Gales Jubilee Ale

Formerly brewed at Gales
Style: Barley Wine
Horndean, England

Serve in Snifter

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No head. Body is hazy medium orange-brown, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately malty (caramel, molasses), with notes of toffee, alcohol, and peach. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic. Medium body, watery texture, flat carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Not particularly impressed, to be quite honest. Pleasant but unexciting caramel-heavy aroma, and an expectedly sweet and watery/flat mouth experience. It's a typical British barleywine in that sense, but it just doesn't do anything special for me. But then, I'm not a fan of any of the other Gale's brews I've had.

Carmel color and flat. Rich fruity aroma of plum and raisin and many other fruits that I cannot identify. it just smells good. Malty sweet flavor, that has notes of fruit and even maple syrup. No real hop to mention. A little alcohol in the background. Well aged flavor as well. A most notable find!

Had this at an impromptu beer tasting at Bon Vivant Market in Smithfield VA on 11-8-03. Thanks to Mike from Bon Vivant and Andrew from Specialty Distributors. Pours a reddish orange to copper body with nearly no head. The nose is malted with alcohol and English toffee. Taste adds a single malt whisky hint along with wood and possibly cherries. Silky smooth mouthfeel with only a lsight alcohol burn. Light tartness as well. Great beer!

Bleak caramel. Foamless. Classic Gale sweet and sour, vinous aroma. Vague notes of alcohol drenched bread, mint, cinnamon, lemon, must, caramel, ginger, apple jelly, maple, wood, diacetyl, toasted bread, metal, sherry, fig, and biscuit. Thick, soft mouthfeel. Minuscule carbonation. But who cares? Apple, iron, and concord grape notes alongside firm woodish notes, must, caramel, candied pecan, bready maris otter, and traditional earthy hops. Faint leathery bitterness. Warming vinous finish matched with mellow shades of iron and apple. Leave it to Gale and Co. to astound me yet again with their masterful display of rich, complex, luscious malts. Complex, given its array of subtleties.

Grapes dominate the aroma here, with a touch of alcohol at first. Coupled with the very silky flat palate, this seemed more like a wine than a beer. Flavor was thinner up front, most of the action was at the end - sweet malts, grape skins, a little alcohol. Exceptional.

UPDATED: MAR 29, 2003 Aroma was not that pleasant, sugary, with a little soy. Color is a redish / orange with little head. Tastes is amazingly light up front, with a big malty middle. Finish is fizzy with long lasting sugar note.

Orange brown beer. Fruity aroma with chocolate and malty tones. Almonds, kernellike. Vinous flavor with pear ,cinnamon, raisin and molasses tones. Dry with big bitter finish. Like a white german wine of really good quality paired with lots of hops. You will become a monarchist for less. Definitely one of the best beers i´ve ever tasted.

Bottled. Dark amber. Rich woody malty nose. Extremely malty, gente warming mouthfeel, incredibly rich, but still not overly sweet. Mature with notes of fine malt whiskey, really complex. By far the best example of British barleywine I’ve sampled.

I am normaly not a big fan of the high voltage beers, but this one was remarkable. A color like fine cognac or sherry and a distinct whisky aroma. The flavor was again whisky and wood. A warm fuzzy feeling spreads through the body after a sip of this beer and the tingle lasts a long time on the way home from the beer festival :-)