Gales Brewery
George Gale & Co. Ltd is an old brewery situated in
Horndean, on the edge of
Waterlooville, near
Portsmouth in
Hampshire,
England.
It makes the nutty HSB (Horndean Special Bitter) and the newer Gales Bitter. It takes its water from its own well situated under the brewery which is fed from the
South Downs, and the
yeast and 'liqour' (local water used for brewing), coupled with the local brewing style, produce
beers with a sparse head, quite dark in colour.
In late 2005 the Chiswick brewery
Fuller, Smith and Turner (Fullers) bought Gales for £91.8 million. It has raised fears as to the future of Gales' Horndean brewery and some of its beers, and the
Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) launched a campaign to encourage Fullers to continue production of the full Gales line at Horndean. However, in January 2005, Fuller's began cutting jobs at the Horndean brewery, and it was announced on the
27 February 2006 that the brewery would close at the end of March 2006, although distribution and warehousing would continue in the area.
At that point, production of the Gales brands moved to Fullers' Griffin Brewery in
Chiswick,
London, with the exception of Gales Bitter which ceased production due to customer preference for Fullers' London Pride.
There are a number of beers brewed under the Gales name:
*
HSB (Hordean Special Bitter) (4.8%
ABV) - Gales's flagship beer. A
cask conditioned premium strength bitter.
*
Butser (3.4%
ABV) - a
cask conditioned bitter named after the dominant hill in the downs close to the former Gales's brewery at Hordean
*
Festival Mild (4.8%
ABV) - a
cask conditioned premium strength mild ale, first brewed as a special for a 1990 beer festival with the aim of helping to revive mild ales . Healthy sales quickly saw it become a regular Gales brand.
*
Prize Old Ale (9%
ABV) - a
bottle conditioned beer, sold in a corked bottle.
*
Official website*
Saves Gales Campaign*
BBC News: Anger at historic brewery closure
