NOT AN IPA. Where did the hops go? There is literally no hop tone to this beer at all.

Pleasant. Disappointing. Fraudulent.

Jymi’s Rating: 60%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 52% 

MOB review next weekend: KAPER by BROUWERIJ HOOP

MUSE ON BOOZE

BEER REVIEW: 71

BREWER: Cocksure Brewing Company, Bristol, England

STYLE: IPA

ABV: 5.2%

VESSEL: 500ml brown bottle

DATE POSTED: 16th February 2019

JYMI SAY’S…

To say the testing of this IPA has been eventful is an understatement…

It all began back on the thirteenth day of December last year when my infinitely better half returned from Bath Christmas market with a couple of Bear Cubs in tow for Sammy and I to review. What a lovely thing thought I (my wife, the gesture and the look of the beer in equal measure). Little was I to know at the time the events that would unfold when it came to testing this bear of a beer.

Fast forward to last week and I received a message from Sammy..

“Have you tested Bear Cub yet”?

“No man, got it locked in to do in a couple of days, why’s that”?

“Just be careful when opening her, shes lively”!

“Thanks for the warning son, what you up to this weekend”? ….hang on , you don’t need know the whole convo do you.

So, a couple of days later after evacuating the kitchen of family and pets, I donned my snorkel, chest mounted vertical umbrella and marigolds and went to crack open the bottle…

Nothing, not even a pssst, let alone the amber tsunami I was warned of . Curious I thought, most curious.
I then noticed that there was quite a lot of sludgy peat inside the bottle cap. Most, most curious.

Unperturbed, I poured my Bear Cub IPA into a glass and went about my testing business. Now, this is where things began to get difficult, I ABSOLUTELY HATED IT. My thoughts then turned to whether this was a bad bottle. I continued with the test and it didn’t necessarily taste like it had gone bad, just a taste that was not for me. But one thing was for sure, I ABSOLUTELY HATED IT, and scored it accordingly.

The next day the ol’ brain started spluttering into action like starting a diesel engine in subzero temperatures. I thought to myself, “what if it was a wrongun, what if this is actually a genuinely good IPA that I’m about to crucify because it had gone bad for whatever reason”?

I had to give this Bear Cub a second chance.

Now, with this not being a beer that you can just grab off a supermarket shelf it meant I had to do some work to get my hands on another bottle. My first stop was to contact New Bristol Brewery. I was informed by them that they no longer brewed this beer and had in fact sold the recipe to Cocksure Brewing Company. Curious I thought, most curious. Next stop was a call to Cocksure to request a bottle. I was informed by them that they currently had none in stock and that all the bottles they had had gone off to Palmer Street Bottle whom the beer had been exclusively brewed for in the first place. So, the next stop was to contact PSB via the frankly neolithic form of TEXT. After some toing and froing eventually a fresh bottle of Bear Cub was on it’s way to MOBHQ.

And once I had returned from work in the early hours of this morning, I again donned my snorkel, umbrella and gloves and got ready to open BCIPA once more.

PLEASE , AFTER ALL THIS, BE GOOD, thought I…

Well… was it?

Yes, yes it was! As soon as I lifted the lid on this second attempt I instantly knew things were different. Though there wasn’t the explosion I was expecting (leaving me feeling slightly foolish in my get up) there was certainly action from the beer. The nose was sublime, full of spicy floral waves with a good hoppy undertone. And the taste was crazy refreshing with spicy yet floral notes up front (as promised by the bottle) and a light hoppy citrus finish. Good. GOOOOD.

I’m so glad I went back for a second try at this IPA. The beer nose knew something was up with bottle one and I knew to trust that hooter. Thanks has to go out to Palmer Street Bottle for getting the replacement bottle to me in good time as well.

Here endeth the tale of Jymi and the Bear Cub.

