Old Speckled Hen.

[Slyjoe]

Since stopping smoking, my palate has changed, and I've gone off Lager, to be replaced by Old Speckled Hen. I can't get enough of it.

Now, I'm a bit of a numpty with "Ales" - are they the same as bitters?
What would you recommend along these lines to try? -

I did try "Old Growler" and to be honest, thats exactly what it tasted like. The first beer i've poured away in years. I do like Guinness.
Are the pump beers in the pub just as good? I've never strayed from Chemical generic pub lagers before.




Likey.



No Likey.

[pad58]

Like the hen

[DocArbathnot]

You could try brewing your own. Woodfordes Wherry is very good Keg much nicer than bottles.

[mchoody]

I've lost several nights of my life from Old Speckled Hen!!!!!

[prand]

Not too sure about the Hen nowadays (now made by Greene King and has lost a bit of character) but it can definitely be classed as a bitter. Better still is the story of how it got its name. A very PH story.

I like ale and bitter very much. Currently drinking a bottle of Tesco Simply IPA which is very tasty and good value. Loads out there, lots to try, best of all there seem to be loads of local micro/artisan/craft brewers setting up all over the place and offer a huge range of different styles, we are spoiled by beery riches. Search them out, find a good, ale focussed pub, a lot of pubs are cottoning on and take good care of their beer, go to a beer festival, find what you like and enjoy!

Edited by prand on Tuesday 26th March 21:59

[rehab71]

Well done for ditching that horrid yellow stuff!

Ale is Bitter and visa versa. If you like the Hen try some of the Badger Brewery ales, I'm a big fan.

[chrisgtx]

Its a lovely pint,but out of the bottle isn't a patch on draft,but that goes for most ales in my opinion.

[Turn7]

I like my ale, but the Hen doesnt do it for me Im afraid.

Try some beers from Fullers.

[SMGB]

I have been round a few breweries, Hook Norton where they still use their steam engine , Rebellion run by a bunch of local boys and the appalling stainless steelscape that used to be Courage Reading. I would recomend this, you learn a lot.No all from memory and over the last 25 years so no flaming from any brewers on here please, and i look forward to learning on this thread.
The lager is German for store and I beleive this refers to the longer settling time these beers have to remove solids. ales are darker and more complex and dont benefit from this. Bitters are clear ales with dry finish from the hops used and the quantity possibly including dry hopping where they shove some in the barrel before they ship it. Darker beers are made from malted barley that has been roasted longer to release more sugars and thay are sweeter, but you may still like them.
Bottled beers are very reliable as they are completly under the brewers control, however they chill them to remove some solids as otherwise they would haze in the bottle. this does remove some complexity as well though. Beer from the pump when everything works is sublime. you can tell a good pint as what seems likie 10s after it lands in your hands and 2 sips you notice the glass is empty. However there are some simple cellering steps and as the kids working in a lot of places know nothing about anything they screw up the simple procedures. Our local in the village has a landlord who knows beer and enjoys selling it, and drinking it so ours is always amazing. He sells lots of Adnams and they used to do cellering road show involving a barrel with a perspex end panel. Pete laid this on for us and a brewer who was also a chemistry graduate came over for the evenibng to give it. It made me realise how much effort goes into keeping real ale, but the results in the business that pub does speak for themselves. Plus it was good evening and an excuse to put away some Adnams.
I like Hen, and its named after an MG, specifically a 14/40 with a Weyman fabric body that was used a s factory hack pre war, whats not to like?

[Slyjoe]

SMGB said:

loads about beer I never knew

Is there, or do we need a Home brew thread? I've already found that you can buy OSH home brew kit, but I wouldnt want to be dissapointed by poor quality.

[cornet]

I'm quite partial to speckled hen too, my taste is varied (though preference for strong tasting pale ales) but here is a list of I like so you might want to give a try:


Brew Dog Brewery:
All of these are full of flavour - many people don't like them for this reason.

• Punk IPA
• 5AM Saint
• Trashy Blond
• Dead Pony Club

Thornbridge Brewery:
This stuff is deadly but very tasty.

• Jaipur

Whychwood Brewery:

• Hobgoblin (Darker than Hen - quite often hidden in the fridge of "larger pubs")
• Scarecrow

Ossett Brewery:
Another deadly but great tasting pale ale.

• Excelsior

Purity:
One of my all time favrouite ales. Greate on summers day in a beer garden.

• Mad Goose

Kelham Island:
More light, easy drinking, ales.

• Pale Rider
• Easy Rider

[Steffan]

prand said:

Not too sure about the Hen nowadays (now made by Greene King and has lost a bit of character) but it can definitely be classed as a bitter. Better still is the story of how it got its name. A very PH story.

I like ale and bitter very much. Currently drinking a bottle of Tesco Simply IPA which is very tasty and good value. Loads out there, lots to try, best of all there seem to be loads of local micro/artisan/craft brewers setting up all over the place and offer a huge range of different styles, we are spoiled by beery riches. Search them out, find a good, ale focussed pub, a lot of pubs are cottoning on and take good care of their beer, go to a beer festival, find what you like and enjoy!

Edited by prand on Tuesday 26th March 21:59

If I remember correctly The Old Speckled Hen name derives from the name attatched to an old MG TF at the Cowley factory which was a hack car which lived in the paintshop and ended up distinctly speckled in all the overspray on production. The pub I use in Mere Green is the called Old Speckled Hen and owned by Greene King and is a reasonable comfortable coffee house and pub. I am aware the Green King do make a beer called The Old Speckled Hen and the livery on their dray wagons suggest it is their leading brand.

