Duchy Originals Organic Old Ruby Ale 1905
Bottle: Filtered.
A deliciously robust, rich blend of hops and malt, including an English barley first used in 1905 called Plumage Archer. This traditional ale is lovingly brewed using barley from selected organic farms, including Duchy Home Farm at Highgrove.
A deliciously robust, rich blend of hops and malt, including an English barley first used in 1905 called Plumage Archer. This traditional ale is lovingly brewed using barley from selected organic farms, including Duchy Home Farm at Highgrove.
3
228 reviews
Witney, England
Community reviews
I didn’t really know what to expect from this as it was more or less a blind buy. Reddish body. Slightly grainy sweet aroma. Taste is slightly sweet, not a lot of hops, richness or complexity. Pretty basic esb. Nothing interesting going on here.
Láhev 500 ml. Aroma je sladové s jemným nádechem banánu a kvasnic. Pěna je zašedle bílá, jemná, vysoká a nedržící. Barva samotného piva je jasně měděná. Chuť je výrazně sladová s kvasnicovým nádechem,finiš je středně hořký a držící s jemným kvasnicovým ocasem. V ústech pivo působí plně, má střední říz a je dobře pitelné. Jedná se o vcelku dobrý bitter.
500mL bottle. Nose lightly-medium fruity with crystal, pours beautiful ruby-and-caramel with interesting subshades of amber and orange, a brief beige head. Taste lightly sweet but thick and barely bitter, dries out a touch, fruity and crystalline/mineral with some slight syrup (but not medicinal); light tannic character gives some nice support, not all that grainy, but sticky with toffee and caramel. Body’s fuller and seemingly only a few shades above still, hops are very gentle and slightly herbal, very slight touches of wood and hay, even less of toast and earth. Bitterness presently more strongly in the aftertaste.
Clear yellow body with a medium white head. Aroma is malt, caramel. Heavy sweet, with a bitter aftertaste. A bit unbalanced.
Blind Tasting at The Only Cafe. Copper body, little to no head. English style for sure with some real present malt flavors. Caramel and toffee. Some earthy hops.
Such as it is, such as it was.. such as it always would be. This has an okay copper body with no carbonation and a vaguely familiar head. The aroma is too much fusel and not enough everything else. As for the rest of it - caramel, molasses, intense alcohol, all of this is not intelligently put together nor well presented. These are not heroe’s beers, but a mediocre attempt at recapturing the past. If the past was this bad for you, dude, get a ticket out and some decent party time where they won’t arrest your ass for having a beer.
Bottle from Waitrose. Not especially ruby or even ruddy. Quite high carbonation, not much head. Quite a sulphury character to this. Didn’t really get any strong malty character through. Medium balanced bitterness. My second of these Duchy for Waitrose beers, again not that impressed.
Bottle from Maruhn. Hazy orange with an off-white hed. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel and fruity - banana perhaps? Flavor is quite sweet and light bitter. Sweet and light bitter finish. 301114
Bottled. I was hoping for an old ale from a statistical perspective,so fuck this being an ESB. Nose is earthy hops and stupid fat recipe malt without finesse.No beer head to speak of, dark brown beer. Drinks. Toffee or caramel malt ,butterscotch malt,earthy boring hops, treacle in a fucken cloying feature.notes of boring fucken beer.
Ruby/ amber color , medium off-white head. Aroma of malt , fruit and hint of hop. Mild bitterness in taste , some earthy notes , fruits and malt. Nothing fascinating , just normal.
OK, two finger head....kinda bland....not much going on. A little fruit forward with a hint of hops
Bottled from Kent Boys. Pale red color with lace. Nose of roses, fresh plums, a bit earthy. Somewhat vineous, fruity flavor. Interesting and a nice drink.
Nothing amazing, but not bad either. A decent enough brew.
Pour results in minimal head. Appearance is a soft copper colour, similar to an Old Speckled Hen. Aroma is decidedly underwhelming - very little going on here, kind of smells like a brown ale. Taste is far more similar to a brown ale or red ale than an ESB...whereas ESB’s and other English Bitters have a floral, spicy character, this one tastes fairly malty and nutty, yet muted. Palate is nothing much to speak of, not much lingering flavor. Overall, it’s good enough, but nothing to write home about.
If I were at a party & you were to hand this to me, I’d think it was a frothy ginger ale. But this ain’t no party & you’ve never given me a beer. It’s a fine bitter. Nothing avant garde, but nothing too bad. If I were at the helm I’d turn down the caramel sugars & I’d also be a little concerned about the somewhat off metallic, coppery hint of an aftertaste. But yeah: it’s a bitter & its okay.
