Fuller’s Past Masters Old Burton Extra (OBE)

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

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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180513. Bottle at home. Pours deep ruby with a nice head. Aroma caramel, malts. Malty body. Nice balance overall. As always a really nice Fuller’s beer. Not Bad.

Pours dark copper with a beige head. Aroma is malt, earthy, grass, pine and light flower. Flavour is caramel, light alcohol, grass, pine and light flower.

Bottle from the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick. Pours ruddy amber with no head. Aroma is malty and lightly floral. Med body, almost. Flavor is very floral with roasted malts. Very smooth and mostly on the bitter side.

500 ml bottle shared by bhensonb. Nose is caramel, prunes, and a flowery note with a slight hint of bubblegum. Clear rusty amber with a small light beige head. Flavor is musty, sweet, and caramelly.

Reddish amber with little in the way of obvious carbonation to be had in what is a striking body. The head sits as a rocky cream colour. The aroma is of classic English bitter - elegant fruit orchard fruit driven malt, grassy to woody hops characters. It isn’t a leap out of the glass and up the nostrils aroma but is admirable for its restraint as for anything else. The carbonation comes out in the mouthfeel, small and individual bubbles combine into a sherbet kind of tingle across the tongue. Those aromas noted are manifest in the flavour: golden apples, ripe nectarine and pears some caramel tart and short sweet pastry, peach slices and some lingering nuttiness. A thoroughly enjoyable example of a beer that probably started out as a special bitter, blasted past special bitter into strong ale - it’s just the alcohol content that bumps it into a different category. I don’t care. I still love it.

Amber with a small medium head. Malty with caramel tones. Malt, fruit, caramel and hops. Medium to full body with a nice dry finish.

Clear amber with medium beige head. Lacing. Aroma, mostly malts,fruity, bit caramel, herbal, bit wood, nuts Sweetish with moderate to low bitterness. Quite dry finish. Interesting one. Pleasant brew.

500ml bottle bought at Oliver’s Delicatessen in Central.

Clear amber brown colour; Two finger head and crumpety off-white foam which last for 2 minutes; Very good and sticky lacing and active carbonation; Fragrant aroma of sweet malt, cherry, red fruits, light caramel and alcohol; Mid to light sweet taste of malt, bread, red fruits, liquorices, citrus, bitter lime, light alcohol and sharp glass; Mid to light body and slick palate; Taste is a cross between ale and lager with full malty, bready character without typical macro cat-piss. Red fruits are lesser in taste than the Old Winter Ale, which give way to strong limey bitter hops the rest of the way. Booze is stronger in smell than taste, no knock-on effect being felt all along. A good feat for a abv 7.3% ale; Bitterness is potent throughout, not much of herbal aroma but with lasting and non-demanding astringency to finish; Slightly dry after taste, Fairly grassy to mouth.

Comments: This one is not as fruity and comfy as the excellent Old Winter Ale; Instead, it has tastes of both the English Ale (red fruity base, strong bitterness) and Euro lager (full maltiness), plus very well expressed and managed booziness. Definitely worth a try to taste what historic brew from the past is like. Taste wise, the Old Winter Ale is still my fave.

# 3264 ersma: fuller’s kramt in den archiven. in der past-masters-serie erscheinen biere nach rezepten von ehemaligen braumeistern. dieses ist das dritte der serie, nach einem rezept von 1931. kupferfarben und mittelschaumig. der geruch ist kräuterig-fruchtig und ale-ig. röstmalzigkeit ist auch vorhanden. der antrunk ist röstmalzig, kräuterig-herb mit fruchtigen anflügen von zitrus und unreifer birne. die mitte wird deutlich herber. der abgang ist hopfenbetont. kräuteriger hintergrund. kaum noch süße aromen. langer nachhall. die hauseigene flasche ist wie immer überzeugend. zeigt ein altes foto in sepia-tönen im hintergrund. fazit: sehr nett, wenn gegen ende auch recht hopfenlastig. probierenswert. 10,12,11,10,13,11 - 11,00 - 6/4

500ml bottle. Very nice, clear dark red colour with average, frothy to macropore, collapsing, off-white head. Dry, minimally grassy and herbal hoppy aroma, fruity undertones. Taste is minimally sweet fruity, notes of red berries, hoppy overtones with a touch of peppermint; sparkling carbonation. Nice reconstruction of the IPA’s probable roots.