Eldridge Pope Thomas Hardy's Ale (up to 1999)
Creamy butterscotch notes flood the taste buds, laced with subtle complex fruit...and a subtle suggestion of vintage port. Elegant and seamless, this beer was a waltz on the palate.
In ’The Trumpet Major’ Hardy wrote of Dorchester strong beer "It was of the most beautiful colour that the eye of an artist in beer could desire; full in body, yet brisk as a volcano; piquant, yet without a twang; luminous as an autumn sunset;..."
In ’The Trumpet Major’ Hardy wrote of Dorchester strong beer "It was of the most beautiful colour that the eye of an artist in beer could desire; full in body, yet brisk as a volcano; piquant, yet without a twang; luminous as an autumn sunset;..."
3.9
471 reviews
Dorchester, England
Community reviews
1994 12% bottle thanks alex mogano piatta ossidata marsala leggero fieno filo cioccolato liquoroso marasca ancora corposa
'87 thanks to Douglas!
A: Caramel in color with a thin creme color head. Light lacing.
N: Quite noticeable amount of oxidation, but underneath, there's cinnamon, toffee, and a touch of minerality. All-spice, sherry, raisin, and prune.
T: Lots of spiciness with more of the cinnamon and oxidation showing through. Bit of sweetness as well; certainly not the same as fresh.
M: Medium body, no alcohol presence, soft carbonation.
O: Pretty cool beer. It has aged pretty well; it might be breaking down a little, but I haven't had enough vintages to know for sure.
1987 vintage thanks to Doug. Pours out amber no head. Nose is great caramel toffee malts some old paper notes. Taste is more of the nice sweet malts, crazy that this beer is so old and still kicking.
1987 bottle thanks to Doug at his Christmas Party
Pours cloudy brown with a small beige head, no lacing. Aroma of brown sugar and caramel. Flavor of brown sugar, toffee and vanilla
Held up good for 30 year's old.
1987 vintage bottle from Douglas88. Brown, clear, pours flat (understandable). Smoky, peaty aroma, leather , tobacco. Taste too is the old ale sweetness, mellowed by age, more peat. Mellow sweetness. Aged perfectly.
1998 vintage tasted at NYE 2016/7; dark ruby colour; wine-like aroma; cigars, wine taste; superb mouthfeel and finish; fantastic
From old tasting notes. Bottle # A31671. Vintage 1986. Sampled on 01/02/1987. Deep burgundy red color. Big sweet, pungent malt aroma with a yeasty backdrop. Intensely sweet molasses flavor with complex undertones of smokiness and dried fruit. Beautiful full Rich finish. Full bodied and flavorful. Long treacle aftertaste. A wonderfully crafted beer worthy of its reputation as one of Britain’s best. Superb!
I guess I will rate this one ... the oldest beer I’ve had to date. 1968 Vintage. Nip sized bottle. Poured a dark brown color with a thin sized head. Soy sauce in the aromas (but not there in the tastes).Oxidation, some dark fruits, and licorice.
Bottle to snifter (from notes). I forgot to note the vintage, but it was mid to late-1990s, if I remember correctly. Looks good for the style; dark brown with thin beige head. Smells and tastes malty with notes of caramel, butterscotch, and dark fruit. A bit of unaversive oxidation as well. Mouthfeel is full-bodied. An enjoyable classic that I hope to revisit at some point.
1983 33cl bottle, thanks to Lorenzo for sharing. Pours dark brown, with beautiful prune reflections, no foam. Aroma is very fruity, of caramelized figs, caramel, prune. Body is very dense, with some stickiness and no carbonation. A bit of astringency comes out Taste has intense sweetness, from ripe prunes and figs, while still remaining very delicate, probably because of the aging. Some underlying bitterness can be perceived. Finish is long and sweet of prune and figs again.
6.33 oz. bottle. 1991 bottle. Deep amber with a couple of floaty bits. No head. Smells of raisins, oxidations, and something like charred wood. Tastes of rich sweet caramel. Brown sugar. Raisins. A little cardboard and sherry oxidation. Mild bitterness the cut the flavors. Tingly alcohol. Medium heavy and flat, but never sluggish. Remarkable. I expected this to be terrible, having had a 2007 bottle that was unpleasant, but this is delicious.
Bottle from Ed at the mighty Bacchanalia, Mill Road, Cambridge.
Boy, this ages well (1999 vintage)
Thin beige head, forms over murky ruby brown old ale. Pours thick and oily and head dissipates pretty quickly. Carbonation perfectly light. Aroma is sweet with biscuit, caramel, cherries/dark fruit and I’m even getting a bit of licorice. Sweet, sticky and very viscous palate. Long lasting caramel, dark fruit and dried fruit (prunes and raisins) taste. Bitterness comes through on lovely long finish. Complex stuff with great balance. Now feeling some remorse and wishing I’d held on to it.
Bottle shared courtesy of Deanso. Poured a murky dark brown with no life. The aroma is roasty malt liqourice. The flavour is moderate to light sweet liqourice bitter with a rich oily molasses bitter alcoholic bitter palate. Full bodied with flat carbonation.
1975 Bottle shared with Kermis & JmGreenUK.
No head or carbonation. Dark brown pour. Port in the atertaste. Aged very well.
1975 Bottle shared thanks to Deanso. Dark brown with no head. Aroma of port, mould and overripe dark fruit. Flavour is heavy sweet and moderate bitter. Full bodied with soft carbonation.
BitterBill sent me this. 1975 vintage, pictures posted on untapped and talkbeer.
I poured into a snifter.
The appearance was a ruddy burnt red almost brown color with no head nor lacing, (me, given the brew year, I get it, I’m not worried).