Veddy veddy sweet. Well, not excessively, but for a Bitter it sure does have a lot of caramel and burnt toffee going on. Beautiful ruddy copper with a razor thin head. Smells of caramel, toast, earth and leather, light herbal hops. A dry finish, leaving a residual bitter bite is really the only thing that keeps this from being too sweet. It’s a nice mellow sipper, lunch beer. I wish the body was a little more full as well.
Bottle. Clear red amber beer with a large beige head. Aroma is malty with notes of caramel, herbs, nuts and bread. Flavor is malty with notes of caramel, herbs, nuts and bread. Cap had leaked after travel so it had lost a lot of carbonation. Pretty ok though.
Didn’t even know what type of beer this was, until now. Pours a clear amber with small head. Aroma is of pine, grapes, basements, and ripe fruits. Tastes of caramel, grapes, toffee, wood, and syrup. Has a medium body with low carbonation. It is smooth but feels almost flat and is watery on the tongue. Kind of has a grape juice aftertaste as well. Not the best bitter, but doesn’t deserve such low ratings.
Bottle from Waitrose, Newcastle. Hazy orange-amber coloured with burnt toffee, malty and orange blossom flavours, gentle nutty notes with peppery hops and caramel and vanilla on the finish.
Belle couleur cuivrée rougeoyante, limpidité et minceur totales, peu de mousse, nez qui évoque le sucre d’orge et la gomme balloune. Bouche ronde, à peine houblonnée, sans aucune complexité (seulement du sucre d’orge, du début à la fin) mais avec des saveurs justes, intéressantes, et franches. Malheureusement, si le côté malt est superbement représenté, le reste n’offre aucune caractéristique vraiment digne de mention.
Bottle from Waitrose, East Cowes shared with McTapps. Puring in quite ruby and clear with low head. Touches of fruits, malt, nuts and caramel in the aroma. Easily drinkable and classy piwo without hitting high score.
Bottle from Waitrose in East Cowes. Pours out in a deep ruby-brown colour with low steady head and medium body. Aroma of barley and malt with some hints of cake. Taste of barley, wheat, grains, leaves, woods, bitter hops, nuts and straw. Medium bitter finish. Easy drinkable and not a bad one.
This brew pours a hazy orange-amber color with a medium white head that dissipates steadily to a wispy film. Short strings of lacing on the glass. Aroma of roast malt, caramel and mild hops. Light-bodied with flavors of caramel malt, grain and slight floral hops. The finish is sweet with a short malty aftertaste. Average overall.
Apperance: beer to pint glass, pour is a orangey red color with an off white head which fades to a small top. Aroma is surprising....dusty, old books, sour, bright fruit...quite a combination though not one I’d say is appealing. The taste carries the weird sourness present in the aroma but backs it with bitter roasted malt. There’s no sweetness, no caramel, no butterscotch. Only bitter roasted malt, dank earthy hops and a weird sourness similar to a acetobacter infection. Palate is thin bodied, co2 medium. Overall...pretty disappointed. I have a feeling something is off with this beer.
Bottle. Clear amber brown, with a medium beige head. Aromas of malt and fruits. Taste is dry, with a fresh sourness and a rather abrupt bitterness. Aftertaste is long and nice malty.
Bottle from Waitrose. Orange-red with no head. Has a balanced sweetness in its aroma and taste - neither too much or too little, and a touch crisp.
500ml bottle from Waitrose. Red colour with a thin off white head. Aroma is banana. Flavour has more fruit and a sweetness, that leads to a bitter finish.
Pours a cloudy copper with a small dull white head that settles to a thin ring and has decent legs but leaves little to no lace. Aroma is bready, fruity esters, toffee, and rasins. Flavour is grassy, watery, mildly bitter, faint caramel, and bread crusts.
Ar: Hay, moss - some pear, light caramel.
Ap: Amber and clear - medium off-white head with big bubbles, moderate retention, leaves a fair amount of foam.
T: Red apple and pear - some moss, hay, and light toasted malt - medium bitterness, fairly clean - light crackers.
P: Medium-ligh body with high carbonation - finish is dry.
O: Decent beer - easy to drink, but nothing really standout.
Appearance: Clear ruby with 2 finger thick ivory head.
Aroma: Raisin, dried fruit cake, umami, brown bread.
Taste: Medium sweetness, low/medium bitter and sourness.
Palate: Thick grainy texture, light/medium body, average carbonation, dry fairly abrupt bitter, sweet, burnt toffee, dried fruit, malty, golden syrup finish.
Comments: Very tasty and glass lacing.
Bouteille de 500 ml. Dégustée le 24 novembre 2013 (pint). Bière rousse limpide. Mousse peu, col mince blanc éphémère. Très très peu effervescente, bulles fines. Odeur de champagnette. Saveur assez surette au départ, de bois, puis assez âcre vers la fin de la bouteille. Le tout est fade, manque de punch, pas d’effervescence notable.