A Over T (Aromas Over Tongham)
Hog's Back Brewery

Really nice English Barley Wine. Bought from a farmers market somewhere west of London October, 2023 and drank shortly thereafter. Vintage 2022. Listed as a CAMRA 2020 beer - but unclear if that actually means it won awards at CAMRA or was some kind of finalist.

 

330 ml bottle picked up from the brewery. Pours brown with a small head and just a bit of lacing. Nose is malty, as expected, but also a touch medicinal (someone else mentioned glue, and that's a good description) and not much else. Flavor is rich malt and some caramel and dark fruits. Does hide the ABV well. Overall, just okay, although I'd give it another shot on cask to see if that's better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On cask at Max's today.

The beer pours an ice tea amber color with fairly good head retention and lacing. The is sweet and attractive, showing butterscotch, toffee, butter, caramel, sherry and light malted vinegar. The flavor profile replicates the nose pretty closely in this sweet barleywine, and I'm impressed by how rich, full bodied, and long on the palate this beer is. Drinkabilty is actually pretty decent, though needless to say, the sweetness and slight alcoholic heat make drinking this beer rather slow going.

Not the best beer to be drinking in August in Baltimore, but probably would be pretty enjoyable on a cold winter's night.

Served in a nonic pint glass at ChurchKey.

Good to see some actual British brews in these CK casks. This one pours a somewhat hazy ruby amber topped by a half-finger of off-white foam. The nose comprises maple syrup, biscuits, hoppy citrus, peach flesh, and some dark greens. The taste holds notes of maple syrup, plenty o' citrus hops, a slight bit o' metal, and an even slighter sourness. I'm not quite sure what to think of this flavor combination, but it's not really bad. The body is medium, with no carbonation to speak of and a gooey feel. Overall, a pretty good brew, but not one to drink on a fully regular basis.

Had on cask at Birreria Paradiso in Georgetown. Had preceded with Founders Cerise and some hoppy Three Floyds with my pizza. Decided this would be a welcome wrap up for the evening. Ale was completely unknown to me, but recommeneded by menu. Now clearly one of my favorite brews tried this year. Will explore this brewery further with high hopes.

A: Reddish deep brown that caught the light, and was very appetizing in it's snifter glass. Modest head that enhanced appearance, laced well but did not linger.

S: Rich aromas of malt, chocolate and subdued hops. Alcohol present but not overdone. Welcoming.

T: Admittedly, this is my style of beer. Big and warm like a bear hug. It was rich and delicious. Flavors alternated between sips with combined then subtly separate tastes. Currants, dates, ...tamarind?? Kept the experience interesting, and curiosity maintained. Agree with Huhzubendah on wonderful balanced chocolate flavors marrying well with the other flavors.

M: Moderately heavy and full. Moved casually across tongue and around mouth. Sensuous. Asks for more, and delivers.

D: Drank very easily...too easily. I would have enjoyed another draught if I had had the time.

On cask at Birreria Paradiso in Georgetown.

A: Medium dark brown with ruby highlights. There is a 1/2" head that leaves lots of lacing throughout the glass.

S: Raisins and figs soaked in alcohol.

T: Although this typically isn't my cup of tea, this is a really delicious beer, I must say. A bold chocolate flavor emerges that was only slightly detectable in the aroma. Chocolate covered raisins with dark fruits and a sweet malt backbone give this beer a big flavor.

M: Good smooth feel, as many cask ales have, with a warming alcohol presence in the finish.

D: A good tasting beer with a fair amount of complexity. However, one was plenty.

Tea brown with a withered parchment head. Apple, brown sugar, and rum flesh out the nose, with nuances of sherry and apricots, port and glue. Spicy cinnamon flavor with big notes of Meyer's rum; very thick and sweet with lots of caramel and piney hops. Slick yet fairly clean, but not interesting enough to warrant the strength. Possibly good with blue cheese.

