Gale's Jubilee Ale (2002)
George Gale & Company Ltd

Look is a dark red, almost dark brown, Very little head is present, and almost no carbonation present. Smell is Barley, candy sugar, and spices. Bitter initially in mouthful much like most Barleywine beers but becomes very smooth towards the end of the taste. A little stickiness at the end of the taste, and a subtle aftertaste of the beer. Alcohol is almost non-existent in feel.

 

this is epic in every way, lucky to have been able to drink on this 2002 vintage at the bull and bush holiday party, which remains one of the best beer events anywhere ever. this is dead still from the bottle, brown looking with mahogany and gold hues in different light. this beer is seriously like snow whites poison apple, like, it smells sort of appley and poisony, but in a good way, its so foreign to me yet also kind of familiar, dangerous, intriguing, alluring, so complex it doesnt seem like water, hop, yeast, and barley would be capable of this kind of coming together. its still very boozy in aroma and flavor, dried fruits, apple and raisin and date, bready yeast, cognac, port wine, sherry, vanilla, cherry, tobacco, cigar, blended canadian whiskey, bread pudding, toffee, tanned leather, indian corn, bran, fig, prune, maple, brown sugar, fusel alcohol, poison. its insanely layered and i taste it forever. its weirdly sour, which i dont know if is intentional or just a product of its age. sometimes old ales or yorkshire stingo types have a weird english sourness blended in intentionally, and this might be that, definitely bacterial, nice with all the complex sweetness too, it cuts it just enough. unified, maure, and brilliant stuff. it seems made to be drank 15 years later! i am surprised this doesnt have better ratings. this is beyond beer to me, loved it!

 

 

Thanks to Oneinchaway for sharing this one at Retsinis' tasting.

Pours a murky honey orange with a foamy bone colored head that fades to nothing. No lacing on the drink down. Smell is of malt, caramel, honey, and some noticeable oxidized aromas. Taste is much the same with slightly sour and oxidized flavors on the finish. This beer has a low level of carbonation with an almost flat mouthfeel. Overall, this is an above average beer that is fairly drinkable but is showing lots of oxidation.

 

 

 

 

the pour is work. A collection of malt yeast at the bottom of the bottle that has lived there for a while. Nose of booze and honey. Palate of nice fig and acidic pollen qualities. An elixer quality of a malt magnitude. The honey sweet, pineapple, and brown sugar. Herbal mild bitter. Port sweet finish with a good hidden note. Grape tart but subtle... Apple pie malt. Overall consistent sugars and yeast protein development. Nice fluff on an eight year old beer. Good head. Good tart. Good malt.

Review from notes Aug 14, 09

A - Poured a cloudy amber brown, nearly garnet with little bits of sediment. No worries though. 4.0

S - Extremely malty and sweet. Huge aromas of figs and raisins, very ripe fruit, and a touch of maple syrup. Alcohol as well, but this is very nice. Like a fine sherry. 4.5

T - Very similar to the smell, with a lot of maple syrup and sweet maltiness. No hop presence. Immense taste of rum-soaked raisins. Similar to Thomas Hardy's Ale from 1994 but not as smooth and rich. 4.5

M - Rich and full bodied, no carbonation at all. Dry finish. 4.5

D - Definitely a sipper. But oh so good! 4.0

Came across this bottle randomly at New Beer -- there weren't any others, and it was old, so I grabbed it. Shared it out with some friends after dinner tonight. Notes:

It pours a slightly clouded, deep orange color, obviously thick. A few bubbles, but no head to speak of in the snifter. The nose -- and this is a nose, not just a smell -- is huge: big sweet toffee hit, rich malts, faint minerality, altogether complex and alluring. The taste comes up sweet, with more toffee, almost buttery, notes, hefty grain, and some bitterness in the finish. It's not as complex as the nose, but has plenty of depth to it; the alcohol is pretty well muted. It's a thick, viscous mouthful, as though someone took a good Scotch and maple syrup and stirred them together. Very easy going down. Better to sip it, I think. Wish I had another.

Bottle shared by shigadeyo.

Poured clear copper color with a diminshed and virtually no lacing. Moderate sweet complex dark fruity aroma. Medium body with a thick smooth sticky texture and flat carbonation. Moderate complex dark fruity sweet flavor with a medium to heavy sweet and alcohol burn finish that was moderate to long lasting.

This is a good complex beer.

