6.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Golden; hazy; wheaty aroma, w/slight citric hop note; soft, creamy body; still finishes refreshing despite its lightness, lack of acidity and general malt-accent.
Tried
on 21 Aug 2002
at 17:03
5.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
Sampled cask conditioned at Shepherd's Inn, Melmerby, Cumbria.
Pale orange. Hay aroma. Sweet, medium bodied. Aromatic nose. Slight unpleasant hint of sweet corn in the finish.
Pale orange. Hay aroma. Sweet, medium bodied. Aromatic nose. Slight unpleasant hint of sweet corn in the finish.
Tried
from Cask
on 19 Aug 2002
at 07:05
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
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 :-)
Tried
on 13 May 2002
at 05:29
4.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 4
Flavor 3
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
Brown coloured. Raisin sweet. Remarkably thin (for being 10.0%) with big alcoholic punch. Only lightly hopped.
Tried
on 25 Feb 2002
at 15:15
8.4/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
2024-08-22, vintage 2004, best before 03/2009, 6-3-7-3-12=31
The cork is in good conditions, surprisingly it's wet. Dull, very light acidity, no malt depth, a bit earthy. It's not exactly oxidized, but it's not very pleasant either.
2016-10-21, vintage 2005, 11 years old, 7-4-7-3-14=35
The cork was perfectly preserved in good conditions; nice aroma, Sherry-like, a bit mellow; the mouthfeel is getting thinner, the flavor is dusty, with hints of cocoa, and there is some oxidization, not very pleasant in the final.
Not bad, interesting, but declining.
2014-10-25, vintage 2005, 9 years old, 7-4-8-4-15=38
Cork was in perfect shape; the beer is lively, chocolatey, moderately sour, with lean body. Some roasted hazelnuts in the final.
2013-05-02, traditional corked bottle at Kulminator, Anwerp, vintage 1982, 31 years old, 8-5-6-2-13=34
Bright brown color, clean, and expectedly flat, no head. The aroma is interesting, old leather, light tobacco, old wet wood. The mouthfeel is a bit oily; there is caramel flavor, quite dry, no residual sweetness; also the typical sourness in not noticeable; it has some kind of woody bitterness, and some feeling of old cardboard and dust, although it's not the same as normal oxidization; very light Porto wine; moderate alcohol warmth.
Quite weird experience, but still an experience.
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.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Sep 2001
at 10:08
7.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Just sampled a 3 year old bottle (1998 in 2001). Very nice. Very cloudy light brown, light carbonation, yet no head no lace - to be expected from its age. Still enough carbonation to lighten the palate a little for this strong ale. Aroma is very nice - expertly balance with some nice floral/grassy hop and strong fruity malt. Flavor was mild on the hops though - a good undercurrent of bitterness but little hop flavor. Strong malt flavor but not overwhelming or overly fruity. Strong alcohol burn, with lingering alcohol aftertaste. The alcohol dominates to the point of ruining any complexity that may be present in the malt - but it remains fairly smooth (though not as smooth as others). Overall a very enjoyable glass - and interestingly I’m very curious to see what a younger bottle may taste like - I’m guessing the alcohol burn may not be as strong in younger bottles. If I’d read the above before purchasing this 2000 bottle in 2005, I could have saved myself the money and unhappy experience of drinking this one. At 5 years, the malt is more prominent, but this bottle lost nearly all carbonation, and was over-attenuated to the point of being almost watery. Raisiny plummy aromas dominate. Somewhat astringent and puckering with a sherry-like oxidation. I’ll leave my original numbers in tact, but this one wasn’t drinkable.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Jun 2001
at 22:58
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 7.5
Robust and complex, earthy English ale. ...................................
Tried
on 05 May 2001
at 12:16
7.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
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.
Tried
on 27 Apr 2001
at 21:55
8.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
Similar to the POA in its rich fruitiness, smooth malt palate, silky finish and undeniable complexity.
Tried
on 06 Apr 2001
at 02:52
9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 10
Texture 10
Overall 9
Excellent beer. Stylish and complex. Dark fruit flavours, smooth malt palate and a hint of acidity in the finish. I've got some of this in my cellar.
Tried
on 08 Dec 2000
at 18:29