Looking for the next Thomas Hardy's

Another - BTW, mentions teriyaki sauce which I have gotten from a few other TH years,...

"1968: The vintage that started it all. Incredibly, the bottle opens with a hiss and pours near-black with a few wispy bubbles. Fantastic nose of molasses, figs, cellar must, and the slightest touch of teriyaki sauce. One drink transports you to a cozy English parlor with aspects like tobacco, leather and wood all mingling with dried fruit, molasses and sherry flavors; you can almost hear Churchill orating in the distance. The ale has thinned considerably which makes the lack of carbonation a non-issue. It’s one of those brews you wish would never end: a masterpiece, with each sip being a delicious, new experience."

 

Yeah I knew there was a difference there, it's just that Sucaba was the first world-class english barleywine that came to mind. And Thomas Hardy is technically an old ale, isn't it? (Looking forward to the lecture about how there technically isn't any difference).

 

The going rate on MBC seems to be something around 50 bucks for the vintages 20+ years old. So I'd say 35 bucks was a steal.

 

Actually, at first I thought you were going to make that point about the Old Ale definition; although some do say it's a Barleywine. It's probably still unresolved, as far as I know.

My point, however, is that Sucaba isn't really an English Barleywine. It may be one, going into the barrels, but it sure isn't one when it comes out. It's a BBA beer; the bourbon barrel pretty much obliterates 75-80% of the beer's original essence. The 'Barleywine' part is just a footnote at that point.

 

I first had this in January of 2013, as one o' my stores randomly got like a case or something from somewhere. I'm sure other people were buying them, but I bought the first one and the last one (AFAIK) and many in-between. The hefty price sticker and relative obscurity of the ale kept it around into early spring. Great drinking.
Here on the site they've got it pegged as an old ale, and I say that's about right. So in addition to English barleywines, you might wanna check out some old ales like Founders Curmudgeon or Old Coast's Old Stock Ale.


I've had various JW Lees ales (spring of 2013, in fact), and some with some age on them, and I'm inclined to say if you like one, you'll like the other, but the Thomas Hardy possesses a certain character - it's a different animal than the Lees Harvest line - as far as my palate memory can recall. An' I know old ale and barleywine are overlapping-ish, but there is this character in the Hardy that separates it from the (English) barleywine - at least as far as comparing these two is concerned - and in my opinion lol - of course... The aforementioned Curmudgeon and Old Stock also possess this somewhat distinct "old ale" quality, too.


Fuller's Vintage Ale is another take on the old ale. It has a far thinner feel to it - but you might like that - definitely drinks more like a milder English ale. You can see the difference below. Low abv, too (for the style) at 8.5.

 

Got carried away with memories and overlooked OP's question about similar ales - Fullers Vintage is nice, but also I think Avery Samuel might have a run at it. I have some 2007 held onto.

 

I'm pretty sure it will happen.

 

I beleive the rights currently reside with Interbrau

 

Perhaps you mean "Brew Invest Spa"? Described as an Italian import/export company. They have a current Thomas Hardy Ale website that explains their ownership and plans (last post dated 2/14), and their purchase of the brand was previous discussed in the thread http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/thomas-hardys-ale-making-another-comeback.61764/

 

They seem to have two names and websites causing a bit if confusion.

http://www.interbrauinternational.com/projects/thomas-hardys-ale

 

Notice someone trying to find out who the Brewer is on this page? :http://www.thomashardysale.com/wordpress/the-legend-is-back/#comment-33959

 

Is Interbrau a distributor vs BrewInvest the owner of the brand?

 

Don't know yet. Invest might also be a subsidiary to the brau so they can do business outside Italy without running into legal issues involving InterBrew? One thing clear at this point is brau predates invest or the other brew.

 

It's pretty confusing, the "Interbrau" corporate name wasn't around in the early reports when they bought the TH brand from the US owner George Saxon and his Phoenix Imports. "Brew Invest" seems to be a subsidiary of Interbrau.

Well, "Interbrew" is technically gone - merged with AmBev to form InBev (pre-AB merger), but it does add to the confusion. They still do use the corporate name of "AmBev" as a subsidiary in the Americas.

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All true but that may not matter. In the US at least Tradmarks, etc. can be transferred to others and are valid as long as the renewal fees are paid. That may well also be the case for several of the countries where InterBrew did business and for countries where they said they planned on doing business and filed the necessary paperwork. Don't know for sure about Trademarks, but it is the case in Patents that part of a company's protection of a patent they hold is to file for multiple collateral patents in the "space" around their expected money maker so as to prevent future encroachment.

 

I'm not saying they're a substitute (nor inexpensive), but have you tried George Gale Prize Old Ale and Samuel Smith Stingo? (you probably have)