Thomas Hardy's Ale and Old Ales

[Aristeros]

So, I got a birth year bottle of this Old Ale for my firstborn for him to crack when he's an adult. This was 2009 and I thought it was a neat idea, still have it. The second child comes along, and I'm looking to get a bottle for him, but Thomas Hardy's is no longer being produced. I heard that they were bought out but will begin bottling again at some point. Got another Old Ale as a placeholder, just in case.

Anyone heard any rumors about this one or familiar with this beer? The venue that they were goingto stop producing, I would've bought far, far more than one bottle back then!

On a related note, anyone cellaring/have cellared a bottle of beer for an extended period, say 10+ years? I move a lot for work and am unable to maintain cellar temps for long periods, so the birth year bottles are a total crapshoot and I wish to live vicariously through people able to put down proper roots.

 

[Sneetch]

In general you will be well served by looking at beers with alcohol content above 8% and staying away beers where the hops are out of whack with the malt profile (Most IPA's don't age very well for instance). Look for Imperial Stouts, Barleywines, and Lambics. A few places to start: Deschutes The Abyss, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, just about any of the Stone beers that are not IPA's, most Unibroue beers, etc. YMMV, but if it were me and the cellar conditions were not guaranteed long term, I would look to do something around 10-11% ABV and very malty like a Stout or Barleywine. I've had good luck with them even when conditions were not perfect. Oh, and you probably already know this, but cellar beer upright rather than on its side like wine.

Cheers,
JW

 

[The Nid Hog]

JW seems to be right on the money. A good barleywine would be a safe bet.

On the other hand, back in the late 80s, my dad called me to tell me that he found a case of Duke (Duquesne) beer in our basement. A basic Western PA pils. The Pittsburgh brewery closed down in 1972, but he was pretty sure that he bought this case earlier than that for a family gathering then forgot about it. It was probably a good fifteen years old. He was going to throw it out in the dumpster at work when a couple of the younger guys there told him they'd take it. They later reported that they iced it down and knocked it all off over the weekend. Not a bad bottle in the case. Our basement was infernally cold, but I was still surprised that they didn't die from some awful food-borne disease.

 

[DogHair]

I've read that Chimay blue ages well and improves up to 15 yrs. Personally I've only tried beers up to 5-6 yrs.

 

[mikegeorge]

I still have a few bottles of 1985 Thomas Hardy's Ale in my cellar.

 

[Aristeros]

The ABV on the fill-in was 11%, and I have had Tom Hardys at 20 years old. If that's a big part of it, I guess I'll have to wait and see! Maybe get a set of barleywines from the same year group and retain tasting notes.

 

[Sneetch]

The ABV on the fill-in was 11%, and I have had Tom Hardys at 20 years old. If that's a big part of it, I guess I'll have to wait and see! Maybe get a set of barleywines from the same year group and retain tasting notes.

One other thought: there are other English "Old Ales" and strong ales similar to Tom Hardy's (all of them loosely barley wines when you get right down to it) that might suffice for a stand in. Old Peculiar, Fullers Vintage, and GK Olde Suffolk for instance, although none of them have a declared vintage to my recollection. I've never held any of those three for longer than a couple of years on purpose, but they may fit the bill.

Good luck and Cheers,
JW

 

[The Nid Hog]

I just came across an article about tasting an Allsopp ale that was brewed for an 1852 Arctic expedition.

http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/arctic-ale-a-158-year-old-adventure-revived/

Some of the guys involved have cracked the recipe (which was probably very simple anyway) and brewed it up in the arctic where the expedition finally got stuck. I think they've also been recreating it at a pub in Bethlehem, PA as "Arctic Alchemy."

If you are a home brewer, there are some reasonable-looking Thomas Hardy recipes online. It wouldn't be a very hard recipe to recreate. With good sanitation and patience, you could put something away to enjoy years from now.