Fuller’s 1845

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

Serve in English pint, Trappist glass

Generous head of large bubbles, deep red color. Aroma is spicy with noticeable fruit--I placed it as raspberries, but others might disagree. Strong alcohol, sweetness, and bitter finish make this better accompanied by food, but nice complex of flavors (nuts, caramel, fruit) make it enjoyable on its own. Excellent beer.

Bottle. Smells strongly of toast malt with chocolate and faint yeast. Rich, deep amber pour with lively carbonation and a full, large, thick, lacing, immobile tan head – one of the prettier beers of the year. Taste: toast and a gentle fruitiness that really tacks on the bonus points, coffee, chocolate, caramel, dark earthiness, light yeastiness, light wood, nuts. Classy, restrained bitterness and a firm mouthfeel, but not overly crisp. Full dry body, hearty undercurrents of flavor, tons of malt. Touch of warming from the otherwise undetectable alcohol. Could probably drink a keg of this stuff. Long, dry aftertaste contains light bitterness and all the best notes of caramel, toast, earthy chocolate, etc. Light hops in the finish, but they’re slight. Balanced, rounded, complex, refined…simply lovely, simply world class!

50cl, English brewery, from Slijterij van Bergen Eindhoven, complex brew, yet easy to drink, balanced, clear, good head, good brew

Clear amber with a beige head. Aroma is sweet, dried fruit, malty, caramel and hoppy. Flavor is medium sweet and quite bitter. Dry and bitter finish. Very nice. 010211

Poured from a 16.9 oz bottle, this beer has a huge creamy/rocky/fizzy beige head with beautiful lacing atop a clean reddish copper colored body. The aroma smells like a strong cinnamon stick and gingerbread cordial. Do they make such a thing? Perhaps not, but this beer kinda smells like it. Alcoholic walnuts and green maraschino cherries. Light green tobacco. Very strange aroma. The flavor has a finish of chocolate and is initially chicory coffee. Bitter malts/hops. Perhaps a little over-roasted? I don’t think Goldings are this bitter. Light iced tea and gingerbread flavor as well. The palate is rich and dry, medium/full bodied.

16.9 oz bottle from.. well, I don’t remember. Pours a deep dark very hazy brownish dark amber color. Big tan bubbly head that is sticking around fairly prominently. Aromas are malty, sweet breads and caramel, very english with a wee touch of chocolatey creaminess with a touch of hoppy bitterness on the back end and a hint of booze. Initial is very malty with a strong bitterness on the back end. Biscuity malts with some sweetness mixed well with the bittering and notes of bitter chocolate mixed in. Very "cakey", as if a bakery put one in the bottle.Very strong malt profile balanced well with the very strong bittering hops. Alcohol is fairly apparent, even if it is only 6.3%. A very interesting beer indeed! Cheers for #200!

Finally got to try this one. Bottle from the London Pride store in Ljubljana. Poured a dark amber-red body with a big off white head that went away slowly. Sweet full malty nose with some dryish bitterness. Coffeish sweet malty, slightly bitter and roasty taste, having some light herbal notes and ending empty. Oh come on, this is ok but nowhere near 3.8!

Best before 20 June 06. Pours deep brown into an English pint. Micro head with excellent staying power leaves significant lacing as it slowly recedes. Dried fruit and nutmeg notes. Creamy raisin and date up front with a lasting bitter spice finish.