Day 202, July 21 / Old Speckled Hen

Day 202 /  July 21, 2011

Old Speckled Hen

Morland Brewing  /  Suffolk, England

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The day I almost blew it!

I went out with some friends Thursday night to Fireworks Pizza in Arlington (previously mentioned on this blog).  In addition to having great wood fired pizzas and excellent mussels, Fireworks has a very respectable beer selection, both on tap and in bottles.

While waiting for our table, I ordered a draft from the list on the chalkboard.  I know it was an Altbier, but I can’t remember which one.  That’s not the point, because the bartender said they were out of it.  BUT, they did have an Altbier on tap from Long Trail in Vermont.  So that was to be the beer of the day.  (BTW, an Altbier is a German style brown ale, generally conditioned for longer periods, which mellows and smooths out the brew).

Fortunately, over the course of the evening, I had a couple other different beers.  Why fortunately?  Well, today I looked on Long Trail’s website to find their Altbier.  Guess what?  Long Trail Ale, their flagship beer, is their Altbier.  And I already had a Long Trail Ale on February 2.

So, in the event that the selected beer cannot perform its duties as the 365 Beer of the Day, that title shall be bestowed upon the first runner-up, which in this case was an Old Speckled Hen Ale.  And since I didn’t anticipate this predicament, I did not take a photo of my Old Speckled Hen (OSH), but I can produce three witnesses who can attest to my quaffing of said beer.

So, I will pilfer some other beer geek’s picture of his OSH, and offer up my review.  At Fireworks, the OSH was on a Nitro tap, like Guiness or Boddington’s, so it was very foamy and creamy.  As I took each sip, a ring of foam stayed behind on the pint glass, like the rings on a tree stump.  How many sips does it take to get to the bottom of a pint of OSH?  Twelve, my friends.

I’ve never had OSH on a Nitro tap before, and I must say, I enjoyed it.  It added some character to this malty ale.  Actually, by British beer standards, Old Specked Hen is not that old.  It was first brewed in 1979 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the MG automobile factory.