Hen's Tooth - Greene King / Morland Brewery

Backer2004

North Carolina

3.33/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Found this for $3.49 at the local grocery store and felt like I've tried everything else. Pours a an amber and much clearer than the bottle conditioned beer may normally be. Little lacing or head retention. Nice carbonation. Not a fan of the smell, possible skunkiness. Tastes better than it smells, however. Definite malty profile. Not too bad to consume.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2008 01:59:11 | More by Backer2004

IchLiebeBier

Virginia

4/5  rDev +17.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Reddish-Brown; cloudy; medium head

Aroma: Malty; peppery; slight hops

Taste: Juicy malty start; warming alcohol mid range; slightly bitter finish; overall, well balanced

Remarks: Did not score A, T, S, M at that time; disregard those scores

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 13:40:08 | More by IchLiebeBier

crytion

Ohio

3.75/5  rDev +10.3%

06-04-2013 13:14:21 | More by crytion

UCLABrewN84

California

3.85/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours a hazy dark orange with a foamy beige head that settles to a thin cap on top of the beer. Foamy patches of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, fruit, and slightly sour Brett-like aromas. Taste is much the same with malt and fruit flavors on the finish. There is a medium amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with some interesting aromas and flavors that I am not entirely sure were intended.

Serving type: bottle

05-30-2013 03:25:41 | More by UCLABrewN84

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +2.9%

05-25-2013 15:05:19 | More by Slatetank

kvnstfrd

Missouri

3.25/5  rDev -4.4%

05-23-2013 03:34:25 | More by kvnstfrd

MPSTARR

Florida

3/5  rDev -11.8%

05-19-2013 01:31:20 | More by MPSTARR

innominat

Ireland

3.5/5  rDev +2.9%

05-15-2013 16:38:01 | More by innominat

breakingbland

Michigan

3.59/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 1 pt., 0.9 oz. (0.5 liter) clear glass bottle (marked T6 12094 16:29).

Appearance: Poured with a one-finger light brown head with coarse bubbles. There was initial vigorous, large-bubbled effervescence. The head faded quickly to a thin irregular head of big bubbles then to a thin layer. The color of the beer is a lovely deep copper.

Aroma: There was initially a slight hoppiness and a slight skunkiness (characteristic of Morland with their clear bottles?) -- both of which receded later as the beer warmed -- and a very slight maltiness.

Taste: Starts with a bready maltiness that changes to a sweet caramel. There is only a very slight hops bitterness as perhaps would be expected with this style. (The hoppiness was initially more pronounced which may be due to initially serving the beer at too low a temperature. It definitely improved as it warmed.) There is a slight lingering bitterness along with the sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with fine to medium carbonation. The mouth feel improved as the beer warmed; see "Taste" above).

Overall: This beer was part of a Hen House 4-pack from Morland. Reviewed Old Crafty Hen last night. I'll rate Hen's Tooth a bit below Crafty -- but I still like it and would look for it again. As noted above, proper temperature is important (this is a lesson I'm just beginning to learn....).

Serving type: bottle

05-01-2013 01:00:07 | More by breakingbland

Mythos82

Indiana

5/5  rDev +47.1%

04-22-2013 07:35:10 | More by Mythos82

ONUMello

Ohio

3/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

500ml bottle poured into a pint glass
A: Amber color with a one-finger head that settles instantly
S: Caramel up front with sweet malt to fill it out
T: Quite sweet with caramel & sweet malt, a bit of brown sugar & fruitiness
M: Fairly light, noticeable sweetness
O: A bit sweet for my palate making it decidedly average; if the sweetness was decreased &the hop amount increased it could be quite nice

Serving type: bottle

04-09-2013 05:43:51 | More by ONUMello

TheBeerAlmanac

Kentucky

3/5  rDev -11.8%

04-01-2013 20:22:03 | More by TheBeerAlmanac

Russ376

North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +25%

04-01-2013 16:08:20 | More by Russ376

hermit990

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +10.3%

03-23-2013 04:18:08 | More by hermit990

Duvel

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev +2.9%

03-09-2013 15:45:59 | More by Duvel

mtboozeaddict41

Montana

2.95/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: pours a solid red amber with half a finger of white bubbly head. Medium retention digresses to thin white lacing

