Hawse Buckler
Oakham Ales / The Brewery Tap

Hawse BucklerHawse Buckler
Beer Geek Stats
From:
Oakham Ales / The Brewery Tap
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
American Porter
ABV:
5.6%
Score:
Needs more ratings
Avg:
4.18 | pDev: 4.07%
Reviews:
4
Ratings:
5
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 03, 2021
Added:
Dec 27, 2008
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

4.25/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Cask 1/3 pint at the 46th Cambridge Beer Festival, 2019. Black colour, tan head. Nice aroma and flavour of roast malts, chocolate and coffee, also fruity hops. (I sampled only a small number of the beers available at the festival, but this one was "Beer of the Festival" for me.)
May 03, 2021
Photo of Hanglow
Reviewed by Hanglow from Scotland

3.88/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Full pint, well conditioned

A deep black with brown edging, nice head that stays and coats the glass all the way down

I would call this a hoppy black ale, the roasted/coffee/liquorice notes that have been mentioned in other reviews were very much minimal, to the point where I could not call this a porter or stout. It's hop centered with standard Oakham lingering bitterness.Hop fruits, spice and some grapefruit are much more prevalent. An excellent beer whatever you want to call it
Apr 21, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by mdagnew from Northern Ireland

Sep 13, 2012
Photo of EmperorBevis
Reviewed by EmperorBevis from England

4.12/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Deep cola black body with big bold brassy coffee with milk coloured head

Aromas cast up such offerings as bourbon creams roasted grains and distinct yeast notes

Deep, deep liquorice tastes, overwhelm any coffee bitter hints of chocolate deep roast flavours utterly devoid of sweetness, intensely dark beyond belief.

Not overtly overwhelming on the mouthfeel and nicely carbonated makes an unusual and very interesting brew.
Jul 12, 2012
Photo of wl0307
Reviewed by wl0307 from England

4.38/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
BB 08/09/08, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass. The beer label says that "Hawse Buckler" refers to "an iron plate that covers the 'hawse hole', such a need arose when a ship encountered severe storms".

A: pours a nearly black colour with brown-ish glows when seen against light, coming with a thick and well-lasting dark khaki froth, on top of rather mild carbonation. Looking gorgeous~~
S: Cascade hops' juicy lychee-ish and sweet grapefruity scent pairs with aromatic cocoa, licorice, gristy-nutty dark malts, backed by a very thick and syrupy touch of sweet fat prunes and dates, while the maltiness overall also renders a somewhat oily smell. Fulsome on the nose albeit slightly sweet for the balance.
T: roasted barleys and/or sweet coffee-ish malts dominate the foretaste, heavily infused with a bucketful of lychee- as well as dark stone-fruits; a considerable level of burned-woody bitterness (with a deeply charred aroma) along with licorice's bitter edge and roast-almond aroma gradually engulfs the main theme, lending a tremendously long roastiness true to a fulsome Stout, but always laced with lovely grapefruit-zesty hop bitterness. The nicely dry palate sustains well, likely as a result of the good amount of roasted barleys. Not particularly "spicy" as the label depicts this ale, but random chewy hints of hops are indeed noticeable.
M&D: very fruity but far less sour (stale) than I would expect from a traditional Porter, but then the hop profile (Cascade, I think) makes this a truly modern version anyway. Despite being full-bodied and packed with fat fruity-malt flavours, the light fizziness, the deep-running bitter edge from roasted malts, and the underlying aromatic hops all serve to lift the overall weight skilfully, making this an utterly delicious and quaffable Porter in my book!
NOTE: I submit this ale as an American Porter mainly because of the predominant US hop presence and a much less stale character for a more traditional English version.
Dec 27, 2008
Hawse Buckler from Oakham Ales / The Brewery Tap
Beer rating: 4.18 out of 5 with 5 ratings