Fullers Vintage Ale 2002

Formerly brewed at Fuller’s
Style: English Strong Ale
London, England

Serve in English pint, Trappist glass

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Bottle at the White Horse, Parsons Green, London (as part of their Old Ale festival), with Joeh, Kook and Maeib. Cloudy, bright beer. No head, but a delicious aroma. Sweet, with alcohol warmth throughout, but never in a domineering way. Pin pricks of dryness and vegetable; sugar and cake mixture too. Deliciously blended and excellent.

7th September 2009
Cloudy amber - red - brown beer. Short lived tan head. Good carbonation. Sweetish aged malt nose. Neutral palate. Sweet aged malt, smooth and creamy. Initially this tastes a bit tired but patience brings out some pleasant toffee caramel and generic fruit. Finishes semi dry and still with alcohol warmth after 7 years.

Red deep golden colour with an off-white head. aroma is caramel, malt, fruit. flavour is fruit, orange, sugar, yeast, oxidation, caramel, hop, spices. Nice beer.

Bottle at Chriso’s Fullers-Gales Tasting (thanks to Chris). It pours clear amber, with a thin white head. The nose is full of gingerbread, toasted malts, toasted sesame seed and golden syrup. The taste is leather, wood, spice, caramel and sticky over-ripe fruit sweetness, with a dry, boozy finish. Full body, moderate carbonation and sticky mouth-feel. A decent vintage.

Bottle care of Chris O. Tawny brown, has bits of residue floating in it. Nose is sweet malty, marmalade, alcohol, caramel. Taste is again no trace of hops or bitterness it’s just a soft and very sweet, very cloying marmalade, sherry, treacley. Touch of earthiness in too. Again quite raw alcoholic.

Bottle 550ml @ home
[Courtesy of yngwie] Pours cloudy amber/brown with a off-white head. Aroma has notes of malt, caramel, alcohol and dried fruits. Taste is medium sweet and light bitter. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft.

Decent but gone to the wrong side of vintage for my liking. All plums and raisins with a massive whack of alcohol. Tricky.

Bottle,courtesy of yngwie. Pours deep golden with an off-white head. Aroma of caramel, malt, biscuits,mint and fruitiness.Flavor is sweet and malty with some warmth, carame, spices, sherry and fruitiness.Medium body, average carbonation. Nice beer.

Bottle@home 10/12/11. Sherry and muscavado sugar nose though over-boozy and some melon-rind.

Deep dark amber/brown colour, hazy liquid with very nice tones to the colour. Pours a creamy steady tanned head. Aromascape is pretty similar to the 2008 I drank not too long ago; Oak, orange, mustiness, malt, herbs, wood, barley wine styled notes, smoke.. very complex and pleasing. The taste is incredibly well crafted with a fruity balanced bitter quickly washed off by deep, dark, creamy sweetness. The palate is amazing with a full, thick body with creamy but compact texture. Carbonation is so spot on you do not even think about it. The finish and the aftertaste is what crowns this, bringing out chocolate, coffee, full deep creamy flavours I was not expecting. Overall, a very complex beast with a dark sweet side, escorted by deep wooden murky flavours.

Bottle at Caspar’s Running Toilet Tasting. Pours rich, amber-red with a small, white head. Dark fruits, caramel and mild oxidation in the aroma. Great flavor, fairly mellow but with some kick at the edges. Notes of cake, rich caramel, toasty sugar, leather, and fig. Medium to full bodied with fine carbonation. Lightly warming finish, dark sugars, caramel, leather, dark fruits. Lovely beer. The age has done it well.