Old Thomas Hardy - opinions?

Who knows? The only way to find out is to open them and give them a taste.

 

Damn, you had me at Thomas Hardy's....unfortunately, the earliest version that I have had was from 1999 and it was very refined and smooth. But then again, it was the last (and most recent vintage) from the Thomas Hardy's brewery...when it came back in 2003, it was under O Hanlons Brewery...and those beers are drinking amazing.

 

There's a decent chance they are still good. If you have cases of them, just open one!

 

The labels themselves from that era said some bottles have been "kept for at least 25 years...", don't they?

 

Lately ive been drinking thomas hardy vintages between '94 and '99. Admittedly I enjoy the bottles from '99 and '96 more than the others. I cant speak for the bottles in the 80's but it seems like they might have been stored in ideal temperature conditions. Hopefully the humidity has not made the caps rust to the point of packaging failure.

If Thomas Hardy ages anything like JW Lees Harvest ale (which I have drank bottles of '84-89 recently) I fear they are probably showing their age quite a bit at this point. We could quite literally go back and forth making assumptions and guesses to great length. You guys need to open some and see for yourself. He might think it is horrible, you might love it.

Seeing as though you are also from PA. If you guys find yourself in a position where you both hate it and want to get rid of it, id gladly compensate you for some bottles so that I could try them for myself along side some of my remaining newer bottles. I am sure there are others on here who would like to try them and would also possibly trade you/him for things you might enjoy if you dont like what age has done to them.

 

I would not hesitate to open a few and see how they're doing, it's a phenomenal beer at most any age already. If the few you open aren't that great, no loss, but if they are you have a great thing to hold on to.

 

I have a 2006 recently and it was incredible. I'd love to try some way older vintages.

 

I find bottles at 15+ years can become overly thin and washed out. That being said, every batch of this beer is quite different. I actually really enjoyed reading Tomme Arthur's write up on his thoughts of each vintage. He's not my favorite brewer by any stretch but that article was pretty sweet and I think he has a good palate.

The best TH I had was the 2004 at about 7 years old. That's from my limited experience though.

 

They sound like they will be tip top!

 

If you are looking to get rid of maybe two bottles I am sure I can work something out with you.

 

They'll be drinkable, and probably good. The bottles older than mid-90's may be getting to the point where you have to have a certain liking to older beer flavors to really get into them. I've enjoyed what I've had from the 80's - early 2000's, obviously being pretty different. As for aged beer goes, Thomas Hardy is going to hold up better than nearly anything else out there.

 

Had a 1977 that was just mind blowing, then a 1999 that was totally oxidised and awful.

 

Wow! I had some from the early 80's, they were about 15 years old when sampled, I thought they were great. Thin, yes, but in a good wine-like way.