以前讀博士班，住在 East Sussex 郡時，把我拉上 Real Ale Trail 的引力，來自三個新舊不一、風格迥異的地區酒廠：Dark Star、Harveys、和 Gales。

位於 Hampshire 的老傳統家族酒廠 Gales，在與倫敦 Fuller’s 併購後，仍舊在後者的堅持下於2006年初被正式關閉。那時，引來許多地方媒體、產業人士與 CAMRA 組織的非議。旗下引以為傲，同時也是我最鍾愛的 Gales 生啤，HSB – Horndean Special Bitter，與其他兩款十分經典的 Festival Mild 和 Prize Old Ale 從而移師到 Chiswick 總酒廠生產：但其他諸多款項，都被停止生產，為得是減少它們和 Fuller’s 自己主打品牌之間的矛盾與競爭…

這裡嚐的 HSB，傳統上是極具複雜的榛果麥芽香、以及使用 Gales 獨家流傳數十年的酵母精釀而成。生產線轉到倫敦後，其實不知道酵母源有沒有更動，但現在的版本，不論是桶裝生啤或是瓶內熟成，嚐起來和以往的重麥並清酸的口味似乎有所不同：酒花的比重占了多一些，而整體的果麥香氣又讓人直接聯想到 Fuller’s 的招牌 ESB。說釀造配方完全沒變，對我來說是很難想像的… 或可能，傳統的 Gales 開放式發酵槽、獨門酵母、與廠房環境真的具有決定性的影響，讓同樣配方製程的酒，換地製造就嚐來大大不同了~~

說起來，Fuller’s 酒廠本身其實沒有為旗下品牌的諸多生啤作瓶內二次發酵處理，可能是品管考量，也可能是成本取向，也有可能是懶得弄(？)。 有這麼做的，目前就只有1845 和 Bengal Lancer；其餘的，就是這款 Gales 的 HSB 以及 Prize Old Ale 了… 不知道進口商能不能夠用魔力讓 Fuller’s 鬆口開放這款 HSB 出口到台灣？若成功，這可是讓台灣愛酒的大家有多一款極為經典的英國傳統 Premium Bitter 可開懷品嚐了~~ (儘管，我還是懷舊地對 Gales 酒廠被嘎然關閉感到十分不滿的…)

* Gales在Horndean的舊酒廠關廠後入內一窺 http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/industrial-sites/1824-gales-brewery-horndean-hampshire-10%5C07%5C06.html

Fuller’s, Gales HSB, 4.8%abv. (Premium Bitter)

《第一次嚐 Fuller’s 所釀，瓶內熟成版本的 HSB》

Bottle-Conditioned Version

* Tasting Date: 20/05/13

Coming in a 500ml brown bottle, bottle-conditioned; BB 06/01/2015, served cool in a straight imperial pint glass.

4/5 Appearance: the colour goes dark copper to bright chestnut brown, the carbonation is constant but mild, supporting a frothy beige head with fairly good retention.

4/5 Smell: a deeply caramely and toasted-nutty notes backs up the semi-sweet grapey fruitiness (Styrian Golding-like fruitiness), jammy chestnuts, black prunes , and soothing bready malts; altogether smelling quite like a good quality Altbier! A light touch of acidic yeastiness rings a bell of the old HSB on cask, which I still vividly remember.

4/5 Taste: freshly carbonated, the lively foretaste is semi salty-sweet malty and sufficiently nutty, backed by the equally substantial entry of chewy earthy and tea-steam-like hop bitterness, leaving wonderfully aromatic toasted/nutty malts and mildly acidic fruity elements to linger in the finish. An intriguing interaction between yeastiness and old wood characters manifests almost like a sweeter and yet stale old sherry, resulting in a truly hard-to-describe finishing touch on the palate.

4/5 Mouthfeel & 4.5/5 Overall: don’t know how much or little change has been made to this brew, but interestingly I’ve picked up quite a few similar flavour elements as in Fuller’s ESB, while the typical “nuttiness” of the old HSB that I remember still goes strong. All in all, this medium-bodied and fully flavoured Best Bitter keeps the shape very well under the craftsmanship of the Fuller’s Brewery, and I have no problems adjusting my palate to the new interpretation of one of the old favourite beers of mine while living in East Sussex.

《Gales 產品轉至倫敦生產後，第一次嚐 Fuller’s 所釀的桶裝生啤 HSB》

Cask-Conditioned Version

* Tasting Date: 10/12/2007

Tasted by a pint at Sir Charles Napier, Brighton. This is the first time that I’ve tried the now Chiswick-brewed HSB.

4/5 Appearance: clear, dark russet brown in colour, coming with an off-white creamy head that leaves tight lacing behind, on top of rather low carbonation.

3.5/5 Smell: rich caramel, pear-drops and sour-sweet plums fill the nostrils, added with a touch of palm sugar, but lacking a more assertive hoppy input as before.

4/5 Taste: the initial entry of brown malts and caramelised sugar is ensued by the slow manifestation of hops that mix in the flavour very well, leaving a semi-dryish, faintly earthy, and tea-ish aftertaste… a light tinge of sour-sweet ripe plums seems to linger and blends well with the tea-leafy hoppiness. Very pleasant in the finish.

4/5 Mouthfeel & 3.5/5 Overall: fresh on the texture, full of micro-scopic fizziness, but the body is lighter than what I can remember from my last pint of Hordean-brewed HSB from three years ago. Although this is still a lovely pint, at the price of 2.95 pounds a pint, I wouldn’t rush to try a second pint at this pub again…

《Gales 關廠前，最後一次嚐到原汁原味的桶裝生啤 HSB》

Cask-Conditioned Version

* Tasting Date: 14/08/2005

Another favourite casked ale of mine when living in Sussex. Happy to see it on draught at the Cross Keys, a Wetherspoon's pub in City, London.

3.5/5 Appearance: seemingly fresh, it comes in a brownish hue, with a thin, white head and leaving uneven lacing. Looking o.k.

4/5 Smell: the aroma is dominated by a sweetish raisiny, dark-malt note, a port wine-like deeply aromatic texture is also present. Overall it's very juicy and mouthwatering.

4.5/5 Taste: rich nutty malt flavour dominates the palate with sightly tart, raw-nut flavour; gradually a profoundly dryish yet fruity and vertically-structured bitterness takes over and lingers well towards the finish. The flavour in the aftertaste, a bit like the taste upfront, is reminiscent of peanuts, dark fruits e.g. black prunes... while a soft bed of hops sustains at the back as a balancer with the otherwise fruity and rich malty palate.

4.5/5 Mouthfeel & 4/5 Overall: very rounded mouthfeel throughout, good depth of dark malts and refreshingly bitter texture are the winners for this beer. Very very nice bitter indeed, extremely drinkable for me, especially in Autumn.

--Yau (30/05/2013)