Brewery: Greene King, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Brewery Description: There’s only one description for Hen’s Tooth – the nearest thing to real ale in a bottle. Its balanced blend of strong, rich flavours (6.5% abv) leads to a satisfyingly smooth, clean finish. The active yeast in the bottle continues to condition and mature the ale through its life, producing not only the wonderful flavours but also a smooth, foamy head.
Brew Style: English Strong Ale, 6.5% ABV
Recommended Glass: English pint, Trappist
The Ugly Truth: Hen’s Tooth comes from the same brewery that makes Speckled Hen, so right there it’s off to a great start. This is a Brew of Legend, plan and simple. This beer is just fan-freakin’-tastic. Let me tell you how it went down: first, I opened the bottle and poured it into the glass. It poured smooth with a fantastic tan tinged head to it. You could smell this stuff 3 feet away in the glass, and it smelled phenomenal. The taste was just as full-bodied, with a strong sense of hops and it just was so damn good. It was strong on the tongue, the finish was smooth, and its color was a warm golden brown. The thing about this beer is that I honestly feel I let it down. This beer was so good and flavorful that I feel like I should have been drinking this while eating a perfectly cut piece of meat or some meal of that calibur. Instead I drank it by itself and for that I was in the wrong. This is definitely a beer to go hunt down and enjoy.
Verdict: You can kill a man with a hen’s tooth 10 times out of 10 bottlecaps if you know what your doing.
Does the fact that this blog is called ‘bostongeek’ indicate that this amazing sounding beer is available in the Boston area? This soon-to-be Bostonian would love to know.
Unfortunately, that is one current problem with the Beer Roster. I presently live in NC while getting my PhD, so sometimes the beers I get are not able to be found in Boston, but I do my best to avoid that.
I know there are people who list themselves as living in Boston on Beer Advocate who have had it, so I assume you can get it in the city somewhere but you may need to hunt for it. I recommend looking at places such as the The Wine Emporium (http://www.thewineemporiumboston.com/).
I’m pretty sure you’d find it at the big Kappy’s in Wellington Circle in Medford, or possibly at the Martignetti’s on Soldier’s Field Rd. in Brighton.
Ya, that Martignetti’s has an awesome selection of brews.
wow! I am so jealous! I am dying to try this now, but lo I am but a mere Bostonian chick on the South Shore. I’ll drive over to Martignetti’s this weekend and see if i can find this and possibly a SkullSplitter too!
thanks for the info
The HornyDevil / RedTail reviews were rough. But i’m glad for the info.
“The HornyDevil / RedTail reviews were rough. But i’m glad for the info.”
He Suffers, so we don’t have to.
Well, Red Tail I would recommend trying for yourself since that one is up for debate it seems.
Horny Devil…is another story. No one at the gathering where we had it wanted to go near it. Its demonic yak piss.
But you absolutely need to find Skullsplitter.