old speckled hen

I've always known Old Speckled Hen is supposed a great pale ale. I just always passed it over because of the clear bottles, and the fact that it's clearly not moving off the shelf very quickly.

Man, this beer is so good. Sure it's a little oxidized, but it's so damn tasty. This stuff must rock from a cask.

So yeah, I'm admitting I'm the last one to party. I'm just glad I made it. Would have sucked to get hit by a bus without ever tasting the Hen.

Hen makes the greatest drunken chicken ever (i.e. can in a bird on the BBQ).

i really like the hen too. it stays on the shelves in toronto a while too. right now u can buy a bottle for $3.65 with a glass. thats cheap for a good beer and glass. gotta purchase. mind u the clear bottle is not being exposed to light because the case with the glass. never seen it with the bottle exposed. splendid flavors anyhow.

Look for it in cans, it's even better. Orfy also has a good clone of it on here.

I had it out of the cask in Newport, RI... It was awesome! I've had it a bunch of times, but the best was that hot summer weekend night, after midnight, in Newport vacationing with the lady...a long day of walking, exploring, and fishing... sometimes the quality of beer is situational

Every now and then the "Hen" will show up on base here in Okinawa, I always try to grab a couple cases... great beer

Every time I hear something positive about this beer, I'm just blown away. The first time I had it, it was absolutely vile. In my lifetime I've only sent back 3 beers at a restaurant or bar and this was one of them. I realize that sometimes beer lines or glassware are dirty or beer isn't fresh so I tried it in a bottle at a different time and location. Low and behold it was nearly as bad as the draft I previously had. So, to all of you who are dying to try this beer, be forewarned! It may not be your cup of tea

Gtrman13 said:

Every time I hear something positive about this beer, I'm just blown away. The first time I had it, it was absolutely vile. In my lifetime I've only sent back 3 beers at a restaurant or bar and this was one of them. I realize that sometimes beer lines or glassware are dirty or beer isn't fresh so I tried it in a bottle at a different time and location. Low and behold it was nearly as bad as the draft I previously had. So, to all of you who are dying to try this beer, be forewarned! It may not be your cup of tea

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I respect that everyone's tastes are different, so please don't believe that I'm in anyway putting down your evaluation. I'm just curious what flavors you got that you didn't like.

I've had this beer only a couple of times and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It is what I what I consider "very British." When I've had it it's been chewy thick maltyness with a bit of light fruit esters. Not overly sweet, but definately not dry. It's sort of the anti-APA.

Every time I hear something positive about this beer, I'm just blown away. The first time I had it, it was absolutely vile. In my lifetime I've only sent back 3 beers at a restaurant or bar and this was one of them. I realize that sometimes beer lines or glassware are dirty or beer isn't fresh so I tried it in a bottle at a different time and location. Low and behold it was nearly as bad as the draft I previously had. So, to all of you who are dying to try this beer, be forewarned! It may not be your cup of tea

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I'm afraid I have to agree with this one. I just tried it last week. In my case, it clearly had a lot to do with the way the beer had been treated. It was staled and skunked--but in clear bottles, what would one expect? I know OSH has a real following. I'm an MG guy (I've got a red chrome bumper B that I spent 5 years restoring), so I WANT to love this beer, but wet cardboard flavored with skunk cabbage ain't my thing. And at $11 dollars per six-pack, too. Yes, perhaps I'd be more interested if I could try a bottle that had been treated with more respect, but based on past experience, I just don't think I'm ever going to be thrilled with bottled bitters that have to make the long and arduous journey all the way to my fridge. There is such a huge difference between an outstanding English bitter in a cask and the stuff we get stateside in bottles. They simply aren't the same beers. So much of what I love about English bitter simply isn't in there when I pop open a bottle from off a shelf. So it isn't just OSH that I'm ranting about here, but boy, it's been a long time since I've been THAT disappointed when trying a new beer.