Sadly I need my wits about me (the few that remain in my ancient head) as I frequently use this as a local base and alcohol and business never mix well for me. It is a well run hostelry and the Bollinger is on offer at £29.00 currently. But not good in business meetings! The supplier to this pub of the Bollinger (and all glasses, and all wines) which is cheaper than most places is Majestic who are literally just up the road and have been known to wheel it over on a trolley if the stocks dip! The Champagne is cheaper served in the pub that by the dozen direct from Majestic!

[Baryonyx]

rehab71 said:

Ale is Bitter and visa versa. If you like the Hen try some of the Badger Brewery ales, I'm a big fan.

The Badger stuff is great, particularly Fursty Ferret. A delicious sup. If you like Old Speckled Hen, make sure to try the 'Old Golden Hen' and 'Old Crafty Hen' ales too. The first is a deliciously bright tasting golden ale, the second a darkier, maltier thing. Both are good introductions to their respective classes.

You'll soon favour locally brewed ales, I reckon. There is something satisfying about locally brewed ale. For me, it Wylam, Mordue, Allendale and Hesket Newmarket! Though I did once try Salopian's 'Lemon Dream' at an ale festival in Grasmere. It was amazing beyond words in the summer heat!

[Turn7]

cornet said:

Brew Dog Brewery:
All of these are full of flavour - many people don't like them for this reason.

• Punk IPA
• 5AM Saint
• Trashy Blond
• Dead Pony Club

Vile stuff....

cornet said:

Whychwood Brewery:

• Hobgoblin (Darker than Hen - quite often hidden in the fridge of "larger pubs")

Or maybe try King Goblin if you like them stronger.....

[Halmyre]

Thumbs up for the Brew Dog Punk IPA.

Innis & Gunn
Deuchar's IPA
Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted

[SMGB]

Steffan said:

If I remember correctly The Old Speckled Hen name derives from the name attatched to an old MG TF at the Cowley factory which was a hack car which lived in the paintshop and ended up distinctly speckled in all the overspray on production. The pub I use in Mere Green is the called Old Speckled Hen and owned by Greene King and is a reasonable comfortable coffee house and pub. I am aware the Green King do make a beer called The Old Speckled Hen and the livery on their dray wagons suggest it is their leading brand.

As noted above, this name is inherited from Morelands of Abingdon of fond memeory. Much missed and good friends to to MG and the MGCC. OSH was brewed to mark 50 years of MG in abingdon and is in fact named after the factory hack.
The car still exists and is often seen at MGCC events, it is a 14/40 and so was built at Cowley but was used as a hack after the move to Abingdon. It was known as "The Old Speckled Un" which became the hen in common usage. Greene King do still sponsor the annual event named after the car.
We were once left in charge of the Morelands Social Club bar located on the premises. All went well proving the MGCC should be running the country as we have proved we can organise a piss up in a brewerey.

[Steffan]

SMGB said:

Steffan said:

If I remember correctly The Old Speckled Hen name derives from the name attatched to an old MG TF at the Cowley factory which was a hack car which lived in the paintshop and ended up distinctly speckled in all the overspray on production. The pub I use in Mere Green is the called Old Speckled Hen and owned by Greene King and is a reasonable comfortable coffee house and pub. I am aware the Green King do make a beer called The Old Speckled Hen and the livery on their dray wagons suggest it is their leading brand.

As noted above, this name is inherited from Morelands of Abingdon of fond memeory. Much missed and good friends to to MG and the MGCC. OSH was brewed to mark 50 years of MG in abingdon and is in fact named after the factory hack.
The car still exists and is often seen at MGCC events, it is a 14/40 and so was built at Cowley but was used as a hack after the move to Abingdon. It was known as "The Old Speckled Un" which became the hen in common usage. Greene King do still sponsor the annual event named after the car.
We were once left in charge of the Morelands Social Club bar located on the premises. All went well proving the MGCC should be running the country as we have proved we can organise a piss up in a brewerey.

Well I stand corrected and indeed interesting to read the full Monty. I am no expert on MG's although I still own three but I do have a lot of cars. Not all of them work but I will get them done eventually. Possibly. God willing.

[big_treacle]

Good beer video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QFQVblxzSk

Back to the OP. I tend to prefer gold or red beers to dark beers. To my palate, the dark ones often (not always) taste overly of burnt toast which I don't really like.
Decent pubs will normally let you have a little taster of a beer to see if you actually like it before you buy a pint. Or if you buy bottles, they often have a quick writeup of the flavours on the back. I think Badger beers have a kind of graph showing stuff like bitterness vs fruitiness.

[SwanJack]

big_treacle said:

Good beer video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QFQVblxzSk

Or if you buy bottles, they often have a quick writeup of the flavours on the back. I think Badger beers have a kind of graph showing stuff like bitterness vs fruitiness.

It's called the cyclops scale and is on alot of beers. Unfortunately, most brewers in this country give very little information as to what malts and hops they use in their beers. The American craft brewers on the other tell you loads (e.g http://rogue.com/beers/st-rogue-red.php ), very handy when cloning beers if you homebrew.

Edited by SwanJack on Wednesday 27th March 11:33

[TIGA84]

Slyjoe said:

Since stopping smoking, my palate has changed, and I've gone off Lager, to be replaced by Old Speckled Hen. I can't get enough of it.

Now, I'm a bit of a numpty with "Ales" - are they the same as bitters?
What would you recommend along these lines to try? -

I did try "Old Growler" and to be honest, thats exactly what it tasted like. The first beer i've poured away in years. I do like Guinness.
Are the pump beers in the pub just as good? I've never strayed from Chemical generic pub lagers before.




Likey.



No Likey.

try the other two in the range (waitrose are usuallt good to find them)



Golden is lighter and fruitier (lovely a bit colder than normal - summertime garden drinking)

Crafty is punchier and darker - more a winter warmer.

They are excellent IMO.