Old Speckled Hen: What's in a name?

If given an indiscriminate sip of Old Speckled Hen (Greene King, 5.2% abv.), that is without knowing the name of the beer I was sampling, I'd probably nod appreciatively, maybe smack my lips a bit at the lingering bitterness, and move on to something else. But there's something about that name -- Old Speckled Hen.

I was first introduced to Speckled (or should it just be hen?) at Brew Zoo in Altoona, Pa., the home-away-from-home for the father of a good friend of mine. I should clarify: Brew Zoo, not Altoona. Never is the kid-in-a-candy-store cliche more apt. Set this man inside Brew Zoo and sheer hilarity will ensue. That hilarity followed by the passing of wads of money from his hand to the cashier's, then an equally hilarious ride home with several cases of beer sloshing around the roomy trunk of a Chevy Suburban. The man likes beer, and on that day in December, he liked Speckled Hen (sounds better) more than most.

"It's spectacular," he told me as he hoisted a case from the bottom shelf -- it would join the nearly full case he already had sitting in his garage and the three random cases he'd picked up that day. We'll see if it holds up to that endorsement in a bit.

But that name, what of it? It wasn't until this evening, my fridge barren save for two bottles of Speckled Hen (left over from a weekend visit from said friend) and a few Yuenglings, that I decided to get to the bottom of it. First, I opened a bottle to get me in the right frame of mind. Then it was off to Google.

The story befits our current economic conundrum, what with on-the-brink car companies announcing cutbacks almost daily. Abingdon, U.K., home of Morland Brewery, became home to British automaker MG in 1929. At the time, MG was tinkering with a demo dubbed the Speckled Hen. Fast forward 50 years: Morland introduces Old Speckled Hen to mark the company's 50th anniversary in Abingdon. Then, go figure, the MG plant shut down. So much for a thanks.

What about the proclamation of spectacularity? The beer pours a deep amber with about 1/2 inch of off-white head that recedes quickly and holds on only slightly. Smells faintly of sweet caramel. My nose is stuffy, but I don't think I'd get much more even if I could smell. First sip: slightly sweet caramel, breadiness followed soon after by an almost medicinal bittnerness, which lingers. As it warms, a touch of alcohol creeps in. It's quite thin, with low carbonation. This isn't a very exciting beer, and I was put off by weird metallic tastes that, as it warmed, popped up in the finish and lingered unpleasantly. That said, if I see Speckled Hen on a menu a few years from now, assuredly I will order it, hearkening back to that day at Brew Zoo when I first heard of this funny-named beer.