Jymi’s Rating: 76%

SAMMY SAY’S…

Sammy’s Rating: 83%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 79.5% 

MOB review next weekend: DAVO IPA by DAVO BIEREN

MUSE ON BOOZE

BEER REVIEW: 70

BREWER: Badger Brewery (Hall & Woodhouse), Dorset, England

STYLE: Golden Ale

ABV: 5%

VESSEL: 500ml brown bottle

DATE POSTED: 9th February 2019

JYMI SAY’S…

So, at work yesterday lunchtime two thoughts crossed my mind. First thought was that I was glad it was Friday and was looking forward to getting home and cracking open a Tangle Foot to review. My second thought was how belly up my day was going making the first thought more and more unlikely to happen as the clock was ticking. By the time 10pm had been and gone I said to myself that if I was home before midnight I’d still test as had the day off today. But if it was gone 00:00 then it would be straight to bed. As I pulled off the motorway (which is 15 mins from my house) at 23:45 some sort of panic rush set in. There was no way I wasn’t testing tonight I said to myself but if I got in after the midnight hour I wouldn’t be able to as… zee rules are zee rules. 

After a couple of cruel red lights and getting my lower left limb caught up in the hosepipe that had been left out in the driveway I hate to say… I got in at 00:02 and went straight to bed.

Ok, I’m sorry, that story was a lie. A real porky pie. And the reason I’ve taking you down this murky road of non-truth is the reason Tangle Foot was supposedly named Tangle Foot. Because apparently, whatever Woodhouse was in charge of naming this beer at the time, got his foot tangled in his dogs lead as he arrived home to name the beer. Sorry, not having it, that is a lie*. Stinks of it..

While we’re talking of stink, how was the nose on TF… not great to be honest, pretty average.

Taste? Errr, yeah fine, not bad, middle of the road, pretty average really.

Packaging? Errr, yeah it’s alright for what… HOLD UP.

We’ve been here before haven’t we?

This is a Badger Beer we’re dealing with isn’t it?

Not bad. Not great. Average. Simple as that.

*please H&W, if this is in fact true can you not sue us for libel. The mortgage on the house in the Hollywood Hills is already crippling us. Thanks.

Jymi’s Rating: 60%

SAMMY SAY’S…

Let me start by saying that I really like the name Tangle Foot.  I mean, I don’t like it enough to name one of my children after, but I certainly like it enough to name some sort of dancing superhero after*.

However long I could muse on the great name, I need to get down to the crux of the matter – Tangle Foot the beer from Badger Brewery.

To start with, it has great colour and it looks appealing in the bottle.  Badger are great at adding some points of interest to their labels, both in terms of design as well as little nuggets of information.  Tangle Foot is no disappointment in this regard.

The promised nose of fruity with cereal notes is nearly an accurate description (from the bottle itself).  There are definite citrus hints but the earthy undertone detract a little from the promised potential.  Then we have the drinking…it is very shallow in flavour.  And although the flavour is pleasant enough, there’s just very little kick to it.  For some that works, but it doesn’t cut the mustard for us Musers on Booze and the spicy overtones (again as described on the bottle) are so hard to find that you might well be onto your 4^th Tangle Foot by the time you think you have found them…

Oh well…there’s always next week…

*Tales of Tangle Foot yet to be written by Muse on Booze

Sammy’s Rating: 65%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 62.5%

MOB review next weekend: BEAR CUB by COCKSURE BREWING COMPANY

MUSE ON BOOZE

BEER REVIEW: 69

BREWER: Brouwerij Bliksem, North Brabant, Netherlands

STYLE: Black IPA

ABV: 7.1%

VESSEL: 33cl brown bottle

DATE POSTED: 1st February 2019

SAMMY SAY’S…

Kermis in De Ale is very very dark, just as it says on the bottle.  It looks like a stout once in the glass, a cousin of a stout if you will.  

The aromas are mainly earthy, sweet and nutty.  The best comparison I can think of is like a forest floor after rain. And if you’re wondering whether or not I like the smell of a forest floor after rain – I do.

The colour of Kermis and the smell don’t quite marry up.  They are not happy bed friends.  They are jarring with one another and it’s a combination that is slightly unnerving.  Nobody wants an unnerving combination with their beer.  At least, I don’t.

The mismatch continues into the taste.  There are sweet beginnings with a bitter liquorice aftertaste.  While it’s not altogether undrinkable, it’s a little odd and very uninspiring.  

Kermis, to summarise, is an odd concept of a beer, which will without doubt have it’s fans.  I’m just not one of them.  

That’s not to say it’s not worth a try though.  

