Bottle conditioned Old Ale. Excellent! Rich Imperial Stout aroma. Ruby port colour. Tastes like a cross between an Imperial Stout and a Kriek Lambic. Light but oily texture with an acid oak bite. Damn, this is a fine ale! Complex and different enough to provide hours of amusement, but very tasty and drinkable - some challenges for the unwary, but the challenges come with stabilisers.

Cherry sherry and better pepper in winey honey…Bitter butter and ample apples in silky milk…Time for my pills…(Mine too was 9%)

Red-amber, hazy; yellow rim, fast gone. English hops smell, alcohol (brandy-like) and brambles, very specific. Slight acidity, sweetness, fruit (brambles, sloeberries). Citrus retronasal. Oily mouthfeel, very nice aromas untile in the aftertaste. Nice beer, quite in the line of other Gale's ales.

<i>Bottled, 2005 vintage &#40;10%&#41;.</i> Clear brownish amber. Aroma of toffee and dry white wine. Richly malty with some peppery brandy character. There’s some leather, lactic acidity and licorice.Complex andvery interesting.

Probably the most expensive bottle of beer I have purchased. Was it worth it? Well what I got was a bronze coloured ale tasting a bit like a port.Strong inviting aroma ansd a compex mix of tastes.Strong alcohol presence with some sweetness but not overpoweringly so. The bottle said 10 per cent not 9. A unique, well balanced ale-not sure though if it really was worth the price but its too late to worry about that.