Gales Prize Old Ale (1920s - 2006)

Formerly brewed at Gales
Style: Old Ale
Horndean, England

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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Bottled. Clear dark ruby color and neither head or carbonation. Lightly sour and vinous aroma with alcohol and berries. Sweet flavor with some alcohol, mould, cellar, stock and roasted malt. Sweet, lightly sticky and medium mouthfeel. It certainly cellars well, and the alcohol stays, even after almost 25 years they say !!!

[only 2 years old] The aroma is fruity with notes of grapes, yeast, wine, and alcohol. The color is dark brown - opaque with no head. The flavor is round and rather sweet and fruity with notes of plums. It is rather complex, a little acidic with no bitterness. It has a good palate, but it is very light for a 9% ABV. I had expected more, but maybe that's because of the youth of my sample.

27.5 cL bottle. Pours hazy brown/redish with a completely diminished off-white head. Mouldy and malt sweet aroma. Slight note of raisins. No carbonation. Thick malty flavour, dry and heavily oxidiced. Ends very dry. Needs a rerate.

UPDATED: JUL 30, 2005 (Bottle 27,5 cl) Vintage 2004 Almost mahogany - "Cuba-mahogany", Pernille claims - a statement I didn’t inquire any further into. Almost completely absent head. Lovely nose of port. Pronounced sweetness and lots of complex flavours of dried fruit. And yet manages to remain rather dry. Probably wil improve a lot with aging, so I guess I’ll store the rest of my sixpack till I retire. 010605

(Bottle 27,5 cl) Vintage 1988 7/4/5/3/12=3,1 280705

UPDATED: DEC 13, 2011 Bottled. Hazy brown colour, no head at all. Cognac aroma (alcoholwise), also plum, yeast and caramel. Bitter soapish plummy flavour at first, then it turns sweet sugary plummy. Wellbalanced. Long caramellish plummy aftertaste. Alcohol in flavour.

UPDATED: FEB 22, 2005 Bottled (2 different bottles), 2004 vintage. Cloudy ruby, very lively. The cork shoots off with a big bang and leaves a sour, yeasty cloud behind it. Citric like lambic. Vinous and fruity, behind the acid some toffee and a little bit of alcohol. It might gain from aging, but I’m not very likely to waste my money and shelf space.
Bottled (Milestone’s Pale Ale) Bottled (corked). Nut brown. Pours thick. Aroma of plums vinegar and dried fruit. Strange mellow maltiness, lightly acidic. Sweet and syrupy. Sweaty thick bitter finish. Although not bad, this is nowhere near George Gale in top shape. Must be brewed on a monday morning.

UPDATED: OCT 31, 2005 Bottled. Clear orange coloured with no head. Aroma of cheese, caramel and dried fruits with fruity notes. Unpleasant flavour of sherry, wood, cheese and dried fruits. Not my style.

Bottle. 2003 vintage. Hazy amber colour with almost no head. Malty aroma with some fruitiness. Malty fruity flavor with hints of raisins. Long fruity aftertaste.

UPDATED: SEP 14, 2007 2005: Word is out that this year was "a bad year". Anyway had to try it myself. Brown orange clear with no head. Strong sweet port aroma. Sweet malty thin alcohol taste. Very harsh & no carbonation. Almost Sour. First mouthfull in the sink! I believe 2005 was the shit in the wrong way! 2005 version tasted again and rating went from 1,6 to 3,8. Very complex full bodied warm brew. Dark fruits , roasted malts (caramel) & sugar. Long finish! Nice!

UPDATED: JAN 24, 2012
2011-11-04, traditional corked bottle at Plan B, Copenhagen, vintage 2005, 6 years old, 7-4-7-3-13=34
Oxidized, with malty flavor, no bitterness, quite some liquorice and very low wood character. The aroma is a bit sherry like.

2010-02-22, traditional corked bottle, vintage 2005, 4+ years old, 8-4-8-4-17=41
Dark brown color, no carbonation, no head. Aroma of caramel and malt, sweet and woody, nutty, lightly vinous. Smooth mouthfeel, with caramel flavor, light oxidization, light fruity touch, wood character; there is very little sourness left, no bitterness and almost no sweetness (not dry yet); average alcohol perception. The final gets a bit drier. Harmonious and complex.
A real Sherry!

2009-05-15, cask conditioned at Københavnske Øldage 2009, cask from 2006, 3 years old, 8-5-8-4-17=42
Hazy amber color. The usual Gale’s aroma, more mature than usual, vinous. Good body, good caramel flavor, fruity, a bit oxidized, an oak touch, light sweetness. Great!

2001-09-30, the beer comes in an old style bottle, corked; it’s a 1997 vintage (4 years old) and served at 14°C, 5-3-8-3-14=33
A strong and fast malt aroma. This brew is medium-bodied, for its strength, malty; but the sweetness is balanced by a remarkable sourness, like a Belgian Oud Bruin; there are liquorice hints and a wooden cask flavour. The palate is correctly bitter, but not enough aromatic.