Old Speckled Hen is one of those beers that I seem to forget about, then I have one every few years and I’m reminded of how good it is. I was at a restaurant last night with a small but diverse beer menu, and when I saw the OSH on the list I decided to order one. I’ve heard complaints that OSH isn’t as good since Greene King took over Morland, but this beer was just fantastic. It has a great, distinct fruit-ester character, and just enough bittering hops to balance and dry out the finish. I honestly don’t remember the ester character being so distinct, although it’s been years since I had one. This is exactly what I’m looking for in a bitter, and I will certainly be reaching for this a lot more often, especially with Bass now gone.
Any idea if there’s a yeast strain that’s available to homebrewers that would come close to this ester profile? I’d consider using 1469, but the ester profile is closer to Fullers than Landlord for me, and I think you’d want something that finishes a bit dryer than 002/1968.
It used to be more widely available here and cheaper and I used to like it a lot. It’s definitely very dry and sort of sharp but with a fruity and flavourful backing. Been a while since I’ve had it, but I definitely miss having easy access to this or other sort of distinct english bitters. i miss ruddles county too.
fullers with a good amount of sugar, but my memory of it is so dry, maybe WLP007?
I was not aware that Bass is gone. I hadn’t seen it in years and haven’t had it in longer and had in my mind that I should try it again to see if I still had a taste for it. I drank a zillion pints of it in the 90s when restaraunts I worked at had it on tap and it was often the bext thing available when going out.
I was at Yankee Spirits the other day when I was in Sturbridge and looked for OSH and they didn’t have it, they used to. I haven’t had it in a couple years but remember liking it but not as much as TT’s Landlord.
Many years ago at a pub in London, I found OSH on cask. The bartender tried to convince me I wouldn’t like it, saying “it’s really strong - 4.8%!” I convinced him that I could probably handle it and had him draw me a pint. That cask had gone “off.” It was totally sour, pretty much undrinkable. I probably should have talked to him about that, but instead just left it and went to another pub. I’ve been irrationally afraid to have OSH since that day.
I’m surprised Yankee Spirits didn’t have it. It seems to be pretty easy to find at stores with a decent beer selection in my area. Even better is that they’ve switched to brown bottles and cans, rather than the old clear bottles it used to be in.
YS is the only place I have seen it. I will be happy to find it in cans or at least brown bottles. I remember it being in clear bottles and can’t remember if the last time iot was in a brown bottle or not.
I assume you have checked SUA Barclay Perkins for yeast info?
Yeah. Ron doesn’t have any recipes from Morland listed on his site. He does have a couple of Greene King recipes and those call for WLP025 (Southwold - a vault strain). From what I’ve seen online, it looks like this is from Adnams, who uses two strains. One is dry and clean (allegedly this is WY1335), and one is lower attenuating with moderate esters (allegedly WLP025). I have no idea if Greene King actually uses one (or both) of these strains, or if they kept Morland’s strain. I’m on the email list if this gets released from the vault anyways, because I’m always up for trying another flavorful English yeast, even if it’s not the exact one I’m looking for.
I had it on cask a long time ago in Durham, England and it was exquisite. You definitely should have let the barman know.
It shows up at our big box liquor store, I will have to give it a try since it’s now in cans. I had too many beers from England that hadn’t traveled well in bottles, so I gave up.
I bought a four pack of cans recently. They are nitro charged. The device is glued to the bottom of the cans so I doesn’t rattle like the Guinness cans.
Just so ya know.