Gales Jubilee Ale

Formerly brewed at Gales
Style: Barley Wine
Horndean, England

Ratebeer, stop allowing me to leave comments BEFORE I login, so I lose it all when I hit the back button. Anyway, this was obviously spoiled because despite being corked, and it sucked, even though the malty, raisiny nose showed promise. Flat and sour by the time I got to it. Will rerate if I get the chance.

Dark cidery brown with huge chunky sediment and no apparent head at all. Aroma is rich and raisiny. Taste is even more so, and some soy sauce to boot. Actually somewhat unpleasant, but still interesting $2/9.3oz

Muddy amber body with no head. The aroma is pine, caramel and toffee. The flavor is tart cherry, lots of toffee and some band-aid. Medium body, low carbonation and syrupy. It did smell nice.

Botted 2002; tasted at cellar temperature November 2006.

The cork comes out with nary a whisper, but even before I pour the rich brandy-colored liquid into my glass, I can smell its caramel richness. There is no head on the pour at all, and beer is entirely flat; nonetheless it’s beautiful, rich in tone and texture, deep in color.

The aroma is powerful and very British-barleywine, full of rich caramel with ample woodiness and just a hint of orange. I personally find British barleywines to be a challenge in their flavors: like others of the style this is an acidic, vinous barleywine. Early flavors of caramel and prunes blends with complex wood flavors before turning to the acidic, almost sour flavors that I find so difficult especially at first sip but which become more appealing as my palate adjusts over the course of five ounces or so. The woody complexity is really impressive; the finish comes back together nicely and is still adequate dry, even after four-plus years of aging. The mouthfeel is completely without carbonation and the texture is very smooth, with the alcohol more apparent in the rich texture than in any heat that comes through.

This is clearly a beautifully crafted beer, and I’m enjoying a lot, though it certainly is much more challenging for me to get around than most of the American barleywines. It’s well worth the effort.

2002 Vintage Poured a hazy copper color with a minimal off-white head. Almost still. Sweet dark fruity aroma with notes of wood, raisins, dried apples, hint of spice and light alcohol. Fruity flavor wit a tart but dry and tannic bitter finish. Full bodied with a light syrupy mouthfeel.

Bottle: Courtesy of Styles. Aroma has strong notes of raisin, light grape, prunes, caramel, and light alcohol. Pours a bright reddish-orange with an almost non-existant head, only a few stray bubbles. Flavor leans strong towards watery apple juice with faint hints of caramel. There’s a touch of sourness with some woody bitterness in the finish. This didn’t hold up well at all. Thin and slight watery mouthfeel.

Nice. The body of this retired ale is a cloudy chestnut; its white head barely living past the pour. It smells like an aged wine with scents of figs & dates, alcohol, molasses, and dusty caramel & toffee. It’s quite smooth, warm, and friendly on the tongue. Tastes like a wine made of dried fruits, caramel, light brown sugar... wood. The alcohol is there, but it blends in wonderfully. The finish is slightly tart with a low alcohol burn. Nice.

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Big thanks to my co-worker Josh (from Capical Ale House: Innsbrook) for sharing this beauty. Great beer from this now out-of-business brewery. 2002 vinatge that starts with a nice ruby-brown body with a thin off-white head. Great aroma, somewhat musky and earthy, though with some distinct fruit accents. Taste was typical of Gales, tart and sour, though in this case there was a very nice peach mid-taste with a nice tart ending.