Old Tom
Robinsons Family Brewers

Old TomOld Tom
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From:
Robinsons Family Brewers
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English Strong Ale
Ranked #18
ABV:
8.5%
Score:
85
Ranked #20,663
Avg:
3.78 | pDev: 12.96%
Reviews:
147
Ratings:
324
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 06, 2022
Added:
Jan 13, 2003
Wants:
  20
Gots:
  58
Named after Robinsons' brewery cat, Old Tom is almost as old as the brewery itself. It is recognised, both nationally and internationally, as one of the most famous strong ales, winning some of the industry’s most prestigious awards including World’s Best Ale.

Old Tom is dark, rich and warming with a cherry brandy like colour and character. This strong ale has a booming balance of ripe malt, and peppery hops combined with roasted nut and chocolate flavours with a smoky richness. A distinctive deep port wine finish with bitter hops balance complemented by heady, vinous aromas of dark fruit.
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Ratings by risenz:
Photo of risenz
Rated by risenz from England

3.92/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Jun 28, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of AzfromOz
Reviewed by AzfromOz from Australia

4.4/5  rDev +16.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Purchased at Purvis Beer in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne, in Australia, in November 2021.

Pours a striking ruby brown with scarlet highlights. The head is tan, almost like dirty snow. It dissipates quickly and leaves a thin ring around the edge.

Aroma is sweet malt, brown sugar, raspberry ice-cream, booze and cricket balls. Yes, cricket balls. Old ones.

The flavour is soft raspberry, glace cherries, brown sugar, old leather, licorice, anise and booze.

Mouthfeel is smooth, carbonation is low and there's a pleasant warmness after the swallow.

Unsurprisingly the beer improves as it warms. It's a complex, multidimensional beer that smacks hard while cold, shoving aniseed and licorice straight at you, but warming into a friendly, contemplative sipper if given time. This is a lovely beer!

Cheers!
May 06, 2022
 
Rated: 3.78 by NightINgale from Russian Federation

Apr 01, 2022
 
Rated: 3.42 by Dave1999 from North Carolina

Oct 30, 2021
 
Rated: 4 by bigred89 from Maryland

Oct 17, 2021
Photo of Steve555
Reviewed by Steve555 from Wales

3.93/5  rDev +4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Deep red hue with a small head. Smells of yeast and spirits, coffee. Taste of berries, alcohol, Christmas pudding, nuts, port and some tobacco in there, bitterness comes through on the finish, alcohol is always there to remind you of it's high abv but it's not overpowering. Quite a complex brew. Nice stuff.
Jul 15, 2020
Photo of KooVee
Reviewed by KooVee from Finland

2.85/5  rDev -24.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.75
33cl bottle, bb in 9m.

Dark clear ruby brown, light beige lace-sticky head.

Aroma brings to mind the recent revelation Rochefort yeast is actually related to British ones. That is, a very Belgian aroma of a strong dubbel. Dark dried fruits, especially prunes, molasses a bit, plenty alcohol and some cinnamon or nutmeg. There is a lighter fruitiness floating on top that does remind you of British ales, but overall the aroma leads you across the Channel.

Taste has a very strong alcohol component wrt strength. The thin body might be a partial factor. The booziness is tempered by an unusually prominent flavor that is moderately astringent. It is hard to pin down, I think of cork, rotten apple, cellar. A slightly spoiled strong drink that has oxidized in a cellar. Not really pleasant and strange for the style. A metallic aftertaste pointing at significant sugar.

For me, a failure. That unusual flavour is too dominant and signalling spoilage. And while the aroma is interesting, the taste would be very simple and thin without the idiosyncracy. And the alcohol...this is 8.5%, no technical reason to feel like you are drinking 18,5%. .. this is what you get when you use too much sugar/syrup without anything to balance it. It was not done here to make the beer light on its feet, it was done for artificial strength.
Dec 12, 2019
 
Rated: 3.69 by Beer_Rabbit66 from England

Apr 26, 2019
Photo of Bruno74200
Reviewed by Bruno74200 from France

3.99/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This old ale shows an amber body with a very thin head

Notes of toffee, caramel malts and a lot of esters all around

The mouthfeel is silky with a moderate carbonation
Jan 14, 2019
Photo of davidperez
Reviewed by davidperez from Mexico

3.87/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
Served in a Tulip, it pours a very dark brown, deep, opaque, with a beige one-finger head with very good retention.
After the head dissipates, a brown ring remains right on the fringes of the glass, adorning the aesthetics with a frothy and creamy texture. Beautiful and long-lasting lacing.