Sammy’s Rating: 60%

JYMI SAY’S…

I’m not overly sure what the marketing team over at Bliksem were up to with the labelling of KIDA…

Was it, let’s make it neon pink to really stand out from the crowd?

Was it, let’s make the font so pointy that the crowd in the beer aisle may trip over it?

Either way, for MOBJymi this is an absolute disaster when it comes to the look of a beer bottle. Don’t get me wrong though, it has intrigued me no end. Add in the fact I’ve never had a Black IPA before and the intrigue grows higher. But from a visual alone I have to say this is not a good start for this Ale in Pink…

However once the lid was off and my hooter got round it things began to look up.. The chocolate / coffee / nutty nose brought forward what could only be described as a stout / porter / IPA hybrid thought. Possibly not surprising seeing as it’s described as a Black IPA. And in the drinking of Kermis In De Ale the nose most certainly transferred to the taste. A very smooth coffeesque (I put it to you to spell coffeesque correctly!!) IPA. Pretty good you know. The fact that this little tiger is 7.1% actually passed me by. It certainly tastes strong, but not THAT strong.

In conclusion KIDA looks s#*t, smells fantastic and tastes… good.

Jymi’s Rating: 64%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 62% 

MOB review next weekend: TANGLE FOOT by BADGER

MUSE ON BOOZE

BEER REVIEW: 68

BREWER: Morland, Oxfordshire, England

STYLE: Premium Bitter 

ABV: 5%

VESSEL: 500ml clear bottle

DATE POSTED: 25th January 2019

SAMMY SAY’S…

The name Old Speckled Hen conjures up images of a farmer’s favourite feathered friend.  Or maybe it’s more aligned to a legendary bird that’s tale is passed on from generation to generation as families are huddled around a roaring fire.  Either way, it’s a good name for a beer and sits well in Morland’s theme where they play on the Hen name.  I imagine that there are fans out there who have lovingly shortened the name to Old Spec, which accentuates the two scenarios previously mentioned to a greater degree.

What needs to be established is whether or not the beer lives up to the name…

In short, it does not. 

Old Speckled Hen is by no means bad.  It’s just very average.  It excels in no area.  While I would never turn my nose up at it if it were the only beverage on offer, equally, I would very rarely reach for it if other beers were available. 

In the drinking, it’s fairly light and is ok in the mouth.  It really lacks punch or bite in the flavour department.  You’re left in no doubt that it’s a traditional bitter.  But dare I say it, it lacks character.  There is no USP in the drinking of Old Speckled Hen.

At the risk of offending many consumers of this well established ale, I would seek refreshment elsewhere if possible.

Sammy’s Rating: 66%

JYMI SAY’S…

For those of you that read my review of Old Crafty Hen back on the 16^th February last year you’ll know my feelings towards Morland’s packaging of their “hens”.

For those of you that didn’t read my review of Old Crafty Hen  last year I think Morland’s packaging of their “hens” is terrible.

However, there are two things that help out Old Speckled externally… This bottle is iconic. It’s their flagship. It’s the pioneering hen. This doesn’t improve the look but does make it easier to bear. Also the name in isolation away from the brood of other hens is a cracker. Especially as, unlike the others, Old Speckled Hen isn’t named after a female chicken at all but a bleedin’ motor!! This information comes via our 500ml vessel’s label as well as what food would pair well with OSH. And for that Morland, I thank you.

We are also told by our brewer that this is a rich and distinctive fine ale.

Well let’s find out if it is shall we…

Errrrr, yes it is!

Rich – yes without doubt, it’s oozing toffee and caramel from nose to taste.

Distinctive – now this is a bold claim in the world of a million beers but you know what, I think it is distinctive. I’d like to think that if I didn’t know I was drinking Old Speckled Hen I would know I was drinking Old Speckled Hen if you know what mean?

Fine – It most certainly is. OSH is smooth as you like and has the air of settling in for a long session whatever the weather, shooting the breeze with chums in a cosy pub.

All in all Old Speckled Hen, though not joining the elite, is a great and iconic everyday beer.

But you probably knew that already didn’t you.

Jymi’s Rating: 74%

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 70% 

MOB review next weekend: KERMIS IN DE ALE by BROUWERIJ BLIKSEM

MUSE ON BOOZE