The aroma starts off with sweet figs, plums, light spice (blend of cinnamon to orange zest to allspice). Sweet earthy almost leathery stickiness. Warms into some prunes.
The flavor leans to the prune side so much with a tingle of vanilla and some leathery sort of tobacco to bready sweetness. The aftertaste is somewhat a sweet to wet pruniness running on into a quick finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body (this really kept it’s weight, what in the what? Yeah, it really did). Carbonation, haha, well, look at the date, and I’m pretty sure most rational beer drinkers will realize, that there’s no carbonation left to this.
Overall, despite no carbonation left, this amazingly held up so well. I never would have thought that a beer older than me would have held all of those aromas and flavor and just blend so well. Amazing, just doesn’t seem like a word remotely close to describe my true feelings for this beer.
330ml bottle 1994 vintage @ Alex’s. Nose is a lovely light molasses and sugars. Flavour of sherry, molasses, and sugar with a comforting warming feeling. I picture myself drinking this from a large snifter over hours and hours. Lovely.
Tasting at Alex’s. 330ml bottle, vintage 1994. Pours an almost opaque brown copper. Aroma is sweet, fruity, mushrooms, oxidized. Taste is pretty the same: dark fruits, some nuts and mushrooms, liquorice. Same aftertaste.
Rating #6500. Bottle 1989. Brown pour with no head. Sweet malty, oak, fruity, alcohol aromas. Flavors are sweet, malty, light oxidation, alcohol tones.
Bottle at Gammal Skåpmat, Thomas Mattssons place, 160802. Dark amber beer with almost no head. Sourish fruity aroma, grapes, citrus, vinous, raisins, grapefruit notes. Sourish fruity flavor, vinous, grapes, raisins, caramel, some warming alcohol. Kinda thin bodied.
Bottle courtesy of Thomat. 1993 vintage. Pours tiny murky chestnut brown with no head worth mentioning. Smell is malty, fruity and leathery with caramel, toffee, prunes, raisins, dates, noble rot grapes, leather, murky wood, minerals and alcohol. Taste is tiny sweet, sour, slightly bitter, malty and fruity. Mouthfeel is dry, slightly tart, slightly astringent, tiny boozy, tiny oily and medium bodied. Finish is tiny sour with caramel malts, bread, grapes, dried cherries, leather, cardboard and alcohol. Surprisingly dry and tart. Not what I expected. Will revisit if given the chance.
Old rating transferred to Ratebeer. bottle from 1983 tasted in 2016. Really cool to try this old beer. Still really nice.
180ml bottle from Wessex Homebrew. Bottle F 4969 July, 1977. Pours a dark brown coppery amber colour with no head. Nose is dark malt, toffee, caramel, molasses, boozy, port. Flavour is malt, toffee, caramel, sweet, with brown sugar, molasses, plum and lingering dried fruits, nutty, leather & earthy notes. Thick oily mouthfeel, medium to full bodied, low carbonation, lasting dry malty earthy finish. Nice complexity after the initial sweetness. Enjoyable and very drinkable.
Rating notes over 10 years old from a 92 vintage of the ale. "Smells like aged Sherry. No head and no carbonation. Taste is something like overripe plums mixed with sherry and a dollop of sugar. Warming." Certainly an experience, but not something for casual imbibing. Sad that this legend is no longer made.
Pours translucent chestnut - hardly any head, but this is an ancient bottle. Sweetish aroma features caramel and woody notes. Woody flavor has malty and caramel hints - and a bit of butterscotch, mouthfeel has OK body but lacks fizz. Well, this is an old bottle. Glad I got to try it.
Bottle. 1989 - need label - pours dark caramel - nose and taste of caramel, vanilla, toffee and maple syrup - medium body
bottle-vintage-1993-shared-29.12.2013 with my son Sebastian
flat, ruby red to brownish body., no carbonation.
aroma sherry, Madeira, Caramel. Taste Port, Raisin, dried plum.
Very interesting after 20 years.
Bottle. Deep maroon color, pretty much flat. Aroma of sherry, licorice, burnt caramel. Taste has port wine, overripe plums. Very tasty.
Thomas Hardy’s Ale, 1995 vintage, shared in tulip snifter glasses by my brother-in-law John who bought it at the historic brewery shop one year before its unfortunate closure, which he carefully cellared ever since. It poured an opaque dark reddish brown colour with a thin beige head of spritzy little bubbles which dissipated fairly quickly, no lace and no fizz. The semi-sweet, still, and highly-alcoholic characteristics made it seem more like a port wine or madeira than any familiar beer, hence the barleywine label. Nothing like fresh, highly-hopped, highly-carbonated, so-called-Barleywines typical of modern American craft-brewers, which are basically just high-grav IPAs. Rich and complex, suggestive of caramel, toffee, molasses, raisins, prunes, toasted nuts, chocolate babka, boozy fruitcake, leather. A hint of that meaty/savory umami flavour a bit like roasted mushrooms, olives, soy sauce. Sweet but not too cloying or sticky. A bitter balance remained, but distinctive hoppy aromas were long gone. Delicious despite it’s twenty year shelf life. Noticeably oxidized, but in a good way, not mushy or oxidized. No sour or vinegar-like traits. A bit like an aged Belgian Dubbel, minus the spicy yeast phenols. I was thrilled to sample this rare treasure, so of course I was predisposed to like it. Even so, I REALLY, REALLY enjoyed it. This was a once-in-a-lifetime beer drinking opportunity that actually lived up to its hype. Thank you, John!
Just found my diary from a trip to Dorchester back in the eighties. We had a long, long session in the Hardy Bar, with many pints of this delicious beer. What a pity short-sighted greed killed off Eldridge Pope.