Ringwood Old Thumper (USA)
Ringwood’s beer brewed under licence in USA by Shipyard.
“A Beast of a Beer”
Old Thumper Extra Special Ale was created by veteran British brewer, Peter Austin, founder of Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire, England and mentor to Shipyard’s master brewer is a non-traditional English bitter, brewed in the US solely by Shipyard.
First Brewed:
June 1992
Malt Style:
2-Row British Pale Ale, Crystal, Chocolate, Wheat
Yeast:
Top-Fermenting English
Hops:
Challenger, Progress, Goldings
Color:
Light Copper
IBUs:
35
OG:
1.060
“A Beast of a Beer”
Old Thumper Extra Special Ale was created by veteran British brewer, Peter Austin, founder of Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire, England and mentor to Shipyard’s master brewer is a non-traditional English bitter, brewed in the US solely by Shipyard.
First Brewed:
June 1992
Malt Style:
2-Row British Pale Ale, Crystal, Chocolate, Wheat
Yeast:
Top-Fermenting English
Hops:
Challenger, Progress, Goldings
Color:
Light Copper
IBUs:
35
OG:
1.060
3.2
597 reviews
Portland, United States
Community reviews
Tap. Pours clear pale amber, medium creamy of white head, long lasting, great lacing. Aroma is honey and biscuit, grass, floral notes, orange. Flavor follows, a bit sweet, lightly bitter, floral and citrus, touch of banana. Medium body, creamy.
Bottle from trader joe’s. Pours ruby Amber, small off white head. Light cherry, plum, generally sweet. Finish is flowery hops. Medium body that feels syrupy.
Transfer from BA review on 4-18-14-
Poured from bottle into a ping glass
Appearance – The beer pours deep amber, nearly copper color, with a billowy tan colored head. The head has a moderate level of retention, fading to leave a decent level of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma of the beer is heaviest of a caramel and toffee smell mixed with some lightly toasted bready and malty smells. Along with these aromas are some others of an earthy and grainy nature. Rounding out the aroma profile is a little bit of oak which leads to a nice sweet and malty aroma overall.
Taste – The taste begins with a big sweet and bready flavor with tons of toffee and caramel and a somewhat doughy taste. The doughiness transitions more to a roasted bready flavor as the flavors advance with the sweeter tastes gaining even more butteriness with much of the caramel taking on a more toffee like flavor. Some lightly burnt flavors as well as a bit of a nutty taste come to the tongue more toward the end. These are accompanied by some herbal and earthy hop flavors, which combined with the rest, as well as a little bit of an apple and stone fruit flavor, to leave a somewhat sweet and lightly roasted and hopped, but rather strong malty flavor to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is quite thick and creamy for a brew of only 5.6 % abv. with a carbonation level that is on the lower side. Both are great for the big, sweet, and malty flavors of the brew creating a very mouth coating feel.
Overall – Quite sweet and robust in flavor for only 5.6 % abv. A rather enjoyable ESB.
"fairly standard entry into the esb catergory. sale at scolari’s for a $1 single. had with dinner. grainy malts and a touch of bittering hops, that’s about it.
Pours a clear copper with a typical head. Aroma of wet bread and pine. Taste is sweet malts and some bitterness like an English ESB. Nicely crafted, but not my favorite style.
Pour is a clear copper with a average white head. Aroma is a toffee/caramel malt combo. Flavor is a decent earthy malt with lots of caramel notes and leaves a nice toasted malt on the tongue. There was an odd fruit after the swallow but it did not hurt the beer any, it was just odd and out of no where. A decent to solid ESB.
Pours a clear amber with great thick head. Aroma is sweet caramel roasted malt with a citrucy Hop note. Taste follows the aroma perfect. Super smooth and very delicious! The balance between malt and hops is spot on.
355ml bottle. Pretty standard ESB, bready malt, some earthy bitterness. I like ESBs better than standard bitters so I enjoyed this fine.
Malty almost barnyard aroma, or just cheap malt aroma. Nothing special in the aroma or flavor. Drinkable but seems to be in that shipyard category of beers that are borderline drinkable. Would drink if given but would not buy.
Clear amber pour with a dark ruby highlights and a massive head. Lacing and retention are exceptional. The nose is primarily biscuit with hints of sweetness and spice. Light bodied and well carbonated. The flavor profile is well balanced and complex. It begins with a nice biscuit that flows into the toffee and caramel notes. With a touch of sweetness, it transitions into the bitterness, which is an excellent example of an ESB. The finish is crisp and effervesces with a burst of caramel and well flavored bitterness.
May 20, 2014. 12 ounce bottle from Shipyard sampler pack. Surprisingly decent bitter with lovely coloring and a fruity essence.
Reviewed from notes.
The appearance was a bright golden amber body, one finger white foamy head that dissipates within seconds.
The smell had bready malts with some notes of fruit, yeast, and some caramel.
The taste had a bready yet toasty maltiness with some roasty faint caramel.
On the palate, it sat about a medium, sessionable, very dry aftertaste and finish.
Overall, this was a decent beer, however I’m unsure if I’d have it again.
