The Sweet Taste Of Autumn (Gales HSB)

Member Name: Mauri

Product:	Gales HSB
Date:	12/09/02 (162 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great taste, Gets you drunk

Disadvantages: Gets you drunk

The days are getting shorter, in the mornings there is a slight chill in the air, the leaves on the trees are turning wonderful shades of red, yellow and brown. Autumn is approaching and my thoughts turn to….Beer!?

Let me explain. After a long hot summer where the preferred drink is bottled larger just out of the fridge or exotic Belgian bottled beers also served chilled, the lowering temperatures make it once again safe to turn to real ale, which needs to be drunk warm so isn’t my first choice when it’s hot outside. The hot weather can spoil good real ale, which requires special care to produce a perfect pint out of a pump

There are an enormous variety of real ales to choose from in the UK but as a southerner and as a Brightonian my favourite pint is Gale's HSB. HSB is not from Brighton or even from Sussex but it is widely sold in my area and so it has been adopted by Brighton beer drinkers as one of its own. I came across HSB when I moved to Brighton as a student and I was looking round for a suitable replacement for my favourite north London drink Fuller’s ESB, which was not easily found on the south coast. The first time I tasted HSB I was struck by the similarity between the two beers and was immediately a convert.

THE BREWERY

George Gale & Co Ltd the maker of HSB is a traditional brewer first established in 1847 at Horndean, just 12 miles north of Portsmouth in Hampshire. The brewery now owns and supplies over 120 pubs on the south coast. As well as it’s premium ale HSB it produced a wide variety of ale types of varying strength and flavours. In addition it also makes over 20 types of traditional wines using traditional flavourings from cowslip to strawberry.

HSB

The letters stand for Horndean Special Bitter. It is a traditional cask conditioned beer made from Maris Otter Barley, which is floor malted in the age-old fashion, the subtle flavourings are provided by the f
inest English hops. (If you want a more detailed explanation of the beer making process check out some of my previous ops on Guinness, Stella Artois or Duvel-plug over!)

HSB was first produced in 1959 to cater for a general demand for stronger and fuller tasting real ales. It took a while for the beer to be established but with the increasing popularity of real ale drinking in the 70’s and 80’s accompanying the emergence and CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), HSB became Gale’s best selling ale.

Over the years HSB has won many awards including Gold Medal in the Premium Ales Class - International Beers, Lager & Ciders Competition1997 and Silver medal winner - Great British Beer Festival 2000.

Having said it is as strong ale it’s by no means as strong as some comparable beers in its class. HSB weighs in at 4.8% ABV whereas a very similar beer such as Fuller’s ESB is stronger at 5.5% ABV although I think the strength of HSB has been reduced from around 5% ABV in the recent past.

When poured, preferably in a straight pint glass, the beer should be a deep dark amber/light brown colour and it should be perfectly clear (if it isn’t take it back and demand a different pint!). It does have a frothy head on pouring but this will soon decrease and only a thin layer of bubbles will be seen on the surface. This is the way it’s supposed to be.

As you bring the glass close to your lips you will notices a strong fruity aroma, very distinctive and quite unusual in many ordinary bitter. The aroma is a mixture of flowers with a hint of malt; I was also reminded of the smell of freshly baked bread.

Judging from the smell you might expect the taste to be quite sharp and maybe slightly bitter. This is not the case on taking your first sip you will initially notice a sweet fruity taste giving way to a complex mixture of flavours including honey, treacle toffee maybe a hint of chocolate (the Belgi
um dark variety) followed by a nutty after taste. In terms of taste it punches well above it’s weight, what I mean by this is it tastes like a much stronger beer than it actually is, hence against it compares favourably with Fuller’s ESB.

It is full bodied with a thick consistency and a lingering aftertaste lasts this is a serious ale! It is also slightly livelier in the glass than most bitters although I would stop short of describing it as fizzy a fact, which might attract some of our poor misguided larger drinkers out there!

HSB has also recently been available in cans (also 4.8% ABV) and won the 1997 International Gold Medal for canned ales.

Although the canned version is excellent HSB is a class act and should be enjoyed in all it’s glory in a public house that knows and lovingly cares for its beers. It can be found as a guest beer in non-Gales pubs but I would suggest it is best sampled in it’s true home a tied Gales pub. If ever in Brighton you could visit ‘The Prenstonville’ off the seven dials area, the ‘Sir Charles Napier’ in the Southover district and probably best of all ‘The Basketmakers Arms’ (see previous review).

In most Gales pubs buying two pints should still get you change from a fiver so it’s good value as well as being a great drink.

So now that summer’s ended and winter is approaching ditch those cold pints of ‘amber nectar’ and try out a taste of the best examples of traditional British brewing.

For more information about HSB or any other of the products mentioned above contact:

George Gale and Co.
The Hampshire Brewery,
Horndean,
Hampshire,
P08 ODA.
Phone (023) 9257 1212

Or

Email thebrewery@gales.co.uk

Thanks for reading and rating this opinion

© Mauri 2002

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