Old Ale
Harvey's Brewery

 

500 ml bottle, from Seven Cellars. ABV is 3.6%. Mahogany colour, moderate beige head. Pleasant aroma of malts, raisins and other dark dried, hints of caramel and brittle. Lovely flavour with the same elements as the aroma, not too sweet, moderate earthy hops. Good body for its low ABV. Very refreshing and satisfying to drink. I am astonished that this beer does not have a higher.score.

Bottle. Dark amber with a thin, wispy and tan head,
Rich aroma of toffee malt and dried fruits. Some light hops discerned.
Malt again upon tasting. Similar to wort with treacle added. Autumnal flavour indeed.
A moderate body with a low alcohol feel. Low carbonation.
Punches well above it's weight.

A 275ml bottle with a BB of Feb 2018. Acquired a while back from the Harvey's brewery shop in Lewes. The label describes it as rich and dark with hints of dried fruit - perfect for the winter months.

A: Poured into a tulip. A very deep ruby-chestnut hue with light carbonation. Appears almost black in the glass. Yields a decent head of creamy off-white foam that lasts for a minute or so before reducing to a patchy surface layer.

S: Aroma of rich, fruity malt with hints of dried fruit, raisins, dates, mild molasses, subtle wood, a twinge of vanilla, caramel malt, fruity ale yeast and faint leafiness. Very nice, particularly given the strength.

T: Tastes of fruity dark malt with notes of raisins, figs, dates, dried fruit, molasses, mild wood, a hint of vanilla, caramel malt, fruity yeast esters and a subtle leafiness. Quite sweet, accompanied by a delicate bitterness upon swallowing.

M: Mouthfeel is smooth and tingly, with light carbonation and good body for the strength. Veers towards insubstantial though (unsurprising for 3.6%). Aftertaste of fruity malt, dried fruit, caramel, ale yeast and leafiness.

O: A quality ale from Harvey's with a rich character. Looks OK, while the aroma and flavour are great - sweet malt, dried fruit, ale yeast and caramel all blended together. Body is alright but a shade thin. I'd rate this higher but it isn't as good as it could be; cask-conditioning adds depth that this bottled version just doesn't capture. I had this in the brewery grounds on release day a couple of years ago - a memorable event. Well worth sampling, particularly if you can find it on cask.

From a 500ml bottle.
L: Dark brown with a couple of off-white spots for a head.
S: Black treacle...but very faint.
T: Smoke, dates, burnt sugar, dark fruit. Moderate sweetness with very low hoppy bitterness.
F: Slightly thin body with no carbonation and a sweet finish.
O: Complex, attractive flavours that fall flat because appearance, smell and mouthfeel are so thin. Much prefer old ales with a higher ABV. 3.6% makes this version easy drinking but ultimately empty.

 

From a cask at the 2016 Atlanta Cask Ale Festival.

Murky dark brown body with a bubbly light tan head.
Decent aroma despite some of notes. The malty flavor is better and has hints of raisins and vague dark fruits.
Near medium body.

 

 

 

Cask at The Royal Oak in London.

Mahogany pour. Not much of a head, thin film around the glass. Thin lines mark progress.

Loads of dark fruit on the nose, this will be a malt-fest.

Dates up front with some red fruit sweetness. Earthy flavours give it a darker character, holding the sweetness back from, say, red ale territory. Clean finish.

This old ale is a session champ. Quite flavourful, but also pretty utilitarian, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Back in my "Brightonian days" as a doctoral student, I frequented a local pub (The Mitre, a Harveys' tied house) and this ale (on cask) was featured there during the winter seasons almost every time I walked in. Naturally I love it; I always cherished the soft, winey texture, buttressed by the mysterious yeasty magic and generous amount of Sussex hops as a solid backbone. But this is the first bottled (filtered) version that I have ever tried - can't complain since I don't live in Sussex anymore.

Got this bottle at the Harveys Brewery Shop three months ago, it comes in a 275ml slim, classic brown bottle, subtitled "Exhibition Brown". BB OCT 09, served cool in a pint-size jug (the same way I had my many a "pint of Old" at my local).

A: pours a dark mahogany hue with light carbonation and a beige fluffy head retreating gradually to a thin blanket.
S: a perfumy fruity-maltiness dominates the nose, quite hard to describe - it rings a bell of Chinese dried red-dates and red-bean paste plus some flowery hints (jasmine) but not exactly that, but definitely the magical work of the Harveys' open-fermentation tanks interacting with spicy-aromatic hops (possibly Styrian Golding) and a rich malty base.
T: a lightly spritzy entry of red bean paste again, with hints of brown sugar and brown malts... then, slowly, the rich fruity-malty theme expands, full of sweet prunes, earthy hops, faintly nutty malts and a firmly biscuity hint of pale malts, finishing with a mixed palate of Harveys' unique yeasty flavour (with an intriguing kick of "cobweb") and lightly dry and faintly spicy Sussex hops.
M&D: if served on cask, the hop elements would come in abundance in the form of a dry-ish bitter aftertaste, in an intriguing contrast to the quiet sour-sweet malty foretaste, although here, in this bottle, hops are not overly subdued, either. A soft, easy-to-quaff, medium-bodied old ale that one should try when it's served fresh on cask - this little bottle fails to do it justice I'm afraid.

Low ABV once agian, sweet jammy raisiny nose and flavour, thin and watery texture aswell, virtually no head whatsoever, and a bit sticky and sweet for me, no bitter bite in the finish, really short finish.