This is my first English Barleywine, and it is a 6 year old vintage to boot, so it is hard for me to grade this beer in the context of if style and vintage, so I am going on pure, brutal, unapologetic taste here:

Beer poured like an discolored wine, no carbonation to speak of whatsoever, and a brownsh-redish color. Almost like a cloudy purple or rasberry hue. Aroma of dark fruits and red wine. Taste was prunes, figs, day-old red wine with touch of dark chocolate and a hint of sourness. Smooth, creamy texture. Complex spectrum of flavors and a nice dry finish.

This was a nice aged ale, that might have been better a year or two earlier as evidenced by the sourness. The sweet fruit flavors were a little more muted than I would have liked and there were no hops to speak of, of course.

This is a nice sipper to be had on its own, could not stand up enough to have with any food, perfect for winter in front of a fire. In fact, it almost had a winter warmer profile.

Very nice and well aged. Much like Thomas Hardy's brews, but with a ligher malt base and deeper esters. The pour brings a brandy-like appearance with stiff legging, no head retention, and a seriously viscous pour. Color range from deep chesnut to golden highlights. Aromas of all the dark, dehydrated fruits that we beer-folks use to describe such esters, all woven into a rum-like alcohol sweetness. A touch of dusty, musty notes dance around the nose. Flavors are much the same, but more reliant upon the sweet malts to cary the esters and other yeast-derived flavors. Lightly textured despite the added weight of low carbonation. Finishes with a long, sweet, lingering taste of figs and rum. Definately a sipper. Thanks Jeremy.

Picked up a 9.8oz bottle at New Beer Distributors in Manhattan. Very thick bottle, corked. Pours a cloudy red/brown, no head whatsoever, no lacing to speak of. Smell is very sweet, very similar to Samichlaus. Almost no hops to speak of. Taste is also similar to Samichlaus, but there's some more citrus notes in there, maybe some very distant earthy bitterness toward the finish. Mouthfeel is a tad thin, but sticky. I'll say what I said about Samichlaus; it's like an esoteric chilled port. It's definitely interesting and tastes very nice, but it's not something I'd drink every night.

Off notes from 3-2007. Pours a nice dark, but clear amber ruby with no head. Nose is woody, cherry, chalky. Flavor is sticky sweet with some wood influence there. I can’t really get any noticable alcohol off of it. Feel is standard. No bubble and a thicker almost syrup like liquid feel. Somewhat drinkable. Even after four years it seems to be a bit overdone and lacks any serious quality that would put it above the rest. God save the Queen!

"Premium bottle-conditioned ale. Brewed, matured and bottled in Horndean, Hampshire, U.K. to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen."

--rear label

Bright ochre that became dull, murky ochre with orange-cherry edges as the beer from the bottom of the bottle was added. Like most beer from ol' George, if memory serves, there's almost no head formation. At the moment, there's only a thin rim of beige where the upper edge of the liquid meets the glass.

The word that first comes to mind when assessing the nose is 'earthy'. The beer smells like dried autumn fruits and dried autumn leaves. There's also a hint of caramel and a wee dram of Irish whisky (since there's no peatiness that would make it Scotch whiskey-like).

Jubilee Ale is typical of beer from GG & C in that it's anything but bombastic. Five years in the bottle will do that, but I doubt that it was ever a rip snorter, even when newly bottled. In that respect, it's a quintessential English-style barleywine that is impressively gentle and well-mannered; especially given the ABV. Stately is another word that fits.

Caramel and butterscotch make up the malty portion of the flavor profile, lending the beer an English old ale or even a wee heavy vibe. Christmas fruitcake fruits make up the rest: candied cherries, dried orange peel, dates and golden raisins; all plumped and glistening after soaking in Bushmills. I was going to say Calvados since there's a definite apple brandy flavor as well. This is yummy stuff.

I hate to be too hard on the mouthfeel, but it just isn't hefty enough. It sure does make drinking a breeze, though. More substance would allow more flavor intensity and more flavor linger... which would, in turn, probably result in higher scores all around.

Gale's Jubilee Ale is a delicious 'little' sipper that needed to have set its sights higher. The rawness of the Sex Pistols' version of God Save The Queen wouldn't have worked, but polite and respectful will only get a barleywine so far.

Not for the faint of heart or the inexperienced. This may be better per style than my scores are showing but the style makes it hard for me to be objective. If you like the J.W. Lee's barley wines then this fellow is probably right up your alley.
My first impression of this guy was "watered down Sam Adams Tripel Bock". It kinda tastes like what leather clothing smells like. No carbonation whatsoever. Hints of sherry, port wine and a decided oaky character are to be found in here. Maybe something like a scotch on the rocks after the ice has spent some time melting. If that sounds like your type of beverage, and if you can still find this brew, do feel free to give it a go. I, myself, shall leave bottles I find for others to try.