Seafarers - George Gale & Company Ltd

mactrail

California

3.85/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Served in the big nonic pint. Color is a clear medium amber, the classic low foam and modest carbonation. Light body.

The classic English Bitter flavor. Minerals, a touch of salt. Flavor is a mouthfilling, warm, browned biscuit malt with a tart finish. Ends on a bitter note. A little dark roast flavor, something brambly, with a touch of fruit. Very pleasant and drinkable.

From the handpump at the Swan Hotel on the Thames in Staines, Surrey, for my birthday, a beautiful clear evening and first night in Europe.

Serving type: cask

10-22-2012 17:29:41 | More by mactrail

3.08/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Typical pale tan colour with a thin, but persistent cap of froth. Extremely smooth and bready. Not much in the way of malt intensity, but plenty of grain and bread. Hops provide a nice balance - gentle citrus flavours and a nice bitterness. Medium bodied and extremely sessionable. Nothing special, but very nice.

Serving type: cask

01-06-2012 19:10:55 | More by

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

4.35/5  rDev +23.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Hand pulled pint taken at the lovely 'Faltering Fullback' in North London: UK pint sleeve glass, unmarked. The beer was a pale copper colour, clear and bright. The head a good showing of off-white bubbles which settled and stayed. A lot better looking than the bottled version I reviewed some years back.

Good healthy aroma of hops and malts, no overpowering smell, just enough to let you know it's a beer in your hand.

Very easy to drink, I had three pints and wanted more, but the wife needed food. A really good blend of flavours, like the nose nothing powerful, just a subdued pleasantness all round.

Serving type: cask

10-29-2011 09:39:10 | More by BlackHaddock

rarbring

Sweden

3.43/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The brew is clear light amber, has an off-white firm head with some lacing.

The smell is typically pears, nuts and some hay.

The taste starts with brown bread, then some pear and lemon marmalade, and a sprout of lemon zest.

Light carbonation, a freash feeling, a small body and a dry finish.

A good standard quality ale!

Serving type: on-tap

08-05-2011 15:44:55 | More by rarbring

StJamesGate

New York

3.18/5  rDev -9.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On cask at The Old Mitre, London.

Rusty gold with no head to speak of.
Faint toffee and orange oil nose.
Sour cherry and barrel malts with bark and tobacco hops. Berry finish and sour oaky linger.
Medium, sticky, drying.

Very much a bitter pint of bitter, but aroma hops are hidden. Some tart notes. Too much wood.

Serving type: cask

06-20-2011 12:07:03 | More by StJamesGate

CanuckRover

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours clea dark amber. Thin bubbly head and slippery lacings.

Light citrus notes on the nose, faintly fruity yeast.

Grainier than expected, would like a bit more umph from the malt here. Hops lend a refreshing citrus character to the finish, which ends quite abruptly.

Went down a bit thin, carbonation just a touch too restrained.

Unspectacular, but nice enough bitter.

Serving type: cask

04-14-2011 16:41:09 | More by CanuckRover

bark

Sweden

3.78/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

I had the new version from Fullers at 3.8% ABV.

The colour is copper/amber, the liquid is clear. The finger thick head is pale beige (the ale is apparently served "northern style").

The smell is light, some tobacco and English hops.

The first taste is yeasty. It develops with some sweet flavours, quite a lot of citric hops and a touch of beef stock. The taste is as balanced as one could expect from this style. Hints of dough in the aftertaste, a gentle Goldings-style bitterness and some sweetness in the finish.

The carbonation is light; the few bubbles are large and fresh. The liquid is semi-smooth.

A fine example of the English bitter style: Not bad at all, although it borders to being a bit weak.

Serving type: cask

05-03-2009 20:26:34 | More by bark

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

3.4/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Tasted this beer by half-pint at the Basketmakers in Brighton on 24/06/06. Everytime I went back to this fantastic Gale's pub, they happened to have a seasonal beer alongside their regular range of brews: Butser, GB, HSB, Festival Mild... And this special one is said to be brewed partly for charity purpose, donating 5 pence out of each pint to... (well, I forgot which maritime association).

Appearance: it pours a bright, dark amber or orange copper hue, on top of it is a very thin, off-white beerhead, with very low carbonation.
Smell: at first it's light pale-malty, while gradually revealing is a refreshing, hay-like hoppy note and slightly citrusy zesty bitter aroma.
Taste: on the palate, it's simply hoppy--slightly tart fruity, on top of a freshly-cut hay's grassy flavour; the finish is crisply dry, with a tangy kickback of zesty hops, while in the aftertaste I sense a residual acidic feel on the palate which I don't quite like.
Mouthfeel & Drinkability: overall the mouthfeel is lively, though it tends to turn flat bit by bit, perhaps due to its lack of freshness or for any other reason I can't specify. The body is light, as is the flavour. On the balance it reminds me of Gale's GB, but the latter, to my best recollection, is more pleasantly hoppy, dry, and has a more pronounced flavour than this special brew. This beer is just an average bitter for me.

Serving type: cask

06-26-2005 17:32:00 | More by wl0307