The bouquet is nothing short of exquisite. So rich and complex.
Prunes, dates, vanilla, cinnamon, slight hint of coffee and toffee, sweet malts, booze.

This beer is better enjoyed slightly chilled, as it is the best way to showcase some of its bouquet complexity. Sweet malts, dark fruits, and some molasses, spices, brown sugar. A very peculiar overripe apple note appears, which is actually overpowering.
Nice balanced beer, you can sense both the bitterness and the sweetness without any struggle for protagonism, although the bitterness slightly prevails. Nice, vively carbonation. The finish is long and has a hint of booze.
A bit of a downside is its watery mouthfeel, contrary to what one would expect.


Still, overall, a very nice beer.
Dec 19, 2018
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

4.43/5  rDev +17.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
L- Very deep chestnut brown/red. Pours with 1Cm fine pillowy pale tan head. Holds very well as a sup slowly, still 'lacing++' by the bottom of the glass.
S- Rich toasty malts vying equally versus a clear strong smell of alcohol; unusual!
T- 'Follow me down the rabbit-hole', this is some journey. Zesty fruits on the front, richness, alcohol tang, into unctious rich puddingy deep fruits, cystallised cherries and figs, Wow, really, what a presence.
F- It' surprisingly well balanced. It is certainly rich but the 8.5% ABV gives it sufficient heft to counter-balance that. What a beer, it is lovely.
O- Perhaps good it comes in 330ml bottles as 'Old Tom' is a pretty fierce big-beast. It's not likely a session beer; more one to savour on a colder night, BBE: March 2020.
Bought from the big Sainsbury at the top-end of Ladroke Grove, London W10, at £2/330ml bottle. I need to go back there to buy the other beers they stock that I haven't had before. Not a shop I frquent, BUT I would walk the 40mins each way there JUST to buy this epic gem of a beer.
Nov 13, 2018
Photo of Snowcrash000
Reviewed by Snowcrash000 from Germany

4.05/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Pours a deep/dark brown, almost black coloration with a faint reddish tint and a medium, creamy head. Smell is dominated by caramel malt and dark fruit: rasin, fig, with a hint of toffee and brown sugar. Taste follows the nose, being dominated by dark, bready, caramel malt and dark fruits: raisin, fig, with hints of red berries: redcurrant, toffee, chocolate and tobacco as well. There's also a slight mineral note to this. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some toffee/chocolate notes lingering in the aftertaste. Slightly thin mouthfeel with a rich body and medium carbonation.

This kinda reminds me of a cross between an American Barleywine and a Doppelbock with its rich, malty character and notes of dark/red fruits, but also good bitterness, which prevents it from becoming too sweet. Quite nicely balanced, actually, but the mouthfeel could be better.
Sep 13, 2018
 
Rated: 3.72 by desint from Belgium

Aug 19, 2018
Photo of josanguapo
Reviewed by josanguapo from Spain

4.12/5  rDev +9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From Saveur Biere. In Teku glass. Playing Avernum 3. Sweet, with a brown sugar, molasses profile that is really sniffable Alcohol is a bit noteceable but improves it instead of being a fault
Jun 21, 2018
 
Rated: 3.75 by shelby415 from Oregon

Mar 30, 2018
 
Rated: 4.55 by DrunkMuffin from Croatia (Hrvatska)

Feb 13, 2018
 
Rated: 3.29 by TheCrowsEye from California

Dec 10, 2017
 
Rated: 3.84 by tommy5 from Michigan

Nov 02, 2017
 
Rated: 3.29 by EOC from Mexico

Oct 08, 2017
Photo of Dinglehacker
Reviewed by Dinglehacker from Wisconsin

4.48/5  rDev +18.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Poured into snifter.

L: Dark dark brown, unfiltered flecks in the light.

S: Currant, chocolate, dark malt.

T: Chocolate, caramel, some grape and dried fruit.

F: Creamy and smooth

Great dark ale, rich and complex from start to finish.
Oct 07, 2017
Old Tom from Robinsons Family Brewers
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 324 ratings