Red-muddy bown color, very hazy. Almost no foam.
In the smell malt and raisins. With a hint of light hop.
It has something woody, to balance the sweetness of the malt.
But the balnce is poor, the beer remains too sweet, with note of raisins and dates.
Too sweet, not too drinkable.

I have tempered my opinion of this beer since first trying it, when it was my first experience of a truly strong ale and my reaction was "Wow, finally i've found someone out there who makes my sort of beer!" - it's not perfect. But for a beer from Surrey, it's very, very good...

We purchased this beer last weekend as a draught takeaway from the brewery, so you couldn't get much fresher. The beer pours with NO head - I don't like frothy heads on beer, but it was a little disconcerting that there wasn't one whatsoever. The colour is great, though - like a ruby ale that's had a dollop of treacle dropped in it.

Use the right glass, and the aromas from this beer are exceptional - nectar-sweet and fruity, and the treacle is there too. The same elements come through in the taste, and the kick makes you go "woah" as a fine barley wine should! The flavours are fantastic but the extreme sweetness dominates the palate a bit too much and overpowers, this needs to be reined in a little for the taste to be perfect.

The mouthfeel is heavy, but rich, smooth and satisfying. However due to the extreme sweetness in the taste the point at which you feel you are having too much of a good thing comes round rather quicker than i'd like...

I had this one in the cellar for a year and a half and I must say it was a bit of a let down. Poured dark brown and slightly cloudy with minimal head. The aroma was caramel and yeasty with a slight off note. The beer was not really well rounded in flavours as a cereal taste came through in the mid body then vanished in the finish. I just got the feel that this beer wasn't quite as well realized as it could be. I have had other beers from them and also found something lacking

Vintage 1999

Pours murky orangy amber, with barely an off-white head.
Light carbonation refrains much of a crown to develope, in fact the brew barely whips up enough to cover the surface.
Aromatics are juicy and fruity. Malts with layered depths amongst notes of honey and citrus fruits. Tangerines and pears lend a floral note, but not pungent.
Mouthfeel is slickish and a bit sappy. Extremely mild carbonation just a notch or two above a cask ale.
The pallet is sweetish and fruity. Almost malt-forward in nature, but an aggresive hopping rate (for and english), and decent attenuation keep things from getting boring. Bitterness is firm, keeping residuals in check.
Alcohol has a progressively warming quality, but never builds to a "hot" level.
Finishes with lingering, juicy malt, warming alcohol, a drying bitterness, and a mild wet paper note.
Holding up damn well for an eight year old.

Finally I got to taste the cask-version of the overall winner of NWAF 06 fresh and on form~~ When I did find it at the NWAF earlier this year in Manchester, I was already quite merry and couldn't take any more. The next time I tried it at the Parson's Green White Horse, it was on cask but served slightly warm and flat, hence too cloying. This time round, I found it at a JDW pub where it was available as a festival beer during the chain's May beerfest., and I was totally satisfied by it. Tasted by half-pint at the Penderel's Oak, a JDW pub nr. Holborn station, central London.

A: dark reddish copper colour, great clarity; a beige-hued thin but creamy beer head sustains very well indeed. Looking great.
S: sour-sweet fruity perfume (mixed of pears, cherries, apples, dried dates and raisins), a sour woody touch, slightly syrupy sugary sweetness from caramel-malts with a little burned edge, plus some rum-like perfumy alc. in the background. Unlike the bottled version, a nice balance b/w fruitiness and profound maltiness is achieved here, preserving a very rich but surprisingly approachable aroma.
T: oily-rich and lubricating at first, with slightly syrupy-textured maltiness flowing onto the palate... followed by a rich but also smooth fruity hops, showing apples and (almost fermented) sweet pears; leading slowly towards an intensifyingly bitter and hoppy overtone, where the increasingly dryish edge manifests with a warming syrupy touch, but not OTT.
M&D: much more balanced than the bottled version, this is a smooth, lubricatingly delicious and fruity Barley Wine with a healthy depth and sound body, albeit not terribly complex overall. Worth seeking out, but I'm sure it's gonna be too sweet for some people, especially when it's served warmer than the ideal condition.