This week's selection is the "Hen's Tooth" Bottle-Conditioned English Ale from Morland (Greene King). Greene King is a fast-growing, integrated pub-operating and brewing firm in England, responsible for such well known keg brands as Greene King IPA, Abbot Ale, Old Speckled Hen and Ruddles County. Established in 1799 by the great-grandfather of writer Graham Greene (author of, among many other works, the screenplay for The Third Man), it is now the largest British-owned brewery, having absorbed many other brands, such as Belhaven -- a typical English invasion of Scotland! (I'll undoubtedly review my favorite Belhaven product, the Twisted Thistle IPA at some point).
The best-known Morland's brand is Old Speckled Hen (commonly available in nitro cans). Hen's Tooth could be considered a strong ale version of OSH, at 6.5 pct ABV. Clear bottle, which annoys me (for good reason), but the beer is a pretty orange/copper hue. As you can see from the picture, this bottle was aggressively carbonated, although the fluffy, white head quickly settled down, with very little lacing. The aroma is reminiscent of Old Speckled Hen, with a bit more caramelly-malt and a touch of alcohol. On the first few sips, I thought it would be unpleasantly sour, but it rounded out. There is always a danger with imported ales (particularly ones in clear bottles) of handling/skunking problems, but this one seems to have held up pretty well (I DID take an example from near the back of the cooler at the grocery store). There were notable hints of caramel, balanced by just enough sourness, and what I think of as very characteristic English ale yeast flavors and aromas, just on the edge of condition issues to be pleasant to my palate (but other, more expert tongues might differ).
Commercial Description: Bottle Conditioned. Pipkin pale malt, Crystal malt and maltose syrup. Challenger and Goldings hops. Morland's original yeast. Plenty of yeast at the bottom of the bottle, attesting to the bottle-conditioning. (this just means a secondary fermentation in the bottle -- think méthode champenoise -- to provide the carbonation, rather than charging the beer with CO2). Bottle-conditioned beers can age -- and improve, in many cases -- for years if properly stored and handled, just as can many wines. Indeed, most Belgian-style ales are best bottled, rather than on tap, for this very reason. But I digress.
According to this interesting site, Pipkin is "A Maris Otter and Warboys cross. Pipkin has a more mellow wort as compared to Halcyon." Maris Otter is the classic malt for English ales (e.g., bitters and milds). Crystal malts are used more in pale ales or, depending on the roast, porters and stouts. The caramel notes are probably from the Crystal and the sharper, more sour notes more from the Pipkin.
The kids at Ratebeer.com were luke-warm on this beer. I was a bit higher, although I'm not a huge fan of Old Speckled Hen. It definitely grew on me as I was writing this review. That could have been the alcohol talking, as I'd just gotten back from an hour of soccer with the Girl at the park (it's been in the upper 80s and beautiful, if hot, here all weekend; eat your hearts out, snow-suckers! so mebbe I was just weakened by thirst).
Anyway, I'd rate this one as thoroughly enjoyable. It would go great with an antipasto spread of olives, nuts, bread/crackers, salamis and cheese. I wouldn't recommend it as a dinner beer. Too hard to pair. But again, a thumbs up from me.
So, do you serve the Morland with a (Harry) Lime ?
The link on skunk beer was an excellent one. I never knew what caused that and I'm pretty sure I've never tasted skunked beer. The clear glass bottle is the culprit, except for Miller and their work around. And Miller had advertising a while back asking what other brewers had to hide by not using a clear bottle. Answer? They are trying to hide the sun to prevent their beer from getting skunky!
Heineken is notoriously skunky.
Yeah, that's true, I've had the Heineken at my in laws and it isn't very good. I attributed that to sitting in their basement too long.
Part of the reason Heineken is so terrible (on top of the tendency to skunk) is that most of the American product is made in Canada. Heineken really does taste fresher in London, Amsterdam, etc.
I know a Dutch kid, Helvar, here at Drake. We were at the liquor store and he got one of those Heineken mini-draugh kegs. He was practically hugging the thing, going on and on about how it's the best beer ever. (I must mention at this point that I don't like Helvar much to begin with, but he's a friend's roommate so I see him occasionally). I've had Heineken before, so I'm not sure what he's exactly talking about. So I try some out of the mini-keg thinking maybe it's better, but it was actually worse. All-in-all, I'm not to impressed with Heineken.
My beloved High Life comes in clear bottles. Luckily, it's never around long enough to get skunky.
And it won't because Miller does something to prevent their beer from getting skunky according to the article.
I didn't see that second link. That's pretty interesting. Chalk up another for the High Life.
well, yea, if you don't have a functioning nose. Aroma is such a key part of the beer/wine/whiskey experience. Miller "succeeds" by dumbing down their product to avoid (almost) entirely avoidable handling problems.
Well spoken, sir!
Are you bad-mouthing the High Life? Are we going to have a problem here?
What can Brown do for you?
Reading about tetra-hop reminds me of what Bacardi does to flavor its rums...and by flavor I mean add oils that contribute aroma but no taste.
