A Perculiar Relaxation technique (Theakstons Old Peculier)

Member Name: wtwildcats

Product:	Theakstons Old Peculier
Date:	12/12/02 (177 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: helps me relax after a crap day at work

Disadvantages: so would a nice cup of tea and classical music

First of all, the short description is completely wrong! This is a DARK beer at 5.6% ABV - whoever writes them doesn't know beer !!!!

Well, it too only 10 mins today after coming in from work and already I was writing an op on some bottled beer. That tells you what kind of day I?ve had at work.

Horrendous pressure today. If you want to know why I?ve wrote ops on 2 of the 3 aspects of my job ? take the worst possible scenarios of all 3, put them together, give it a shake so its all mixed up, and pour. Hey presto, that was today!!! (The 3rd is Trade Union Rep, but there's no catagory for that - when it comes, so will the op!!!)

Anyway the beer.

It tastes nice!!!! First gulp went down pretty quickly, I can tell you.

PACKAGING

This beer comes in the standard 500 ml bottle, although I have heard that when there?s a blue moon you can find these in 330 ml bottles too. Anyway it?s a dark brown bottle with a black label, uncluttered by today?s standards, as principally all the label says is ?Theakston Old Perculier?

Of course, you can also get this product in a much superior draught form ? the packaging when you see it then is a pint glass. (In pubs when on draught, you could expect to pay anything up to £2.30 or more actually per pint!!)

PRODUCT

Open the bottle, and pour into your glass. My preference for temperature of Old Perculier (OP to its friends) is slightly chilled, but not refrigerated. Pour into the glass with some caution ? whilst not a very lively beer, if you pour this too fast into the glass, a large head will form.

If you smell bottled OP whilst it?s being poured you will note a distinctive malty smell, which disappears once the beer has settled in the glass. Once settled, the beer doesn?t really smell of anything.

OP is a very dark beer. The head soon dies away to leave a very small collar of froth. Hold the beer up to the light and the beer turns a lov
ely crimson red in colour.

All that is well and good, but seriously, who actually cares about the colour, so long as its not bright green or something?

TASTE

Can?t tell you what the first gulp tastes like ? it didn?t touch the sides. But the second will be much the same. Here goes, and it?s only for your benefit that I do this? glug? glug? erm? better have another drink? Its not got a powerful taste at all, it has a slight bitter aftertaste, which I?ve only really noticed because I?m sat here thinking about it. But the taste when drinking, well, I can?t really describe it ? unless I use the words ?it?s nothing really?. Which isn?t what you?d expect.

But, this makes OP deceptively easy to drink. As it has no real taste, its easy to quaff, but it?s ABV is a surprising 5.6%.

SUMMARY

Do I like this beer? Yeah I do. It?s one of my favourite bottled beers actually. The bitter aftertaste, whilst not overpowering, does linger, and I like that. Not everyone will. For me, there?s something I can?t describe about this beer, but it just hits the spot every time.

PRICE

Usually around £1.75 a bottle in supermarkets, but at my mum?s local corner shop, its £1.25 a bottle ? total bargain. Similarly, Safeways (at least in Chesterfield) are running a deal where if you buy 6 bottles of certain beers you get £3 off the total. I did this and bought 6 bottles of OP, which made them £1.25 a bottle. Nice!!!

Thanks for reading this. Your comments and ratings are, as always, welcome.

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