After my trip to New Zealand on day three I am coming back much closer to home for day four. It is the only beer in my list that I have tried before although it was many years over. Hogs Back Brewery are located in the village of Tongham, Surrey at the foot of the North Downs and are now well established having begun brewing back in 1992. This bottle was bought on a recent visit to their excellent bottle shop located within the brewery complex. As well as selling their own beers they have an excellent range of beers from all over the UK as well as a good selection of Belgian beers in particular. It was thanks to this shop that I got introduced to the superb bottled beers from Durham Brewery many years ago so I have that to thank them for too. Having said that they don't seem to stock them any more!! Boo!!
A Over T is a 9.0% ABV barley wine and although it may send you Arse Over Tit if you drink too much it is actually an abbreviation of Aromas Over Tongham. I am sure when they are brewing the lovely aromas come wafting through the air for all the villagers to enjoy. Their play on acronyms knows no bounds as they also brew TEA (Traditional English Ale) and OTT (Old Tongham Tasty).
This beer had very little head after pouring but there was a nice gentle carbonation giving a good mouthfeel. The aroma was gorgeous. Very boozy with the promise of intoxication. Barley wines are so rare nowadays and I love them. I was unsure if this beer would meet my expectations from how I remember it but they were exceeded. This beer is fantastic in every sense. Plenty of intense rich fruits that have been soaked in some rich liqeur that you would find in your Christmas cake or pudding. Flavours of orange notes come out so perhaps the soaking would be in cointreau. Enough of all this - I'm off to savour the rest. Next time I'll buy a case of it.
Cheers.
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