Gales Christmas Ale

Formerly brewed at Gales
Style: English Strong Ale
Horndean, England

03.12.06 11.2oz bottle, 2001, HW OH. An odd mix of sherry, cork, wood, caramel, and mulling spice. This beer has seen better days, but it’s not overly oxidized. It’s more flat than I’d like, but I don’t get the impression that it was well carbonated when new. Spicy and long finish tends toward unctuous with residual hints of cooked fruits (apple, pear, plum). Ha, I’ve had much worse than this one.

On draft at Rich O’s for Gravity Head 2006. Cask pour, 2005 vintage; firkin. Sour, woody, almost fungus like aroma... like an old barn or basement (i can’t believe i just typed that!) Tastes of dark caramel. Hints of apple and dried fruits. Heavy notes of currants. Fantastic!

The only of my choices for Gravity Head that I did not greatly enjoy. Ruddy amber color with very little head. Aroma was very faint and there wasn’t anything defining. Flavor was unbalanced jumping from an initial bland watery taste to sweet uncomfortable malt, grain and then to a flash of grassy hop. Maybe some age could blend this all together, but I’m not inclined to try.

2002 vintage. This beer has an aroma of sour mash mixed with dates and hops. It is a sediment filled rusty brown color with no head. This thin beer spreads well through the mouth with a sour acidic disposition. The flavor is a nutty citrus taste that fades leaving a mild caramel taste lingering in the throat.(

Vintage 2003.. The cork looks like it was dry..... Aroma:wine aroma,light caramel... Appearance:Clear redish,no head... Flavor:I have the felling i drink a bad wine...The beer finish in the sink......

Gale’s Christmas Ale 2001 Vintage from the George Gale Brewery of Portsmouth, England. Gale’s is most famous in the beer world for their strong, corked bottles of old ale, that can be cellared, and improve with age. The most famous being their Prize Old Ale. Each year Gale’s comes out with a strong, rich, Christmas Ale as well. Gale’s Christmas Ale pours to a deep caramel color with no head and no carbonation. This beer is bottle conditioned, and sedimented with yeast, so be careful when you pour, or you will pour the dregs into the beer, and the color with become cloudy. Some beer drinkers actually don’t mind pouring the dregs in, so if you are in that camp, by all means give is a quick pour. The nose on this beer is very inviting, with aromas of sweet malt, caramel, and peppery waves of alcohol. The palate is rich and full on the tongue, the consistancy slick and syrupy as it glides over the tongue. This beer is packed with big sweet and caramel malt flavors, some plummy estery fruit flavor, and a nice underpinning of butter scotch and toffee. Gale’s Christmas Ale finishes with more big sweet and caramel malty flavors up front, and ends with a warming, soothing, high octane burn. This beer is 8.5% abv, so it is a very relaxing and comforting brew. Another outstanding Christmas ale, from one of England’s best breweries. As with many old ales, and winter warmers, I truly believe these beers are best by themselves, or if you must pair with food, make it desert.

250 ml bottle (2001). “Remove cork gently” yeah right the mofo is impossible…finally it pops and I lose a few ml of precious liquid…what’s left pours deep still mahogany with a tiny ring of lasting head….nose is port, rich and sweet and lightly vinegary and…port. Perhaps a bit of cherry-chocolate, but isn’t that part of port, too? ….body is rather sour, somewhat thin, lots of --way too much -- balsamic character and some iron-mineral bitterness towards the finish…no carbonation, some odd saltiness/soy in the mouthfeel throughout.....the sweet strong wine character doesn’t really redeem it; port isn’t one of my favorite beverages, and this isn’t one of my favorite beers.

Muddy caramel amber pour with no head. Boring aroma of caramel and fruits, it feels flat. The flavor is very unpleasant and harsh, yes there’s some caramel but it feels like something has gone bad in the bottle, infected? The palate is light and oily.