Old Hooky

Image from Hook Norton.

Quick update.  I posted a few weeks back about the Hook Norton beers that I got my hands on at the time.  Since then I was able to find another, Old Hooky, a 4.6% beer that's kind of in between styles -- kind of dark and fruity for a bitter, surely light in gravity and mouthfeel for an old ale.  It's nice though!

Like many of the Hook Norton beers that I had, this had a slight haze -- they must use a powdery yeast, since I was careful not to rouse the lees in any of the beers.  The aroma is a really nice convergence of hop, malt, esters and sugars.  In all, it's a big fruit basket smell of oranges, dates and pears.  The flavor is likewise very fruity with a luscious, full, almost creamy mouthfeel.  It's really an incredible feat for a 4.6% beer.  Hop bitterness pokes through, but it's a very layered flavor experience -- malty, then bitter, then malty-bitter, then fading into an even finish, tailing off into bitter again.

It's a great beer and thankfully the bottle I got at Ale Jail seems very fresh.  I think Hooky Gold remains my favorite from the brewery, but this one is really well worth looking for.  For whatever reason, the British beers do not get to most of us midwesterners very often and they surely don't get her very cheap.  I think these large bottles of Hook Norton (1pt, 9 oz) are a bit over $5 each.  But if you haven't had many of the honest-to-God English ales, or if you haven't found many of them fresh, this is well worth it.

Any other Hook Norton beers you all have seen around that I should try?

By the way, two final thoughts just because they popped into my head:

1. The British beers don't travel well.  Some are really crap when they get on bottle shop shelves.  There aren't many even then.  Rejoice when you can find some fresh and then share and evangelize about them so people know what they are supposed to taste like.  You would not believe the number of BJCP beer judges who don't actually have much idea what a real bitter is supposed to taste like, simply because they've never actually had one! 
2. I've been lucky enough to have several, but even so, I remember getting interested in Hook Norton from reading the descriptions in this book, which fascinated me when I first got into brewing, but which frustrated me too.  Wheeler's so long on good description for so many beers, but the recipes always were all variations on the same thing.  Old Hooky he describes as a "rich and complex vinous strong ale" with a "complex balance of grain, fruit and hop bitterness...Deep bitter-sweet finish with raisin notes."  Actually, that about sums it up.  The recipe seems pretty close too -- he suggests a mix of UK pale and mild ale malts with crystal malt and flaked maze, and black malt and a good dose of sugar to round it out -- he suggests white, but I'd suggest at least caramelizing it first.  Oh, and Challenger hops.  For sure Challenger hops.  I'll have to brew this soon.  Wonder which yeast might get me closest to the Hook Norton strain?

Okay.  Not so quick.  Still.  Good beer.