Gold Label (formerly Whitbread)

Brewed by Samlesbury (InBev UK - InBev)
Style: Barley Wine
Preston, England

Canned. A light amber coloured beer with hardly any head. I had much trepidation opening this beer which I picked up in the bargain section of Sainsburys for 60p, but my first impressions were pretty good. The aroma had alcohol but also a sweet wheatiness and banana note reminiscent of a weizenbock. The taste is similar. More bananas and alcohol. Caramel and buttery malts also. Not my idea of a barley wine, more a beer ofits own making.

Page 497 of Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide and had that the Green Tree pub in Bath. A very English barley wine and a simple beer and in this case is not a bad thing. Caramel, raisin’s and yes MJ I get the hints of Apricots. This is the first beer from your Great Beer Guide that I have rated since your passing and thank you for painting such a romantic picture of beer and the poetic that you waxed in your writings. They have inspired me to travel to seek out these beers and learn their history. You will be missed by many. Only 186 of your Classic 500 Brews to go.

LCRBM2. Caramelish lager like and very harsh beer. Not very good imo. More a malt liquor than a barley wine.

LCRBM2. Red amber. Wooden, light dusty vineous nose. Flavors along the same line - light dust, nuts, vineous. Oily mouthfeel. Wooden finish.

I’m with highlandlad on this, it’s more a malt liquor than a barley wine. There is no way the reputation of barley wines should be sullied by having this alcohol bomb wrapped in with them. This was a clear amber with a dishwater head. Smells of metho, although on tasting there is a bit more of a malty presence which gives it a modicum of respectability. A little sweet with some bitterness layering on the rear of the tongue, but it’s thankfully drinkable. It is nice carbonated, and with a medium body it seems to carry the obvious flaws a bit better than it should, but it’s still a fraud.

A crude, aggressively alcoholic English barley wine with none of the sophistication of the best of the style. This one came in a squat gold can that looked more like a cheap malt liquor than a barley wine. In a chalice, clear bronze with a tall, loose inch of suds that suffered a quick recession. Highly perfumed floral aroma but artificial like Parma Violet candies. Also some honey, crushed grapes and enough raw alcohol to tickle the throat. Medium bodied but oily and flat. Very spiritous flavour and sticky sweet. Some quince paste but mainly Seville orange tartness and alcohol. Very peppery, warming finish. You really need to enjoy the taste of raw alcohol to find much pleasure in this. In the barley wine family tree, this is the black sheep living in a trailer park next door to the malt liquors. (330ml can from Amatos. Best before 31/3/07)

LCRBM2. Rich clear amber colour. Smells of chlorine. Malt in mouth. Strong alcoholic and crude. Oh dear.

Reddish amber coloured with a very small head and litlle carbonation. Fruity malty alcoholic aroma. Strong ending, a little alcoholic, dryer near the end.