Gales Jubilee Ale

Formerly brewed at Gales
Style: Barley Wine
Horndean, England

Poursa deep brown hue with no head at all. Aromas of toffee, brandy, a light chocolate tinge with some roasted nuts, and some herbs. Wow... very intense, and one can sense the alcohol just by smelling it. Mouthfeel is medium bodied. Flavors of greenery, very pinesy yet not in the hop kinda way as the bitterness is kept to a minimum. Flavors of prunes, old caberney, a little cherry and a some dates thrown in for good measure. Alchohol isn’t early as noticable as the the aroma suggests. very nice.

I hate this new bloody ratebeer timeout feature - give me a break. Tasted in Toronto, obtained from PLumpjacks in Noe San Francsisco. Appearance is dirt brown colour, opaque, no head, intense alcohol presence. Aroma is vinious, wine like with prune or raisin smell. Flavour is intense - winey with a prune like after taste, not very sweet but very very fermented. Alcohol presence is difficult to assess, but somehow there is evidence of its existence...Christmas pudding personified...

Pours without any head (bottle was straight up) so the glass is squeaky clean. Cloudy amber color with yeast left in bottle. No carbonation and medium bodied. Nose is alcohol and vinious. Starts on the sweet side not cloying, the high abv is not noticeable, some sourness (raisin??) is there, great barleywine. The 275ml bottle is not enough, $5.49 from Oliver’s Beverage Albany, NY.

Pours a dark ruddy red and brown. No head at all. The aroma is all English barley wine with caramel and toffee. Also some earthy mushrooms and some bread. The taste is very different. A rich mix of oak, toffee and some cocao powder. The mouthfeel is dry and almost abrasive. No carbonation. Some smoke and gooseberries in the finish. This is the driest barley wine I have ever had. Very fascinating.

Bottled: Beautiful clear amber coloured. No head at all. Raisin, prunes, sweetness and alcohol in the nose. Fruit (prunes and raisins again), sweet alcohol and some caramel notes. Is surprisingly smooth and somewhat flat due to absence of carbonation. Is very alcoholdense in the end, and a strong warmth hits your lips and palate. Nice one, but I’m wondering if its not a bit over the top?

Very little aroma to speak of. Dry, some malt and woody notes. Color is light brown. Carbonation is very light, almost no head to speak of. Small wispy bubbles form around outside ring of beer to glass and hold for the duration. So far, I’m not too impressed with the aromas or visuals of this beer, than I take a sip....and am almost knocked out of my chair. This beer has a huge body and thick mouthfeel that belies the visual impression. Malts, sweet roasted stone fruits, such as figs, raisins and prunes. Port wine and treacle. Very little hops to speak of. Alcohol warms in the finish. Gets to be a bit cloying towards the bottom of the glass, but I can forgive that because of all the rest of the stellar atributes this beer has in the taste. This has been cellaring for about 2 years now and has aged well.

Brown muddy colour with no head. Rum and rasin aroma. Port like warm mouth feel, hint of rasins and caramel. Takes a bit of getting use to.

Maple syrup-y aroma with a faint smell that leaves me thinking this is going to be high in alcohol (well, that, and the label that says 12%). Dark coppery cloudy color with no head. Strong flavors of maple and alcohol. Interesting stuff.