S:Attractive aromas of sugary dark fruit. Alot of apple and even some banana mixed in. Also lends to some sweet toffee and caramel. Pleasant but weak aromas

T: Large yeast and malt character on the palate. A very strange skunky lingering aftertaste has me pondering...oh well. A very complementing bitterness to the dark fruit of the malts. Hints of citrus. Not completely outstanding but still good

M: Low carbonation and a bit of oil left behind. Medium bodied and off-dry

O: I can see this being an off putting beer for some because of its bold flavors but this is much of a novelty beer. Very malty-sweet jammed packed with fruit. For the most part its a good english strong ale.

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2013 04:57:18 | More by mtboozeaddict41

metter98

New York

3.46/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

A: The beer is crystal clear reddish amber in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a half finger dense high beige colored head that never completely faded away and left a coating of bubbles down the sides of the glass.
S: There are aromas of fruity yeast in the nose—apples seem to stand out in particular.
T: The taste is fruity like the smell but also has some notes of caramel malts and toffee with hints of herbal hops. There is a slight bit of sweetness and no bitterness is perceptible.
M: It feels medium-bodied and rather smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is relatively easy to drink. I wouldn't mind drinking this again if I was in the mood for a bottle conditioned English Ale but something a little stronger than a pale ale.

Serving type: bottle

02-20-2013 03:14:55 | More by metter98

BoringBunny

Russian Federation

4/5  rDev +17.6%

02-07-2013 22:06:58 | More by BoringBunny

Bouleboubier

Pennsylvania

3.76/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A lot of potentially great things going on in this - but Old Speckled Hen seems to have just as much (and likely more) boldness and depth in flavor.

It starts off auspiciously enough with a high and mighty (and thankfully un-infection-derived) foam pour atop a rich-looking, rather bright, deep-tawny-hued liquid. Drinking down, it leaves some broad splotches of thin, crystalline lace. Not bad.

Very fruity (apple juice) on the nose, at first, it lends some hints of lightly-browned caramel, later opening up into some mild toffee. At its warmest, maybe a little tangy, drying bread dough and delicate earthy hop, however, the aromas lose a lot of their steam, surprisingly enough. You gotta strain... Overall, aside from some promise in the malts, a relatively standard bundle of scents, brought on weakly.

Initial palate sensation is hop bitterness, or perhaps some alcohol or yeast bite coupled with the active carbonation - I would even suggest it's a unmistakable (tea-like) tannic quality. Slowly coming through is, more up front, the esters, which added to the apple show some grape as well. Is that some hops in there, too?!....Phantom alcohol and certain floral notes through the finish... The overall taste is nice, but begs to be more (especially in the malt and caramel richness and depth department)...Really comes across as a modestly stronger OSH or other familar-profiled English pale....

The beer drinks rather clean, but has a good bit of bite that I wished would've been met with a more substantial malty body. Seems way too clean and far from heavy.

All in all, it's a fine beer, I suppose, just way too restrained. And I don't believe extended aging will aid in revealing much more.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2013 08:04:44 | More by Bouleboubier

smellandsip37

North Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -4.4%

02-07-2013 03:27:45 | More by smellandsip37

stone3187

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev +2.9%

02-06-2013 20:57:55 | More by stone3187

matjack85

Illinois

4/5  rDev +17.6%

01-31-2013 22:03:18 | More by matjack85

DmanGTR

New York

4/5  rDev +17.6%

01-29-2013 04:25:05 | More by DmanGTR

angusdegraosta

New York

3.75/5  rDev +10.3%

01-17-2013 02:54:17 | More by angusdegraosta

tbryan5

Louisiana

2.5/5  rDev -26.5%

01-12-2013 13:55:48 | More by tbryan5