Hepworth + Co: Thomas Hardy Ale: The Historical (England: Barley Wine: 11.3% ABV)
Visual: Hazy darkened red. Thin white dash of a head.
Nose: Peppery. Fruitcake. Glacier cherries. Smooth. Light potpourri. Shortbread and warm caramel. Black liquorice. Dried apricot.
Body: Honey. Treacle. Lime jelly. Peppery. Smooth. Marshmallows. Oily. Toffee. Charred wood. Light dry white chocolate.
Finish: Oily. Peppery. Honey sheen. Slight umami. Soy sauce. Charred wood. Sour cream. Dry white chocolate. Tobacco. Lightly spirity air, maybe cognac hints.
Conclusion: This, strangely, is closer to my memory of what the old Thomas Hardy tastes like than my recent notes on the new Thomas Hardy 2024 vintage. It’s probably that my memory of the old Thomas Hardy ales are so rose tinted, as an all time legend that was encountered early in my beer drinking journey, that nearly nothing could live up to them, no mater how good the new beer was.
So what I am saying is that this actually tastes like that rose tinted memory of what I imagine remembering Thomas Hardy to taste like and is a freaking beer legend that somehow lives up to impossible expectations. It is amazing.
It is smooth in feel, but despite that wears its flavours as a dark weight – peppery and oily so it doesn’t feel lacking in flavoursome edges despite its smooth and warming feel. There is honey sweetness, yet in a dry way, it feels sweet flavoured but restrained in the actual sweetness, so it feels like a contemplative beer rather than a dessert like some big sweet beers can be.
It nurtures savoury and spicy notes against that sweet yet dry style, adding body with a chewy tobacco style that I’ve not seen done as well since younger bottlings of the late great hair Of The Dog: Adams beer (rip). While I do not do cigars, it feels like the imagery of a distinguished cigar room drink, one to roll around the glass and enjoy in class.
Basically, if I have not managed to get this across enough yet, this is amazing. A barley wine that works with subtlety, restraint and complexity – that is enjoyable up front and can be taken like that, but makes you work hard if you wish and rewards you with layer after layer if you do.
The classic is back, by being new. Get it.
Background: So, to say I was exited about the return of Thomas Hardy ale was an understatement, as you may have noticed from my notes on it. As well as that return they also did a “historical” version, calling back to the fact the very original Thomas Hardy Ale was oak aged, back before this was a big thing. This, therefore was aged in French oak as a tribute to that. On the bottle it says in 2015 a small amount of Thomas Hardys ale was aged in oak for a few months – notably none of that aged or unaged release reached anywhere near me! Anyway, as I mentioned in the original notes this new Thomas Hardy was excellent but did not quite live up to my rose tinted memories – I have to admit I was nervous this use of oak aging was going to overpower the base beer as can so often happen with craft barrel aging. Grabbed from Independent Spirit again, I went with Byrmir: Wings Of Fire as backing music, saw them as a warm up band at a recent gig and loved them so grabbed an album from them.
