Theakston Old Peculier
“Legend” is a word that can be overused in today’s fawning celebrity culture, and is increasingly being applied to almost anyone and everything – even, of course, beer. As a county, Yorkshire is never shy about promoting locals to legendary greatness, whether it’s Captain Cook or Fred Trueman. However, the website of Masham brewer Theakstons claims their 5.6% ale Old Peculier is simply ‘The Legend’. Canny self-promotion? Or genuine accolade? Well, we do like a Theakstons beer on the BeerCast, as Theakston XB made it to our first ever Beer of the Year show, narrowly losing out to a festive stunner from San Francisco’s Anchor.
We tend to write one-off reviews about new, unusual or far-flung beers, as by their nature we’re compelled to try them and report what we find. But I’ve been drinking Old Peculier for years, so it’s almost unusual to try and put into words a summary of what the flavours are. It’s also quite hard, as Theakstons say in the marketing speak it has a “mysterious and distinctive flavour”. From the bottle – and it is much nicer on cask, as most things are – it’s very dark ruby, almost black, with a highly carbonated head lasting for some time. It has a rich, sweet molasses aroma, similar to the smell from a can of treacle, although with some hop and malt aromas added.
This darkness continues into the taste, the syrupy molasses cover your palate – it’s a fireside beer if ever there was one. There’s some malt components on the tongue as well, although no roast or burnt caramel flavours at all – Old Peculier is very thick and very sweet. It reminds me of a Scottish 90/- wee heavy – although at 5.6% it falls under the ceiling for those stronger beers. It’s very full-bodied though, and if anything it gets nicer as it warms because the sweetness fades into the malt. That’s where the shilling comparison ends, as they characteristically get sweeter as they warm to room temperature, but this one becomes more balanced. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to bestow legendary status on it, but as Fred might have said, it’s blooming tasty.
