Pours is a deep orange with almost no head. Aroma is very sweet and malty. I mean very,very sweet and malty. Flavor is like apple candy with some bittler ness in the end. its very grainy and thick as it goes down and then you get a warming from the alcohol. Pretty decent if you can find a bottle.

2001 bottle. Oh boy, it tastes almost identical to the 95 Prize Ale. That is to say, oxidized, lots of watery grapes/vinegar flavor, some chewy grain and a blush wine sugary finish. Like I'm drinking apple cider that has fermented and oxidized too long. Moderately acidic. Pours an olive-brown, very murky, no head. Smells like watery apple/grape cider. Certainly unique, I just dont like it. It's like wine made from grains.

I always appreciate the effort in a corked beer but this brew left something to be desired. Pours a pulpy amber-gold color with a medium beige head. Aroma of fruit and a little bit of hops. Medium-bodied with a highly vinous aspect to it. The bottle calls this a Pale Ale but I just don't see it. A sour-ish fruit flavor dominates, both apple and apricot. There may be other flavors lurking in the background but the tart fruit overpowers them. The finish is tart and a little oily. Not a terrible beer but I was somewhat disappointed.

I have this written down as a 2002, so it’s probably that 2001 brewed batch. How’s it doing? Seems like the scores are pretty poor. I gave it a 3.5 fresh and it, to me, has improved from that. It has a golden-amber colour and no head, but there’s still a little bit of carbonation. The aroma is honeyish, fruity - very meadlike and rounded. It’s very tart on the palate, but pulls some wonderful dark fruit notes. It’s a stylish vintage, with the classic Gale’s tartness we know from POA. The vibrant fruitiness lends it a lot of style. There’s still some sugars, though. I wouldn’t keep it more than another 3-4 years and I don’t know that it will improve over that span, just change some more. And I think it’s pretty tasty right now.