Beer: Old Tom

This beer is (a) dark ale from Frederic Robinson Ltd (www.frederic- robinson.com) and although it features a cat on the label, I thought I would give it a try. This turned out to be a good decision because it is Delicious.  Apparently, the brewers of Old Tom are very proud of their product and want you to know it was voted World’s Best Ale in 2009 at the World Beer Awards.  For all I know the WBA could consist of a dozen Englishman sitting around on a patio and drunkenly distributing praise upon whatever beer was closest...I have yet to do any research, but I am ready to submit an application for a position on their prestigious board.  I do not see this becoming a favorite of mine, but it is a decent beer.  The back label describes the beer as having a “port wine finish,” and as I have never been a fan of port wine, perhaps this can account for me merely enjoying the beer without feeling the need to rearrange the hierarchy of beers in my top 5 (or 10) beer list(s).  Perhaps my deep mistrust of cats keeps me from displaying over amorous praise for this product, but I don’t care.  By naming the brew Old Tom the brewers were obliged to put a cat on the bottle (tom cat? just making sure we’re all on the same page).  The only other option may have been a seedy looking caricature of a tramp, which probably would not have a broad commercial appeal.  Buy it, don’t buy it, I don’t care, but, the fact that it has an ABV of 8.5% may sway your decision.  It certainly helped me get past the cat on the label.

Cheers.

Old Tom Strong Ale:  Strong enough to hold up my window.