Gales Jubilee Ale

Formerly brewed at Gales
Style: Barley Wine
Horndean, England

Serve in Snifter

Seems to have been released in 2002. Aroma of dark fruit and alcohol. Not plummy, just dark. The color is brandy with ruby glints. Head? At 12% and aged, I don’t think so. Starts with wood, smooth malt sweetness, some arguable raisin. Finishes astringent rather than bitter. Very smooth. There is some bitter in the finish, and it arguably balances the malt. The finish suggests aging in brandy barrels. Get this if you can. There will be no more. In February there were a very few at Tops in Phoenix. Reminds me of the stronger Sam Adams beers. Like weak Calvados, rather than strong beer. Here’s to Gales. May it long be remembered.

Bottle. Amber. No carbonation. Aroma: Wood, cherry. Flavor: Raisins, caramel, dry finish.

Pulled the cork from this bottle and poured a nice dark liquid. Last of the pour was sediments from the bottom. I smelled immediatley the raisons, [plums and perhaps a small amount of alcohol. First taste was sharp with bitterness, but not totally undrinkable. I would recommend that this beer be a sipper.

Cold 9.3oz bottle: Pours a clear dark copper color with red overtones and no bubbles. Aroma is of alcohol and some rich malts . Taste is of whiskey, malt, wood and smoke. Watery texture, smooth and mildly carbonated. Ending is of malt, alcohol and earthy hops.

9.3 oz. This is just a random little curiosity peeking out from the shelves at Big Star the other day. You can tell how still it is just from the *sound* of the pour: dead, splooshy plops. And for some reason I seem to be a magnet for the unfermented sugars of the world this evening: more enormous sticky-sweet notes as soon as you stick your nose in the glass. Raisins and port and plums. Just a dark fruit, um, jubilee. If you will. Unrelentingly sour and flat from the attack through the finish...blecch. No wonder a 4-year-old barleywine was so reasonably priced. I guess no matter how cynical you get about retail pricing, it’s never enough to keep up.

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.