Gales Conquest Ale Masterbrew

Formerly brewed at Gales
Style: Barley Wine
Horndean, England

(Bottle, 2001 vintage) Pours a murky brown with black flakes (black pepper-like)and a thin white head. Aroma of scotch, caramel, and malt. Flavor of mlat with spices (nutmeg and cinnamon). Alcoholic palate.

Beer pours murky amber in color. Aroma is very refined, old aged quality with vinous port qualities. Flavor is sweet and the mouthfeel is flat. I struggle with the no carbonation aspects of these English barleywines.

Bottle. Nose like a sweet mead/port. The nose is absolutely magnificent. It is the most perfect smelling barleywine. The beer is very flat. Notes of honey, and flatness. After such a great nose, the taste is a real let down. Notes of cherry, syrup, light peanuts.

Vintage 2001, as all bottles are it seems. Swirling, oily, hazy, amber/brown with floaties. Soft, peaty whisky, woody aroma, like diving into a Christmas pudding that had raisins, lots of alcohol, and had been stuck under the floorboards since last year for maturing. Too much alcohol in the aroma, though not terrible. Slightly thin, but a nice flavor of whisky, raisins, and somehow the frosting on cupcakes (fairy cakes in the UK). Always interesting, these beers, even if not wondrous.

cloudy brown with no head. black specks floating throughout this, like someone dumped pepper in here. aroma is alcohol and dark fruits with some smoke. taste is caramel and plum. very dry. finish is sweet grape and sour.

I am still trying all the Gales beers I can get my hands on. Pours a deep ruby red with just a few bubbles. The aroma is sour cherries with a hint of lemon zest and some maple. Also there are some raisins in here. The taste is funky blue cheese with some vineous notes. Also, there are some notes of prunes and a salty finish. This one is a typical example from Gales, but a little more drinkable than some of their others.

1/28/05 @ Old Toad, Rochester NY: A mostly clear, rich copper orange color fills the glass, leaving a tiny white head on top. The aroma is mild overall, starting out quite sweet with notes of sugary malt, toasted malt, bitter apples, and yeast. Towards the middle to end, the aroma leads into a more sour scent, with notes of sour yeast, and soured beer. The palate really surprised me here. For a barley wine, the body was thin to medium at best, with mild sprizter-like carbonation. After a few years of aging, the hops have really died down, leaving a very mildly hopped barley wine that starts out with lots of sweet, sugary & toasted malts, then hits on some light spice notes of corriander and orange peel, finally followed by hints of yeast and sour, infected beer (mild, background). I’ve heard this slightly sour beer taste is signature gales(?). Very different from the average barley wine.

Guest Draft at the Old Toad. Pours very thin for a barley wine. First of this lighter style that Ive tried. Smells almost like a Flemish Sour Ale but is definitely a barley wine. Pours pale amber with higher than usual carbonation. Tastes bitterly sweet with alittle watery mouthfeel. This was an exotic treat that seems to be getting a bad rap from this sight. Once you get passed the original awkwardness of the style, youll appreciate the subtle apple and cherry undetones.