Fuller’s 1845

Brewed by Fuller’s
Style: English Strong Ale
London, England

Serve in English pint, Trappist glass

The aroma is malt, hops, caramel and chocolate. Clear auburn, pours a large tan coloured, merinque head, leaving plenty of lace. Majestic hop forefront, lovely malt follows, with a soft fruit and woodiness. Incredibly well balanced, medium bodied, after each swallow is a wonderful return of hops, gorgeous, layered mouthfeel. A magnificent beer! Far too easy to drink for 6.3%.

UPDATED: OCT 29, 2011 500 ml bottle. Finland.
Dark amber colour with small off-white head. Fruity tea-like hoppy aroma. Bitter tea-like fruity hoppiness and mild maltiness in flavour. Long bitter fruity aftertaste. Proper strong English Ale.

Cask at Black Door, Helsinki, Finland.
Clear deep amber colour with small off-white head. Mild vinegar, alcohol (spirit), malt, caramel, floral hops and some sweetness in aroma. Bitterish floral hops, nuts and wood in flavour. Alcohol kicks in when beer gets warmer. Bitterness stays.

Re rate. Saved a bottle from the last time I sampled this beer to see if aging improved it and happily it did. Spicy golding hops with a background of nuts in the nose, hop grain and biscuits in the mouth and a chalky, hoppily bitter finish with a suggestion of tangerine. Previous rating only 3.4, age it for a year or two.

Deep orange colour with medium head.Aroma of hops and malt with some syrup and nut,caramel flavor.Nice and warming mouth feels and a fresh spicey finish.

Nice and rich redness in the color. Bready and yeasty nose. Cool and easy-flowing mouthfeel quickly turns to a rich and creamy thickness. Has a nice malty bitterness about it. The texture seems to solidify in your mouth! Seriously, take some in, let it sit on your tongue for sec, and then realize what I’m talking about. It really does thicken with time! Fresh yeast flavors linger about. This beer is super malty with a rich bitterness in the finish. Toasted caramel nuances exude. Some soft and bitter, low-note hops are ever present.

Best By Date July 2009; Sampled February 2008
Pours with a frothy, three finger thick, light tan colored head that leaves a light, layered lace pattern as it slowly recedes. The beer is a dark amber color, but shows a brilliantly clear, ruby-amber color when held up to the light. Slightly earthy hop notes, ample marmalade aromatics, with a deep, rich, yet secondary to the hop, malt character. The hop notes get a touch metallic towards the end, but if you dig around a bit a substantial malt character kicks in that contributes aromas of fresh baked soda crackers, hearty bread notes and toasty grain aromatics. Running throughout is a sweet, caramelized malt backbone that provides aroma of toffee and some berry notes. The last being accented by the hop notes as well. This has a really nice mix of malt and hop character, while it is initially hop dominated, the malt character is substantial and at times even overtakes the hop character in its depth.

Sweet and then frothy, the beer is a bit too carbonated, but this is a much better thing than being under carbonated as a quick swirl releases the excess. Equal matched notes of mixed berries and marmalade provide a fruity start and middle to this beer that is offset by sharp, lightly herbal hop notes, a touch of sweet spice and a mild, though contributing, balance-necessary, bitterness. The finish has both this hop character as well as a dry, toasty grain note and a fresh baked, yet well fermented bread flavor. Wow, as this warms up a bit, it starts to pick up some significantly darkened grain notes, certainly not roasted, but it is significantly toasted in its flavor. The amber malt, really distinctly adds to the finish of this beer; it dries the finish out and provides an amped up, well browned, bread crust flavor to this brew.

This has a really nice hop character to it; this seems to be an evolution of the Fuller’s ESB. I like that the hop character is a mix of marmalade and fruit notes coupled with a nice green, herbal note, all the while accented by sweet grain and ultimately offset by hop bitterness and interesting, substantial toasted malt notes in the finish. While not as strong as I was thinking it would be, this is certainly quite drinkable, which more than makes up for that.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson AZ

Stellar, almost perfect. The only thing that I've liked better was Thames Welsh ESB, which is chewier. Slightly smokey, raisin and prune, Maris Otter malt aroma which gives way to some toffee and vanilla as it warms. Ruddy brown beer, great bottle, seafoam-consistancy tan head. Finely bittered -- this is the way to do hops, so that it compliments the beer without tasting like hop tea. Satin mouthfeel. Raisin, cream, bock/barleywine and ale flavors which leave toffee sweetness on your lips.

Delicious, british hops aroma. Very floral and well rounded. Flavor started off bitter but finished with very nice, mild malt balance. Very enjoyable.