Thomas Hardy's Ale

In article , IanR writes

There's one way to find out :-)

On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 17:08:22 -0000, "IanR" 's owl flew in through the window and dropped a message on which was scribed:

Thomas Hardy should be good for 25-30 years

Unless the yeast has gone into autolysis, those ales are almost certain to be much better than they were when laid down.

With you mentioning this I remembered some bottles of John Willie Lee's Harvest Ale I have tucked away from 1991. Is it likely these have survived. I have been saving them for a certain ex-prime ministers funeral but she is lasting longer than I thought.

-- Dave Croft Warrington England

Opened my 1987 THA after finally passing my driving test last July, but something must have gone wrong, as it was utterly undrinkable :-(

The industry is looking for something to encourage people into the pubs - you may have hit on a winner.

Whatever you do Ian, don't touch them. They will be bombs waiting to explode in your face, and even if you could open them safely, they would be pure poison. You need someone who knows how to dispose of them safely. Fortunately, there's me. I have a great deal of experience in dealing with dangerous goods like these, and am willing to take them off your hands and render them safe for toxic waste disposal. Lucky for you eh? KeithS

Unlucky! I too opened my 1987 THA this summer, and it was incredibly drinkable, so much so that I had feelings of guilt for some while afterwards.

Nice cat....

In message , KeithS wrote

I also have some bottles - how much do you charge for your safe disposal service and does your fee coverage the postage charges or is this extra?

BTW the EU has classified out-of-date wine as toxic waste for the purposes of disposal. I guess it may be something to do with the EU undrinkable wine lake that no-one wants.

So - no consensus here - looks like I will just have to drink the buggers.

I'll let you know if they are any good when I have taken the plunge.

Ian

Only the out-of-date stuff? Or is a stage by stage introduction of a new bit of legislation?

The chairman of Dudley CAMRA told me that he opened a 1982 bottle of said ale, two days ago and it was excellent.

I once drank THA straight after getting back to my mates flat (and chilled slightly)

Not particularly nice, but then the second bottle from that batch was consumed about five years later - excellent.

What no one I know seems to have established is when it reaches it's peak and starts back down the other side. So far we seem to have a figure top side of 21 years.

In article , Steven Pampling writes

Yeah - I'd liker to know this as well, as I've a case of '94 in the cellar plus a few older bottles. I've tried a few (3) over the years - and can't say I enjoyed them much - I'm hoping they'll improve )sometime).

I think it is as much to do with the condition of the crown cap. This would explain why results are so variable. You can get bottles resealed which is probably worth considering every 10 years for a rare specimen.

That'll be a nasty moral dilemma.

I'd quite like to have a good, yet dignified, drink to toast her long life and manifold achievements, but I'd risk being mistaken for one of the many ungrateful oafs out there.

BTN

True, I mean I really miss signing on once a fortnight and spending the rest of the time wandering in the local woodland surveying plantlife and mapping paths with home made survey kit.

Plus of course I had all the wonderful health benefits of not being able to afford beer on a regular basis.

All that healthy walking and no beer in smoky pubs - I wonder how much better my health is because of Thatcherite policies?