Thomas Hardy's Ale 1982 vintage
A bottle of Thomas Hardy's Ale from 1982. Notice the deep ruby color of the beer, much lighter than younger versions of it.
Eldridge Pope invented the Thomas Hardy's Ale in 1968 to commemorate the 40 year since the death of English poet Thomas Hardy who in The Trumpet Major wrote of Dorchester strong beer "It was of the most beautiful colour that the eye of an artist in beer could desire; full in body, yet brisk as a volcano; piquant, yet without a twang; luminous as an autumn sunset; free from streakiness of taste, but, finally, rather heady".
The beer was an instant success and was brewed again almost every year thereafter, until 1999. That was the last vintage brewed by Eldrige Pope before the brewery went out of business.
For a couple of years the fans of Thomas Hardy's Ale were left high and dry, but pressure from the US caused the old Eldrige Pope owners to give the recipe and ownership of the Thomas Hardy's Ale to a new brewery: O'Hanlons. The new Thomas Hardy's Ale was first brewed in 2003 and has continued the success from Eldrige Pope.
Today, Thomas Hardy's Ale is one of the best known and mose cherished strong ales in the world.