was once the most significant ale brewer in the county of Hampshire on the southern coast of England, providing ale for generations of dockyard workers and sailors. Founded in 1847 on the London Road in Horndean, an important coach route from London to Portsmouth, the brewery stood for many years on the site of the Ship & Bell Inn, which was the brewery’s tap.

The first brewery was destroyed by fire in 1869 and a new one was built alongside, and extended in 1983. But despite many years of growth, Gale’s management concluded that the “rising costs of doing business and red tape, together with the buying clout of its larger rivals, meant a sale was inevitable.” The family-owned company, with its 111 pubs, sold out to Fuller’s in 2005. See fuller, smith & turner.

The most popular of Gale’s beers were Butser Bitter (named after a local hill) and Horndean Special Bitter (HSB), but it was the brewery’s unfiltered and unpasteurized Prize Old Ale that gave it international renown. First brewed by the brewery’s Yorkshire head brewer Barton Mears in the mid-1920s, it was sold in a uniquely shaped corked bottle. A strong brew at 9% ABV, the beer was matured in wooden tanks at the brewery for 2 years before being blended with a younger beer. During the aging it often acquired a torpid character while developing plenty of Christmas pudding fruit, lambic, and gueuze flavors. Its fans say it is best drunk when it is 20 years old, and it is notable as a touchstone of the old ale beer style. See old ales.

Following the takeover, many feared that the iconic beer, with its evolving character, would be lost. But Fuller’s head brewer, John Keeling, rose to the challenge of keeping the beer alive, launching Fuller’s version in 2007. The first Fuller’s vintage was brewed in Horndean in 2005 but matured in West London for 2 years. The cork has gone and is now replaced by a metal crown, enabling the beer to retain its carbonation. (“Finally it has some fizz,” said Keeling.) Bottles of pre-Fuller’s Prize Old Ale are rare but still obtainable, and many well-kept bottles have displayed extraordinary complexity and character.