Greene King Brewing Old Speckled Hen

Having found this fine ale on tap at the Pig n Whistle on Queen Street in Brisbane, I ordered a pint, which cost $7.20. A sweet English toffeeish aroma filled the air as the 1 inch head spilled over the side of the glass. A slightly reddish amber colour, it so inviting that I took the moustache full of head to have a sip. It was a mixture of delights. A good balance between sweet & bitter, it left me wanting another sip. Before I knew it, my glass was empty. So I ordered another half-pint.

When I was in the USA lat July, the Dog and Pony Alehouse had a cask of this as their import special, and I have to say that the brews I had in Brisbane were consistant with the ones I had in Renton Washington. If you find this drop on tap somewhere, I recommend getting yourself a glass! 

After my great pub experiences with this brew, when I spotted it in bottles at my bottlo, I indulged myself and bought two of them. What I got with the first bottle I opened was swill. This one obviously didn't travel well in its clear bottle. The aroma was off, the head was small, and the only thing consistant was its colour. It was a rather imposing ordeal to struggle through to finish, but I was determined not to dump it as it cost more for this 500ml than it did the 568ml draught pints I had. My biggest fear was I had another bottle of this ...

Days later, I decided to dispense with it, and I feared that it would be another ordeal. But it was like day is the opposite of night. This one tasted good! It looked pretty much the same as my draught pints with a creamy off-white head and reddish-amber colour. The taste was a bit different, but in a good way. This bottle obviously avoided the direct sunlight during its journey from the UK.

So it was a split decision on the bottles with one being good, one terrible. I doubt I'll fork over the $$ for another bottle though, but will gladly order it up on draught.