I have had it recently in both can and clear bottle. Both times it have been perfect.
I do love me the hen.

boo boo said:

I have had it recently in both can and clear bottle. Both times it have been perfect.
I do love me the hen.

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If I want it and it's only available in bottles, I won't buy it if it's on a shelf that is easily hit by light (There's one store that has it on an upper shelf of an isle and you can see the sunlight coming through windows in the store hitting it.) And if it's on a lower shelf or in a cooler, I always grab a sixer from the back. I've lucked out a couple times.

But I won't hesitate if it's in a can.

I hope the people who have only tried it in bottles, or on bad taps, will give it a chance, if you can find it in cans or on tap at a place that cares about their beers, it's really worth it.

Back in 2008 I posted this on a thread about it.

Revvy said:

I picked one up at a store in Michigan along with a bunch of other things to try on New Year's Eve...I was dissapointed in it, I thought it tasted like a skunky budweiser with red food coloring added to it...I couldn't see what all the fuss was about.

The way you all rave about it here, got me wondering if I just got a bad bottle or something. I mean since it is in clear glass, and was sitting on the top shelf of the liquor store imported beer section, I wonder if it got too much sun or something.

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Folks came on, like Orfy, and suggested that I give it a shot again if I found it in cans, or in a store that treated their beer better (like by keeping clear bottles in the dark) and I heeded their advice, and when I had a chance to try it in cans I did so...and was blown away by it.

It really is an excellent beer if you can find it unscathed.

It don't last long on the shelves here though. Good thing too. Like you say, it's on the top shelf of a glass door cooler, so wouldn't be long before it was unfit to drink. Last one I bought came in a cardboard tube complete with glass, so there was no way for that one to go off anyway. Most other times I have had it in a can, like I like to pick up most of my imports in. Seems like a can is the best way to insure that you get the product in the best shape possible.

Like I said, I kept passing it by because I was expecting skunky trash. I just finally said, "what the hell". I got lucky. Then I went back and bought them out.

Had it from a cask in York (the old one, not the new one) and it was marvelous.

Sounds like a crap shoot this side of the pond.

First time I had it was in Brooklyn at the Atlantic Chip Shop it was on tap and was awesome! After returning to PA I went to my local beer distributer (who is excellent at finding not so common beers) and in 4 weeks I had a case of the Speckled Hen goodness. I kept it in my basement in the dark.

I get it on tap pretty regularly and love it. I see it in clear glass bottles all the time, and always pass it over for that reason. But I've started seeing it in cans lately with the little widget in it, and it's better than tap. I'd LOVE to try it on cask.

+1 on the love for this beer. I had it first time on tap at a pub in Brisbane, Australia. Been hooked on it ever since!

The origin of the beer has bit of history that car-buffs might enjoy: http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000104.html

One of the British-style pubs here in San Diego usually has it on tap. Else I drink from the cans.

(Recently made clone based on recipe found here, did not come out as good as the original, but still tasty!)

Qhrumphf said:

I've started seeing it in cans lately with the little widget in it,

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The cans we get here don't have the widget in it.

I've only had it in cans and thought it was great. Would definitely get it again.

So weird so many of you have had it in a can, and I've only ever seen bottles.

I had it in a can about 10 years ago, it was a dusty old can I found at my friends dads place. I hated it then but I was also too young to appreciate good beer. And it was probably super old.

First time I had it didn't care for it. Now I consider it tasty like a English yuengling ale version.

Uncle, uncle, uncle..... I tried this beer and had to hold my nose to drink it. Ya see, I have 3 Boston Terriers that think skunks are cats to be chased and we live in deep country. Enough said about that. I really thought I would read this and have all my ego confirmed. LOL.... I really wanna taste this again, from a can or tap poured into a glass. Damn you all for wetting my thirst for something I "thought" was nasty. Why wouldn't they package it differently for export so more people would love it like the reviews, or at least have instructions on handling.