7.2/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
(Bottle 33 cl) The intention was to let this bottle age and condition, but things don’t always go as expected. After about nine months in my beer closet it shot the cork through the plastic coating and released most of the liquid - what a sticky mess!! I did manage to save a bit though. Rodenbach used to have a commercial saying: "This is not beer - this is wine". With Gales X-mas you could rephrase that to "This is not beer - this is sherry". Reddish amber colour - almost like sherry. No head and completely flat. Sweetish, spicy, caramel-like nose. Again lots of spices and alcohol in the flavours. Must try this again sometime - in a fresh version. 170705
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Jul 2005
at 10:47
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
(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
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Jul 2005
at 10:07
6.5/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Muddy brown color with no head. Apples, oranges, plum wine, pears in the very complex nose. The mouth has no carbonation. Earthy, aged plum wine in the mouth with a complex plum wine like finish.
Tried
on 08 Jun 2005
at 09:26
4.1/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 4
Flavor 3
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
Pale amber, slightly hazy. Hardly any head at all. Toffee, liquorice and alcohol aroma. Thick, sweet-ish mouth-feel. Slightly sourish. Oak and cork. Harsh finish. Not my cup of tea.
Tried
on 07 May 2005
at 13:07
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottled. Clear brownish amber. Aroma of toffee and dry white wine. Richly malty with some brandy character. Peppery and somewhat acidic with notes of licorice and leather. A very interesting beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Apr 2005
at 03:32
6.9/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 9
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Bottle Pours a deep hazy amber/brown with no evidence of carbonation. Aroma are a medley of caramel, apples, vanilla, alcohol and old oak barrels. Very inviting. Flavors are similar but more woody and zero carbonation. Dark pitted fruits are coming to the front more. Very interesting though I would like to try one that I knew was a bit older to compare.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Mar 2005
at 21:11
6.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Bottle. Hazy amber with no head. Very sweet malt aroma with some vanilla, holiday spice, and orange. Fruitcake flavor with brandy and malt backing. Medium body with a lingering grape flavor.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Feb 2005
at 11:28
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
A rare beer brought by Laurent Mousson, 7 years old, in the classic Gale’s corked bottle
Brown color; almost flat. Wood, cask, cork, caramel aroma, too much alcohol. A bit thin; Madeira character, very complex and peculiar, but also too much alcoholic.
Brown color; almost flat. Wood, cask, cork, caramel aroma, too much alcohol. A bit thin; Madeira character, very complex and peculiar, but also too much alcoholic.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Feb 2005
at 15:32
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
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.
Tried
from Can
on 14 Jan 2005
at 19:37
8.8/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
(275 ml corked bottle, bought at Borough Market, London.) Bottled in 2004 (I couldn’t wait). Dark copper colour, slightly hazy, large tan head. Intense and beguiling aroma of raspberries and blackberries, spices, oak and vintage port wine or sherry. Flavour is a bit raw in the edges, as expected for a bottle this fresh. There’s plenty of sweet (but not cloying) flavour elements of malts, caramel, raisins, plum pudding, spices and old sherry. Just enough hops to stand up to the sweetness. Warming mouthfeel - I suspect the ABV had already crept well above the stated 9%. This beer really is something special! Now, I wish I had a few more bottles available for cellaring - and the character to keep them for a few years!
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Jan 2005
at 15:19