OLD SPECKLED HEN
Greene King
UK, 3.8% ABV
There must be some kind of unwritten law that brewers adhere to which states that the more ridiculous the name of an ale, the better – or more authentic – they’ll hope we’ll think it is. You get the feeling that most of these daft names have just been dreamt up at the fag-end of various beer festivals (‘Yeah, we’ll call it Crusty Nun – sounds like a winner.’) but some of them do have a genuine reason for being called something daft. A case in point is Old Speckled Hen, a name which doesn’t actually have anything to do with farmyards or indeed hens. The ale was first brewed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The factory used an old MG car as a sort of run-around, and over time, this unusual, canvas-covered saloon became covered with flecks of paint and the locals began referring to it as the ‘old speckled ‘un’, which gradually mutated into the ‘old speckled hen’, and thus a (admittedly parochial) legend was born. The beer is available by cask or in bottles (it’s the number one choice at check-outs for those hankering after premium bottled ale) and its popularity is no doubt helped by the fact that the drink is a finely-balanced pale ale with a subtle blend of flavours. Apparently the brewers – Morland – use a unique strain of yeast first used in 1896, predating even the ‘old speckled ‘un’. (The MG factory, inevitably, closed in 1980.) RM
