Hardy's Ale gets lost in the system

THIS is a sad story about Thomas Hardy's Vintage Ale , a great, pioneering English beer and our Beer of the Week. It's been saved from oblivion only by the extreme efforts of an importer only to be frustrated by distance and America's weird, post-Prohibition "three- tier" system that separates brewers and importers from their retail customers by a middle-tier system of distributors.

You and I, the beer drinkers, only see the beer at our favorite store or on tap at our local pub. But a vast distribution network is behind the scenes. When Prohibition ended in 1933, the government did not want to let the brewers controlthe pubs.

All but the smallest brewers and importers are forbidden to sell directly to retailers. Instead "distributors" receive the product and sell to retailers. If you're selling mass-market beer, the system works.

The rub comes with low-volume craft beers and imports, the kind we care about. There are fewer and fewer distributors and each is loaded with very fine craft and import brands, so many beers get lost in the shuffle.

Which brings us to poor old Tom Hardy.

Thomas Hardy's Ale was first brewed in 1968 by the Eldridge Pope Brewery in Dorchester, England at the request of the Thomas Hardy Society to mark the 40th anniversary of novelist Thomas Hardy's death. Most of Hardy's classic novels, including "Return of the Native" and "Tess of the d'Urbervilles," are set around Dorchester and on the lonely moors there.

A commemorative beer was a natural. British beer writer Roger Protz notes, "Thomas Hardy once described the beer of Dorchester as '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 in taste; but, finally, rather heavy.'"

When Thomas Hardy's Ale was first made, it was the strongest beer in Britain: 11.25 percent alcohol by volume, triple-fermented and blended from several brews. It became a cult beer in England. In 1986, George Saxon, of Phoenix Imports, Ellicott City, Md., began importing it.

But the Pope family closed the brewery in 1996, and a successor folded in 2000.

To save the beer, Saxon bought the brand and commissioned O'Hanlon's Brewing, Whimple, Devon, England to make it. A great ending to a valiant effort by a guy who loves beer? Not quite.

There's the knotty distributor problem. Saxon's Bay Area distributor, Conquistador, has closed. The sole California distributor is in Southern California. So the only retailer for the beer in the Bay Area is Beverages & More.

Although the 2006 has just been released, the last version BevMo has is the 2004. I found a bottle in the Orinda store on Friday -- $4.99 for an 8.5-ounce bottle.

This is a superb beer. Wine lovers may scoff, but beers like this precious ale can age and change, just like a fine cabernet. And the 2004 Thomas Hardy's in nearing its prime. Brewed with Maris Otter malt and finished with Fuggles and East Kent Goldings hops, it's bottle-conditioned -- fresh yeast is added to each bottle so fermentation continues slowly and hops and malt and alcohol blend like a fine sherry.

The 2004 has a malty nose, molasses, dark fruit with a warming alcohol note. Taste is incredibly smooth, malt, some hops and a whoosh of alcohol that lasts and lasts.

Here's the bad news: BevMo's Amy Gutierrez says the entire chain has about 25 bottles in stock. That's it. It's the old American beer desert dilemma: We've got cheap, tasteless beer in cans coming out our ears, but a world-class beer like Thomas Hardy's Ale is unattainable.

Urge your favorite retailer to stock it. Help create a groundswell of support. Let's save a classic beer from oblivion. Make it a mission. And if you love strong aged beer and get a chance to try Thomas Hardy's, do it.

Beer ratings are based on a star system. -- world classic; -- outstanding; -- excellent; -- good; -- average.

Staff writer William Brand publishes What's On Tap, a consumer craft beer and hard cider newsletter. His column runs every other week. Write him at whatsontap@sbcglobal.net or P.O. Box 3676, Walnut Creek, CA 94598, or call (510) 915-1180.

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