FYI, brianS, check out the editing I did on the html for your picture. It looks a lot better with the hspacing.
Price for that ale?
thanks. I forgot about the hspace. As for price, mmm, prolly $3.49?
The killer passage from the skunked_beer link (link-to-link above): It is quite unfortunate that many beers worth drinking, including many German imports, are packaged in green glass at the whim of marketers. Most of these beers are packaged in brown glass in their homelands, because the marketers believe their domestic customers are erudite enough to reject skunked beer.
Nice job beer guy! I do have a question for you. What do you know about Goose Island Honker's Ale? I had a beer rep trying to sell me on it and he made the statement that somewhere along the line Michael (not he he) Jackson declared it to be his favorite beer in the world. (A little research and I find that MJ gave many Goose Island beers very favorable ratings but I couldn't find a "best in the world rating")
So anyway, my Bud distributer is carrying Goose Island beers as A-B has purchased a stake in Goose Island Brewery in Chicago. With the pedigree that GI has in the beer world, has A-B finally found a way to become more legit in the craft beer segment of the market? Do you enjoy GI beers?
I would appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks,
Wine Guy
The beers I sampled at their brew pub in Wrigleyville were mighty tasty. In fact, the Oatmeal Stout was so good we bought a growler to to take back to the hotel.
I haven't liked it as much out of the bottle.
zooomx, I've been to the Goose Island on Clybourn a handful of times for beers and eats. Great place, if a bit too sports-barry loud and crowded.
I think GI produces some fine beers. I'm not personally a huge fan of the Honkers (a bitter according to them), but it's a good beer. Definitely NOT Michael Jackson's "favorite." That is totally bogus. He was on record as having many "favorites", depending on mood and food, for example. He wrote about beers in chicago way back in 1994, when he described the Honkers as an "Irish-style ale" (the article appears to have been munged a bit, as the part about the "The Great Beer Palace" mixes together with discussion of Goose Island, as though a sentence or two is missing).
Still, their nut brown is excellent; their belgian-style ales are quite good. I've had some great stuff at the brewpub.
plus, around the corner from the Clybourn GI is a fabulous liquor store: Sam's Wine and Spirits. It definitely ranks with Bevmo, for those of you familiar with that chain.
as for A-B buying a stake, I wouldn't worry too much at this point. Here is a listing of the company's brands (including such stalwarts as Leffe, Bass Ale, Boddington's, Czechvar, and "Alliance Partners" Red Hook and Widmer Brothers, respectively). Red Hook in particular has some outstanding beers (although not everything they produce is great). I'm not so much a fan of Widmer, but I do like their Snow Plow (Winter Milk Stout) a lot.
My recollection is that A-B has a reputation for leaving the (successful) products of their acquisitions well enough alone.
thanks brian S and E-6! I think I will lay low on the GI for a while but will pick some up to sample at home.
I am also going to start my b.S. list of beers to try next time I have access to a liquor store with selection. I will give the Hen's Tooth a try!
and again, on Michael Jackson's "favorite beer", from the WashPost obit:
also, as a nod toward zooomx,
I did meet Michael Jackson once, about 7 years ago at a home-brew contest in St. Cloud. (The brewery/restaurant I worked at back then hosted it.) I think many of us were a bit intimidated at meeting such a beer legend, but really, he came across as just a guy who really liked his beer. Very nice gentleman, and I was saddened when he passed.
Regarding the whole beer vs. wine thing: In my experience, those who are passionate about many different beer styles like brian S, tend to enjoy exploring wine and vice versa. Beer drinkers who are more passionate about only their one beer (usually Coors Light, Miller Lite, etc) tend to not like wine. Similarly the wine drinkers who can only tolerate a sweet white zinfandel, tend not to like to broaden their beer horizons either. So, there are a lot of parallels and it doesn't need to be beer vs. wine.
That being said, there are few things that drive success more entertainingly than a friendly rivalry. I will return a wine volley your way sometime tomorrow brian S.!
GRAPES v. HOPS
This time it's personal.
Well stated, zooomx, although now I'm really jealous!
speaking of wine... I just received my wine club shipment from August Briggs in Calistoga. A Pinot Meunier, a Napa Valley Old Vine Zinfandel and 2 pinot noirs (napa valley, russian river valley). Life will be grand around case de zooomx for a while (; If you ever get up that way brian S, they are very cool people and their wine is incredible!
Last night, after reading the skunked beer links, I ventured down to my basement/garage (I know, I know, you're shocked that I wasn't in the basement all along!) and picked up the last Corona Light that we had left over from a party about a month ago now. I tried to pay special attention to whether or not there was a skunky aroma. I couldn't really notice one, though. A couple of thoughts came to mind:
1) My nose doesn't work very well (a distinct possibility)
2) Corona Light might not be hoppy enough for this to be a big problem?
So, I dunno. There are definitely some beers that I like more than others, but it's pretty rare that I come across a beer that I really dislike. Most often, the most negative feeling I have towards a beer is apathy.
