Hen's Tooth - Greene King / Morland Brewery

Jason

Massachusetts

2.9/5  rDev -14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

16.9 clear bottle with no freshness date.

Sunset orange hue with a good frothing and good retention. Buttery, grainy, slight orange and mint and salty aroma.

Smooth carbonation with a medium body. A buttery musty diacetyl sticks to the palate, maltiness brings caramel and toasted biscuits. Hops are a little bitter with a quick minty note. Graininess and a flash of solvent alcohol show some roughness within this ale. Finishes a little funky with alcohol on the breath.

Not bad, sure its English, bottle conditioned and all but it just does not seem to hit its stride. A bit of a chore to put down.

Serving type: bottle

11-09-2009 03:37:38 | More by Jason

Todd

Massachusetts

3.4/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Presentation: 16.9fl.oz. clear custom Morland bottle. No freshness date.

Appearance: Pours a vibrant rich amber liquid with a clumpy off-white foam head. It quickly recedes to a patchy bubble lace. Make sure to pour gently as to not disturb the sediment.

Smell: Waxy aromas that mix with light sweet grains and faint apple-peel aromas.

Taste: Malt flavour is light, with toasted malt flavours. Medicinal and touch of all-spice flavour get lifted and removed by a gentle carbonation. Hops are tea-like with a assertive dose of raw leaf astringency and a mellow background citrus rind snap that melds nicely with light fruity apple flavours. Buttery diacetyl can be detected along with dry biscuit and grain flavours that pull through to wreak more havoc on the palate. Can you say yeast? Rawness? There's yeast flavours all over this bottle-conditioned brew. Finishes dry and musty.

Notes: A very traditional bottle-conditioned English Ale. As real as it gets in the bottle, and you either like these real ales, need some palate maturation, or you'll hate them forever. Me? I like them. There's nothing like beer that's alive and maturing in the bottle!

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2001 00:00:01 | More by Todd

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

EvanWilliams

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -4.4%

12-23-2012 05:49:06 | More by EvanWilliams

stereosforgeeks

Virginia

3.25/5  rDev -4.4%

12-17-2012 15:51:28 | More by stereosforgeeks

t0rin0

California

3.25/5  rDev -4.4%

11-19-2012 03:14:52 | More by t0rin0

damndirtyape

Ohio

3.8/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

1pt 0.9oz bottle served in a Tulip Stout glass. No date.

Appearance: Mostly cloudy coppery amber. Very thick head upon pouring dying back to a thin foam across the top. Initial thick sheets and lots of strands of lacing, eventually becoming just a few strands and islands of lacing here and there. Took care to keep the sediment in the bottle and it looks like most of it was left behind but some came along with the pour.

Smell: Not a lot going on. Hint of yeast, some fruit-like sweetness initially, then becoming more like a copper penny and then not a lot after that.

Taste: Nice fruit and malt up front, moving into a metallic and sharp bitter finish. Very English style hops here. Some buttery flavor comes out with the malt as it warms up to just below room temperature.

Mouthfeel: Lively carbonation but not fizzy. Just right really. Nice thickness, a little bit sticky on the teeth.

Overall / Drinkability: Quite nice. A very good English ale. Good with food (Bangers and Mash in this case) but I could easily have one of these by itself. Quite dangerous in drinkability - I would easily want another pint of this. I suspect this would be a fantastic beer fresh on cask.

Serving type: bottle

11-16-2012 00:21:09 | More by damndirtyape