I never make life easy for myself. When given the chance to brew the latest trend topping flavour of the fortnight, I will invariably opt for something old and arcane and little understood by that all important but ethereally undefined god, the market. And so, we come to Sussex old ale.
If you look at a modern beer style guide, it will tell you that ‘Old Ale’ is a strong malty beer of English lineage that has aged character as part of its appeal. This is of course correct although there are precious few examples of this in the style’s native wild. Thomas Hardy’s Ale and Gales Prize Old both continue sporadically, divorced from their original breweries. Lee’s Harvest Ale calls itself a barley wine but probably can still join the club. Greene King Strong Suffolk, a vatted ale in the truest sense of the word has come and gone through the years. It currently seems to be gone and as the brewer is closing its old brewery for a new efficient shiny one and appears to be getting out of small pack beer altogether, I suspect the ale has found its throne in the afterlife.
The thing is most old ale in Britain isn’t like what is described in the style guides at all. Most beers labelled old are fresh running beers, served cask conditioned or in bottles but with no extended aging. Most of them are so moderate in alcohol they don’t fit the style guidelines specifications for ‘Old Ale’. They are a continuation of the X mild ale tradition. Fresh running ale was categorised by strength and marked with ascending X’s. Through time these mild ales whittled down to where the lowest strength X ale was mostly what was left and was known as Mild. The stronger XX ale where it exists tends to have become known as Old. So, where a Mild might be a malt accented, light to black but usually tawny to deep brown ale at about 3.5%abv, an Old, will be a dark malt accented ale at 4 to 5% (the famous northern example Old Peculier a little stronger).
Most of these beers are in the south and the county of Sussex in particular has long been associated with them. Horsham in West Sussex is a particular centre for the style as the now gone family brewer King and Barnes specialised in the style. Brewers like Hepworth and Firebird continue the tradition. In the east Harveys have a funky Old in cask through the cooler months while a year-round bottled version is oddly less alcoholic. The Longman Brewery based on a farm in the South Downs also produces an example. Outside of Sussex Adnams produces a very good example every winter.
So of course, this beer style is perfect for me. An old and arcane type of beer misunderstood by even those who are versed in beer style lore. A glorious and appropriate hard sell. It is of course also bloody delicious. There is always a silver lining.