Aroma: Somewhat sweet caramel malts with a touch of cider and lemon; maybe a little nutty. Appearance: Slightly hazy, well carbonated, light copper body with an off white skin of head. Flavor: Caramel and moderately spicy hop up front with some cidery esters; caramel eases up toward the finish leaving a spicy, slightly lemony impression with a touch of nuts. Palate: Medium body, sticky texture, lively carbonation, lightly bitter finish. Overall: Fine overall, but feels too American on the palate.
12oz bottle from a Hannaford supermarket, Kennebunk, ME. As the top rater for Ringwood in the UK, it’s odd to see that this beer has over twice as many ratings as the UK original! So this rating is an attempt to compare the two.
Amber in colour, slightly lighter than the real thing, with a thin white head; slightly musty malt aroma; the taste is much as expected, but again the malts seem to have lost their freshness, adding a muddiness to the body; but the finish is as expected with a good balance between the sweet malts and the spice from the hops.
There is something about this beer that doesn’t feel right. It’s not quite balanced and has a very bitter aftertaste. In theory it has all the malt and hops that you would expect from an ESB, but it is lacking the balance of a properly made ESB that has the heart and soul of British ale. This is like someone just making something because it is strong and bitter, not for the artistry of the product. Too grapefruity, the flavor is not authentic.
Amber body under a minimal and diminishing brownish head. Very thin body. Grapefruit flavor.
Bottle, 500ml. Pours a semi-murky amber colour with a velvet offwhite head with proper lacing. Aroma is quite musky, with some citric and caramel hints. More watery than I’d hoped, with a strong malt character, but disappointing in the finish.
341 ml bottle. Pours a subtly veiled orangeish pale ambe with a short lived white head. Aroma is malty, veggies, some hops. Flavor is malty, caramel, biscuit, veggies. Finish is somewhat herbal and earthy. Hints of fruits, also. Thin body, somewhat watery mouthfeel, average carbonation. Rather generic.
12oz bottle old notes (Trader Joe’s)-Pours a golden amber with a small white head. Aroma of rubbing alcohol. Taste of malt, alcohol, and hops. I’m not sure if I had an old bottle but this light to medium bodied brew was a bit overpowering in the alcohol. At only 5.6% I was surprised.
Somewhat hazy coppery color with a sticky off-white head. Aroma of caramel and nuts, quite "English". Taste of some caramel, toasted hazelnuts, cardboard, toast. Finish a little bitter and toasted. Decent ESB.
12oz bottle (best by of sept 2012 like it matters) - caramel and dough nose. Sip went in a different direction that I expected: cardboard and floral hops. A tad spicy (black pepper but faint). Mildly sweet with a slight bitter finish.
Bottle into English pint glass. Aroma of cane syrup and provolone cheese. Thick head and lingering lace. Lightly cloudy amber color. Toffee caramel malt flavor. Light body, oily feel, average carbonation, bitter finish. I’m not used to this kind of beer but I am pleasantly surprised.
Bottle. Bready caramel barley malt aroma. Slightly hazed amber with a small ivory head. Sweet toasty barley malt and light hay flavor with a light spicy hop finish. Body on the light side of medium, moderate carbonation.
From a 12 oz bottle that I bought yesterday, but a few months past the 2013 BB date notched on the label. Served in a snifter.
Pours a slightly hazy amber color with modest bone-colored head that soon reduces to a partial, thin coat and a ring but leqves very good lacing. .
S: Light toast and roasted grains with browned butter.
T: Also a bit buttery but not objectionable. Solid malt base with clear presence of some spicy hops. Mildly bitter.
M: Light carbonation; medium+ body; light tongue bite.
O: Decent ESB that improves with warming.
A nice amber body with a light tan head. Aroma had a strong bread note, some grass and mild hop notes of citrus. Flavor had a good malt base, slightly sweet malts balanced with a bread overtone. Hops were decent, bitter at times but also seemed astringent at times. Still a decent beer. Finish was smooth
From notes: Poured clear golden amber with a tinge of orange, and a 1-finger bone-colored head. Aroma of caramel malt, with a touch of a burnt note beneath. Medium body, finish is lightly dry. Caramel and nutty malt flavor, with a mild note of orange underneath.
Cool bottle - the boar with tusks looks awesome. Bur that’s definitely the best part of this beer. Metallic skunky flavor and smells awful.
Quite liked this one. Some solid malt backing with a nice lingering bitterness and some breakfast tea flavours. Good effort.
Appearance: ½” off white head that recedes quickly, leaving some lacing. Color is copper with moderate carbonation bubbles.
Aroma: floral and spicy hop nose. Smell of biscuits or bread dough
Mouthfeel: medium bodied, somewhat sticky and chewy with a semi-dry finish.
Flavor: combination of breadiness, a little toffee sweetness, and earthy hop bitterness. Nicely balanced. Bread in a glass for sure.
Overall: a classic example of an English Session Pale Ale. Well done Shipyard!
Bottle sample at a tasting at kerenmk’s place. Thanks kerenmk. Pours orange to yellow rusty with a small head, aroma is sweet with toffee, butter, nice bitterness, pretty dry with some rotten wood, medium bodied