Fuller's Vintage Ale 2012 (United Kingdom - London)

Fuller's Vintage Ale 2012 (United Kingdom - London) 8.5%

Just on the amber side of gold and barely cloudy with not much of a head, although I am pour it out in dribs and drabs so that I can savour this beer that I have been saving for more than a year. Sweet, nectary, peach and apple pie aroma. Apple because of some esters but pie because of the sweet, somewhat roasty malt flavours. Subdued but solid resiny hops, earth tones and a touch of alcohol blends this all together tantalizingly.

Sweetly sugary but with malt tones like barley candy, dried fruit flavours (dates, raisins) and lingering peach or marmalade tones. These sweet flavours are grounded with spicy, herbal hops tones and medium bitterness. The aftertaste is slightly bitter, earthy, with a caramelized sweetness and leather hints with a faint lingering touch of that marmalade flavour. I think the flavour of Fuller's Vintage Ale 2012 is truly delightful. If I had to describe it in only one sentence I'd describe it as such: a lighter body and perhaps slightly sweeter barley wine but with all the complexity. Bear in mind that barley wines are among my favourite beer styles of all time so this is high praise indeed.

On the strength of Fuller's Vintage Ale 2012's flavour I plan to pick up two or three of their 2013 (and 2014 and 2015 and ...) edition: one for a year from now; one for a vertical tasting with a one-year-old 2014; and one for a vertical tasting with a one-year-old 2015 and two-year-old 2014. Vertical tastings take a long horizon and a good deal of planning and foresight (not to mention a place to actually properly store the beer) so I still haven't done a proper one (once, out of luck I managed to find a few Orval bottles at an NB Liquor store that were bottled eight months apart) but this beauty of a beer from more than twelve months ago has convinced me that it has to happen.

Four From Fullers (England)

Fuller's London Pride (England) 4.7%

A hoppy green aroma at first. As the head fades the aroma changes to one of sweet lightly bitter maltiness. The taste is sweet and roasty with hints of caramel but also lightly spicy with hops and some mild wood tones. The moderate bitterness and the half-watery, half-smooth mouthfeel keep the beer refreshing as a good pub beer should be. An glowing orange colour in a glass.

Fuller's ESB Champion Ale (England) 5.9%

Malty and quite sweet but with a bitter finish and quite oaky. Many of Fuller's have stronger wooden tones than most. Pretty mildly carbonated. Tastes a little like Innis and Gunn's Rum Cask, which is high praise indeed. Best served warmish (8 to 10 C'). Mix of coffee/chocolate and plum sherry (alcohol and fruit).

Fuller's Organic Honey Dew (England) 5.0%

A sweet malty aroma that is lightly hoppy with cedar and a touch of fresh cut grass. Gold in a glass.

Fuller's Organic Honey Dew tastes sweet and a little spicy. The hops are certainly in there, bringing that spice and moderate bitterness, but you certainly wouldn't call this beer hoppy. The honey is also there, smoothly sweet and building in a sweet crescendo from the initial taste, where it is masked by the bitterness, towards the end of the drink where the whole flavour becomes sweet warm honey before the slightly metallic and slightly bitter aftertaste. A very pleasant organic beer with a cute and interesting bottle cap.

Fuller's London Porter (England) 5.4%

Sweet classic porter aroma: hints of molasses, maple, coffee and barley candy, with hops hints that come across as lightly wooden. Amazing coffee flavour at first and then it changes a little towards the chocolate end of the dark malt spectrum before fading into a bitter aftertaste of hops and smoke. There is a taste of a pleasant taste of oats throughout. Dark in a glass to point of being nearly opaque with a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.

Fuller's London Porter is perfectly executed and tastes just like actually beer blended of coffee or chocolate and yet it is made only from malt, water, hops and yeast. Porters like this make me feel that other porters that use actual coffee or chocolate in the brewing process are not only "cheating", but doing so completely unnecessarily.

Fuller's London Porter

This beer has a strong coffee and chocolate taste. It is lightly carbonated so is velvety smooth on the palette. This is a heavy beer and one was enough for me. It is so dark in a pint glass that even when held up to a light it is practically opaque.

Fuller's London Porter recommends itself as a "after-dinner drink" and I would have to say it's a good idea to follow that recommendation. With food, its taste and texture borders on syrupy and didn't leave me feeling all that well. I drank about half before eating a sandwich (melted cheddar and turkey flavoured soy meat on whole wheat bread) and I enjoyed the first half a lot better than the second half.

As usual I purchased it at the local NBLC for $3.99 and it came half litre bottle. At 5.4% alcohol this beer could pass well as a night-cap. In fact I feel, because the flavour is as heavy as it is, this ale would be ideally suited for sharing one bottle after a meal between each pair of dinner guests.

I'm not a big fan of black beers to begin with but despite the disagreement between food and this beer I must say it is well balanced (as seems to characterize each of the Fuller beers I have tried so far) and tasty. It aims to be desert beer and of that it does a good job. If you like black beers heavily flavoured with dark chocolate and coffee then this is one you should not miss.

'Fuller's London Pride: Outstanding Premium Ale'

This beer has a full malty flavour that is excellently balanced. It tastes like what a lot of other beers aim for when they go with a heavy malt taste but where other beers frequently overshoot into bitterness Fuller's LONDON PRIDE stays within a flavourful and ever so slightly fruity taste range that doesn't overpower and leaves a smooth and short lived aftertaste. This would go excellently with a meal or standard pub snacks or on its own.

I purchased it at the local New Brunswick Liquor store in a handsome 500ml bottle for the sum of $3.99 (all prices Canadian dollars) and drank it mid-afternoon while, unsurprisingly, writing this review. At 4.7% alcohol it's a weaker beer (by Canadian standards) but the flavour makes up for "missing" 0.3% booze. While I only drank this one bottle this afternoon I feel as though there wouldn't be any issue drinking three or four more if my intention was to get soused. In fact, the smooth and short lived aftertaste make it a good candidate for a night of drinking - the same cannot be said for many other beers that have as impressive and complex a taste.

I like this beer and heartily recommend it!