Gale's Festival Mild
Cask; Originally regular. Relegated to a principally Spring seasonal since production moved to Fullers early 2006. Has also been available bottle conditioned.
Ingredients: Floor malted Maris Otter pale ale malt, black malt and Crystal malt; Fuggles, Goldings and Challenger hops.
Full-bodied premium mild ale brewed to 4.8% ABV with a careful blend of malt and hops for a complex, moreish character that has won this famous ale many awards. The palate is rich with blackcurrant, raisins and raspberry, with citrus notes in the finish.
Ingredients: Floor malted Maris Otter pale ale malt, black malt and Crystal malt; Fuggles, Goldings and Challenger hops.
Full-bodied premium mild ale brewed to 4.8% ABV with a careful blend of malt and hops for a complex, moreish character that has won this famous ale many awards. The palate is rich with blackcurrant, raisins and raspberry, with citrus notes in the finish.
3.4
157 reviews
Chiswick, England
Community reviews
500 ml bottle from Blue Max in Burnsville, Minnesota. Shared with Gregis. Pour is mahogany to brown with no head at all. Entirely still. Aroma of somewhat burnt sweet caramel initially than it fades into a somewhat dusty nothingness. Taste is a slightly sweet, slightly smoked somewhat slick / watery beer. This is like nothing I have had before. I liked it, just a bit difficult to fit in against others.
Cask (Woolpack, Vantaa)
Very dark ruby red, loose head. Soft dark roasted malt and subtle whole hop aroma. Soft carbonation. Fills the mouth with sweet dark roasted malt, and a gentle bonus of noble hops. On swallowing, the hoppy aromas and richer burnt malts come to the fore. Excellent mild.
Cask at the Kean’s Head, Nottingham. Bizarrely for a mild, this was the strongest beer available at my local last night. It’s a lovely dark brown colour with a hint of red. The aroma has chocolate sweetness and it has a pleasingly complex flavour with fruit, mocha and some nice hop bitterness. The palate is much more full-bodied than one would expect from a mild, but that’s hardly a complaint. It’s an altogether tasty and enjoyable beer.
Cask-conditioned at the Mad Bishop and Bear, Paddington Station 12/308. Dark brown with a slight tan head. Aroma of black fruit, dark chocolate and vanilla. Flavour was sweetish, with more forest fruit and chocolate, and some earthy hops in the finish. Enjoyable.
A terrific example of what can be done at less than 5%. Chocolatey, smooth drinking. ACtive carbonation lots of lace. Dark brown with dark malt aroma.
Bottle. Another one tried in Washington DC. Was a good beer. Seemed a little strong in alcohol for a mild ale. Otherwise highly recommended
Thanks to Immy, 16.9 oz. Pours reddish brown in color with brown head. Aroma sweet, malty and nutty. Taste malty and caramel with dry finish.
This almost black beer has a low carbonation, so the head is almost non-existent. The aroma is mild with weak notes of mocca and caramel. The flavour is just as mild and smooth as the aroma, and it has a lot of discrete and nicely balanced notes like: Mocca, fruit, caramel, malt, a bit of licorice and almost no bitterness. I really like this mild ale!
Considering the style, Scores ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the most intense
Appearance:
Body: Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 3 Light Brown(1)->Pitch Black(5) : 4 Still(1)->Sparkling(5) : 2
Head: None(1)->Large(5) : 2 Off-White(1)->Dark Brown(5) : 2 Lasting: 2 Lacing : 1 Nitro : XX
Aroma:
Intensity : 3
Yeast : 3 Bread : 3 Apple : XX Tropical Fruits : XX Ink : XX Tar : XX Olives : XX DMS : XX
Malt : 4 Biscuity : 3 Burnt Toast : 2 Caramel : XX Nuts : XX Pumpernickel : XX Cereals : 2 Coffee : 2 Dark Chocolate : XX Vanilla : XX Grapes : XX Blackberries : 2 Cherries : 2
Hops : 2 Noble(1)->American(5) : 1 Leafy : 2 Floral : XX Lemon/Lime : XX Grapefruit : XX Orange : XX Herbal : XX Pine/Spruce/Resin : XX
Notes : Earth : 2 Wood : XX Mint : XX Smoke : 2 Soy : XX Bourbon : XX Anise : XX
Flavor:
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 4 Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 4 Sourness : XX Lactic : XX Bitterness : 2 Complex : XX Length : XX
Palate:
Light(1)->Full(5) : 4 Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 2 Clean : XX Sharp : XX Watery : XX Oily : 2 Chalk : XX Astringent : XX Alcohol : XX Mineral : 2 Oxidation : XX Metallic : XX
Comments: A very good mild with bold flavours and a rather surprising almost chewy palate. Reminds of dark buckwheat honey of all things, almost molasses-like, yet fresh all the way.
I find this barely drinkable, its got a slight unpleasant tartness that doesn’t work. The malts is thin and weak and the hops are almost non-existent. not worth your time.
The aroma is lactic with some malt and fruit. The appearance is dark brown with a nice foamy tan head. The flavor is like the aroma and sour. The palate is thin. This beer is bad.
Cask @ GBBF 2007, London. Dark black color with virtually none head. Aroma is moderate roasted, dark chocolate, light vanilla, raisins. Flavor is moderate sweet and light bitter with a average duration. Body is medium to medium to full, texture is creamy, carbonation is flat to soft.
Name: Gale’s Festival Mild
Date: 04/22/1999
Mode: Firkin
Source: Wild Wing Cafe, Marietta
dark, ruby highligts, whispy head, sweet malt aroma, big sweet malt flavor, complex fruityness, winey, 4.8%, 1053og, 25ibu
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Name: Gale’s Festival Mild
Date: 08/14/2003
high carbonation, iots of foam, still sweet an winey
Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.4/5.0
Score: ***/4
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The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.
