Fuller’s ESB (Bottle/Keg)

Brewed by Fuller’s
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
London, England

Serve in English pint

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UPDATED: DEC 27, 2006 Bottle. Filtered. 5.9% abv.
Jan, 2003 It starts promising - quite fruity and nutty, but soon fades. Darkish with some gentle hop bite, but the crude sugar malt tastes too false. [2.6]
April, 2004: Head to Head with Badger’s <a href=Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=1013&FanOfID=4383> (2nd place) . The dark amber colour of a traditional bitter. Creamy toffee malt. Soft mouthfeel - quite pleasant. Hops build into the finish. Quite dusty and earthy. Leaves a good flavour in the mouth. Needs to be served a little cold to get the full toffee flavour. This hasn’t fully grabbed me, but it’s a decent ale. It gets better the more you think about it. [3.1]
Sept, 2004: The Big Face Off. <a href=Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=24312&FanOfID=4383> Empire; <a href=Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=132&FanOfID=4383>N Brown; <a href=Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=34610&FanOfID=4383> Ruin; <a href=Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=365&FanOfID=4383>S Nevada; and <a href=Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=618&FanOfID=4383>H Devil. 4th place. Aroma was quite busy with little features: anchovies, beef, tomatoes soaked in olive oil and vinegar, tobacco, cardboard, coal-tar soap, dark berries, chocolate, staleness. But the whole is less than the parts, and the whole thing is predominantly stale beer even though the BBE is 10 months away. Taste is sweetish up front. Creamy toffee. Metallic, jagged carbonation. Without the carbonation the beer is quite light and watery; bland and lacking in flavours compared with the others. There is, however, an attractive tree bark finish with hints of licorice. [2.9]
Feb, 2005: This beer has to be drunk cold from the fridge to mask the stale flavours. And even then it can’t quite hide them. Toffee sweet with sherry stale hops. There are people who actually like this beer bottled - and good luck to them. But to suggest that such an obviously pasteurised beer is top quality is to completely misunderstand the whole nature of quality beer. [2.4]
May, 2006 Blind tasting: Strongish. Hoppy. Malty. Smooth toffee. Creamy. Very nice.
My main complaints about this bottled ESB have centered on the stale notes and the pasteurising process - yet, due to the strength, I didn’t pick that up on the blind tasting. Trying it again knowing what I’m drinking I’m becoming more and more aware of the strong, but stale hops, and the clean and slightly candied malt. Is it prejudice, or an educated focus? [3.0]
Dec, 2006. Blind tasting with Strong Suffolk, Riggwelter and Old Peculier. Last place. Glowing orange amber. Soft vanishing carbonation. Aroma is jam and vanilla ice-cream, pale biscuit, faint chocolate and even fainter herbal citrus. The flavour is somewhat muddled. Some fudge, damp leaves, toffee, a confused bitterness which lingers in the finish. Lack of clarity - the general muddled nature of this beer lets it down. [2.9]

Fantastic smell both directly from the bottle and from the glass after pouring - caramel, dark fruits, bready, like super fresh raisin bread dipped in caramel or something (yum!). Inhaled this one several times before I finally sipped it. Appearance-wise, not much head, but pretty good lacing; reddish-brown. Flavor: sweet caramel, nutty, fresh wheat bread, some fruits, nice lingering aftertaste that blends together all of what I just mentioned. Neither over-bodied nor under-bodied. What a terrific, legendary ESB. Woot!

Served out of a bottle into a pint glass. Almost no head. what a fantastic tasting beer. lightly sour or maybe a slight tang--which I think is key for Burtonized brews.....lightly bitter, gorgeous color, almost no head when carefully poured into a glass. I must figure out how to brew this beer. It is fantastic. I bought one from The Andersons General Store, I’m headed back tomorrow for a six or four, however they come.

Mörkt bärnstensfärgad öl med lätt vitt skum. Maltig doft och smak med lite smörkola. En fin sessionöl.

Love this ESB. From the bottle. Aroma is a bit of caramel and nuttiness. Flavor is similar with hops adding the bitterness. Pours a light brown with little head and lacing. Palate is nice - the carbonation and hop bitterness offers nice lingering in the back of your mouth, but it is also fairly refreshing.

Blommig smak och doft, karmellig lagom söt och lagom besk. Funka i alla väder, en riktig Volvo. Godare på fat än på flaska.

Small (.33l) bottle from britishstore.hu. Starts with a strong head but quickly vanishes. Head has silky and mildly bitter taste. Color is fairly dark: light brown and a bit of red. Very mildly carbonated, just what you expect from a British ale. Taste is also mild: malty, well balanced with a bit of bitterness, toffee and races of some fruits (maybe apple or grapes). Nice drink, but quite expensive here and Fuller has better ones.

Karamell, fruktighet och aningen smör i aromen. Desamma i smaken. Mahognyfärgad, nästan inget skum alls.

Malt, citrus, and grassy hops in the aroma. Taste starts sweet with caramel and toffee. Fruit, grass, and bittering hops in the finish. Loved this the first time I tried it, still love it now.

amber hue with small light off white head with good retention. nose has bits or caramel and flower, slight off scent of what I suspect is tannin. taste is bold caramel and toffee well balanced with flower, slight mettalic element. medium bodied

Copper colored hold a thick white head, smells off toffee honey and a touch of malt. Very Balanced beer tastes of honey, malt, caramel with a bit of citrus coming through at the end. To easy to drink lovely beer!