I've never noticed anything with Corona either. Maybe the lemon in it has always done the trick. I do recall drinking about 21 one painful night at a dive bar in Moorhead called Mick's Office ($.99 a piece, eight to ten hours in the bar, 21 pennies in my pocket the next morning and one massive hangover). They tasted good enough then.
But, I do believe that I've had some skunky Heineken and also some bad Lowenbrau back in the day. I believe that they came in the green bottle, too.
I can't smell much out of a Corona bottle either. This weekend, my friends Mike and Jamie got married down in Cabo or Playa del Sol or somewhere down in Mexico. Those of us who couldn't make it down there got together and had a Mexican themed party. My contribution to the potluck was a case of Corona. I ended up drinking all of them. Which is funny, because I don't like Corona all that much. That was always Daryl's beer. Get me and my High Life, Daryl and his Corona, and Adam and his Keystone (Last year when I wasn't old enough to get my own and he was in charge of the house's beer supply, I had to drink whatever. And it was usually Keystone. I shudder even now.) and when we get to partying, it's bS's worst nightmare.
Reminds me of a joke. The brewmasters of Bud, Miller, Coors and Guinness are all at a conference together and decide to go out for lunch to a bar.
The waitron comes around and asks for drink orders. "Bud" sez the Bud man, "High Life" sez the Miller man, "Ain't no downstream beer," sez the Coors man. "I'll have a Coke," sez the Guinness man. They all turn to look at him and he shrugs. "I figured, since nobody else was having beer with lunch...."
I would think up any excuse I could in order to avoid the Guiness, so I can see where he's coming from.
I'm not afraid of the dark.
That's a good one. Don't get me wrong. I'm love a good beer as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to be downing Orval with my $1 Totinos pizza or after rugby practice. Those are the times where the High Life shines.
You have a good point there Andrew. I too, love a big, hearty beer. However, on Sunday afternoon we went out to eat at a local dive with the in-laws. If I would have ordered wine, I probably would have been heckled by the regulars. Their most unique beer was Michelob Amberbock, so I went back to my roots and had a bottle of Grain Belt Premium. It was awesome and held up well to the greasy patty melt I was stuffing into my face.
I have no fundamental opposition to the concept of session beers, although I'm a bit old for that activity any more.
I grew up on Blatz longnecks and pool in my parents' basement, and drank more than my share of Pfeiffers and Wisco Premium in college. But there comes a time, Andrew....
may I humbly suggest something by Schell's, or perhaps Leinenkugel?
(btw, Grain Belt now is brewed by Schell's!)
I love Leiney Red. The Honey Weiss is a little sweet, but not bad. Back in the day, Liz and I would get the Berry Weiss because it was fruity enough for her to drink and by God if I'm gonna drink Mike's.
I even stooped so low as drinking Black Label and Schlitz in my poor college days. Yeah, Grain Belt moving south was a bummer.
And Leinenkugel is brewed by Miller.
If I'm gonna go slumming with a cheap beer, I'll have a Pabst Blue Ribbon, thank-you very much.
Just like Frank Booth.
Pfeiffer. It was like $13 for three cases and you got a nickel back on each bottle. Stuff was about $3 a case, or $.12 a bottle. A lot cheaper than soda! We drank it like it was, well, water.
A friend of mine had a bed that consisted of about 2 inches of foam laying over a base of emptied Pfeiffer cases.
When I go down the Winona, the fridge always has GB Premium in it, so that's what I drink down there.
And Leinenkugel is brewed by Miller.
Actually, I do believe that Leinenkugel is still made at the Leiny brewery, and the family still runs that brewery. Miller purchased the company, not just the label.
Grain Belt is actually brewed at Schell's in New Ulm, so there is a bit of difference there.
Oh boy, if I could only have had a Grain Belt yesterday, 80 degree high with a nice breeze- nothing better than a Primo on a warm spring (summer) day-
FWIW the Green King sponsored pubs in London are Ab-Fab. Their Kentish Ale(s) (and those made by Spitfire and Fullers) were excellent- but I found that the best of all was a wide range of porter (well suited for mid March London weather)
Thank god for CAMRA - and the reemergence of traditional cask ales, my absolute favorite - The Bishops Finger - aka the nuns pleasure-
I even stooped so low as drinking Black Label and Schlitz in my poor college days.
ahh, Carling Black Stables, the quintessential shotgun beer! And let's not forget Dog Style!
remember when Coors was exotic? My dad would occasionally pick up a case in Iowa as we were driving home from visiting the grandparents in NE Nebraska.
The Honey Weiss is a little sweet, but not bad.
My wife bought a case of Honey Weiss the last time she picked up the beer. I complained that it was "girl beer."
Of course, the next time my neighbor was over he picked out the Honey Weiss from the fridge. My wife promptly told him that I thought it was "girl beer." Now all I get at his house is the darkest, heaviest beer he has on hand. I have no choice in the matter.
Now all I get at his house is the darkest, heaviest beer he has on hand. I have no choice in the matter.
I'd count that as a massive victory, but YMMV.
That's usually fine but I do like some variety once in awhile.
well, you can always invite him over to YOUR house
He has the better backyard and swing set. That trumps any beer preferences in my world.
so, you're a...swinger?