Cask@GBBF2007. Very dark amber colour, close to black. Small brown head. Aroma is roasted malts, fruits, raisins and some slight vanillaish notes. Flavour is the same thing along with burnt wet wood. Excellent balance.
Cask, GBBF 2007 ... Deep black ... smokey malts ... sweet fruity malt ... little sweet coffee ... maybe touch overly sweet but tasty.
Cask, GBBF. Dark brown with a tan head. Caramel malts dominate, with some espresso and dark chocolate also present. Mouth is again roasted malts with some dark fruit and some chocolatey bits too. Some grainy mouthfeel about it. Bit standard really.
Cask, GBBF. Pulled by some girl who had no idea what any of the six beers at the Fullers bar were. Ended up with her pointing at each tap handle in turn (me shaking my head no) until we got to the right one way down at the end. Caramel brown, a bit of tan foam. Bell-toned caramel, a bit of butter, milk chocolate. Soft malty chocolate flavor, a bit buttery. Alright, but in the company of so many really impressive milds, this is fairly dull.
Bottle. Dark opaque brown color...minimal tan head. Not much aroma....maybe some light malts, fruity, raisins?. Flavor is better than I expected...light toffee, more dark fruits, and a growing roastiness that I didn’t get in the beginning. Lightly dry in the end...tasty...better than expected.
Pre-RBSG 2007 beer buying trip. Bottle kindly opened by the staff at Blue Max. This bottle had been sitting in their cooler for 3-4 years. Clear black body with a large creamy brown head. Fruity aroma with raisins and slightly sour. Light sour flavor with some nice light fruity malt. Very smooth and easy to drink. Excellent mild all around.
Pours a dark brown with a thickish tan head. The nose looms large with prunes and raisins. Sweet with berries. Some fruity floral hops over a gently sweet malt. Very low carbonation, but that somehow seems appropriate. Lightly sweet malt, big in the prunes and raisins again with a blackberry tartness. Big buttery diacetyl, lingers into the aftertaste and I swear I could smell it too! But here it’s fitting. A bit more roast than I expected, though I’ve never had this style before! A bit of tartness lingers into the finish, becoming roasty in the aftertaste. Kind of reminds me of Fuller’s London Porter, which I also enjoyed. This isn’t half bad, I could see drinking quite a bit of this on cask... but for now the bottles are just too pricey to make this regular.
A little sour lactic aroma. Definitely has some old ale characters and is both sweet and sour at the same time. Questions existed before the tasting as to the handling and date of our sample - I feel it is safe to assume that this one was not cared for so well.
Cask. Very deep red-brown colour. Hardly any head. Soft bit sweet toasted malt aroma. Soft, toasty maltiness, caramel, bitter hops in the flavour. Soft bitter finish.
Cask at the Euston Flyer, London. Dark brown bordering on black with a big-bubbled tan cap. Aroma is very underwhelming, perhaps some dark fruit and toffee notes. Taste is malt-centric, with slight citrus hidden very deep inside. Toffee and burnt notes, as well as caramel sugars and dark pit fruits also appear. Sweet upfront, and fades to a moderately bitter after. Slightly watery, slight, and served too cold. Not bad at all though.
Cask @ The Ship, SE1. Dark ruby with an off white ring head. Malty cereal aroma with earthy notes. A bit of liquorice, chocolate and coffee as well. Sweet with tastes of malt, oatmeal, liquorice, oak, nuts and chocolate. omplex and well balanced. Medium body with an oily mouthfeel. I really enjoyed this one.
A Mes rate:
Gravicask @ Planet Thanet. Ok beer but probably a little over rated if you ask me. Nice black red colour. Very wheaty with a slight sourness. More wheat and straw in the finish. I’m bored can you tell?
Cask at The Churchill Arms, Notting Hill. Dark fruit aroma. Raisins and berries. Deep brown color with ruby hilites. Beige head. Lightly sweet dark fruit, maybe some plum, probably raisin. Some bitter creeps in around the edges, and the finish has a hintof coffee/chicory, but there is a really good bitter finish. Amazing.
Bottle. Poured reddish brown with a large fizzy off-white head that diminished slowly with good lacing. Moderate complex roasted sweet malty aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture. Medium sweet roasted flavor with a medium dark chocolate finish of moderate duration.
Wow. This poured with one of the biggest frothiest heads i’ve seen. It looked almost like root beer. Anyway, the color is wonderfully dark, looking a lot like a porter, and the head is a nice tan/off-brown color. The smell is of blackcurrants, figs and spice. Mmmm. The palate is smooth, but also thick and creamy and slightly alcoholic. The taste is straight up dark fruit, once again black currants, cloves, and coriander, coming through to a nice fruity sweet finish. Truly impressive. I acquired this one at party town for 3.99 a bottle. And while it may have been rather pricy for a mild, i think i may have just found the perfect beer.
Seemed a drop oxidized. Poured a very dark brown with an intially huge bubbly head which faded to a film. Old dried fruit aroma, with a slight appleish note and some chocolate present. The mouthfeel was extremely bubbly, almost harsh. A nice toffeeish malt flavor. Some fig flavors with apple notes upfront and a caramel hint. Chocolate flavors come out when it warms and it has a roasty brown sugar like finish. This was my first Mild Ale, so I didn’t know what to expect. But it was a decent and solid malty brew.
Thanks to Santa for this beer. Body is a very dark brown, no head forms. Aroma is a bit smokey, with caramel, has some port like character. Taste has a bit of the caramel, a lit walnut like taste, taste has some blackberries also. Interesting brew.