Hen's Tooth

I just picked up a beer called Hen's Tooth. It's British, and it was very good! It seems to be unfiltered (yeast in the bottom), but clear with a good bitterness. I'd like to try more like this one.

Anyone else ever try this one, or one similiar?

Lorena

I've had it, but it's pretty expensive here in OK. It wasn't my style, but I could tell it was quality. I guess you could say that because of the price, it's rarer than a hens tooth for me to buy one.

I've tried it, but I was not impressed. In fact, I haven't found any naturally conditioned British beers in the US that I really like.
Other similar beers are:
Fullers ESB or London Pride. These are pale imitations of the real thing, and Fuller's QC seems to be rather poor recently as no two batches taste the same.
Any bottled beers from Youngs seem pretty good to me.
Ruddles County (in the funny bottles) is good providing you like hoppy beers, and providing it has been kept in the dark (the bottles are clear). You can't use these bottles for homebrew.
Samuel Smiths Yorkshire Bitter is also naturally conditioned and comes in clear bottles. I don't like it but at least you can use the bottles for homebrew.

They all taste much better if served at 55 - 60 degrees.

-a.

I've had it, not overly impressed with the imported version. I'm sure it is a dream over in England. I got a very nasty skunked, oxidized taste from the bottle I had here. It had potential. I'd try Old Speckled Hen as well--which is along the same lines.

I'm not overly supprised that Hens Tooth doesnt go down to well, I was very disapointed when I bought a bottle here in England. Old Speckled Hen from the same brewer is a much better beer, obviously better when served from the cask, but perfectly acceptable from the bottle if served at the right temperature and allowed to 'breathe' to reduce carbonation.

Unfortunately some of the better brews like anywhere come from the micros and smaller brewerys so they are less likely to be imported. I'm supprised that anyone would notice inconsistencies in any Fullers brews though , they have a a large modern plant with the strict quality controls that you'd expect. While their beers are all perfectly drinkable I wouldnt want anyone to judge British ales by this standard just like i'm sure brewers in the US wouldnt want anyone to judge their beers by the stanards of Bud Light or MGD.

My favorite brewers i'd recommend (if their products ever make it accross the pond) are Hopback, Hogsback, Ringwood, Timothy Taylors and Theakstons.

Timothy Taylors Landlord and The Hop Back's Summer lightning are very pale, very hoppy, tastey beers and are not only good served at 13 deg c but due to the style and disticnt taste can also stand being served at the inhuman sub zero temperatures prefered by drinkers on the wrong side of the Ocean

I drank a lot of it in England. It was one of those beers I found all over the place. I enjoyed it and associate it with that trip. There is a clone recipe for it in the CLONE BEERS book from a few years back.

yay! Ruddles county is nice! my dads favourate beer! lol
anyone tried any of these:

Tribute
Olde Trip

im thinking there not very well know!
but Tribute is THE nicesest ale in the world!
lol

Tribute ull find in cornwall!

Reviving this old thread. I am living in Japan so it's always an adventure checking to see what type of "import" they have on a given week. This week's was Hens Tooth bottle-conditioned.

My first impression (before opening it) was fear, because it comes in clear bottles. I put two of them in the fridge to settle and once they were cold, I poured one and had a taste. I've gotta say, this is the first "Strong Ale" I've had (6.5% ABV) but it was awesome. I'm a newbie when it comes to developing my palette for craft beers, but I thought it was awesome. It looks just a bit red in the glass, but was not nearly as heavy as the red ales I've tried before. Anyway, the case of 12 bottles was only $28 which seemed reasonable at the time. *shrug*