Fuller’s Vintage Ale 2003

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

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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(Bottle, No. 31435) Pours an amer body with an off-white head. Aroma of caramel, toffee, and plastic. Flavor of mild hops and sweet malt. Could use some more aging.

Poured hazy amber with thin tan head...smell is smoked meat and greasy...all around sweet followed up with a mild bitterness...alcohol was a little more apparent in this...

Bottle #31435. Nose smells very similar to fresh vinyl. Smells like a newly unfolded vinyl tent. Medium bitterness with a low to medium malty bitterness. Thanks to maelb and Kevin 42.

Bottle #31435. Vegetal, musty, green, caramel, more smoky aroma (compared in vertical to 1999, 2002, 2004 vintages). Also a brand-new poncho vinyl edge. Very drinkable, nevertheless, as the flavors are more sympathetic renditions, with some fruit and typical caramel complements. Orange with reddish huges, good head. Not as rich but a soft carbonation doesn’t intrude.

Bottle #27154:
Clear amber coloured body with no head at all. Aroma of nice pit fruit, grapes and toffee. Medium-bodied; Nice full sweet taste with pit fruit and a good mild bitter malt flavour. Overall, a nice beer - a bit stronger and harsher than 2002, but still a damn good beer! I sampled this beer from a 50 cL bottle after the RB party at Founder’s in Alexandria, Virginia at Mike’s (the_beer_god) hotel room on 20-November-2004.

Bottle 14999. Thanks to Spiesy for getting me this last year. Enjoyed at room temperature. Pours a deep amber with bits of red. Large beige head. Very big malty aroma, raisins, prunes. Taste is a little hot from the alcohol. I wanted to save this for a few years but didn’t. Perhaps the alcohol would have toned down a bit. Sweet initially followed by a mildly bitter finish. Taste is dark fruity. Still a very good drink.

UPDATED: DEC 18, 2011 First of all, apologies to those at the DC gathering who missed out on this. It had always been my intention to bring it along, but I didn’t manage to get a bottle before I left the UK, so my other half picked it up and brought it over to the US. Unfortunately, due to flight delays, she didn’t arrive until after the main event had finished. As for the beer, first the negative. In common with some other vintages of this beer, I find the malts a bit grainy and undeveloped. Perhaps a bit more bottle age would sort that out. Apart from that niggle, it’s a rather impressive beer. There’s plenty of hop presence, as well as the malts, in the aroma. There’s a lot going on in the flavours. Chewy malt (obviously), plummy fruit, raisins, licorice, orange marmalade, herbs. And plenty of hop bitterness to lend some balance. However, like others I think that more patience would have allowed to flavours to integrate more seamlessly. Still a classy beer.

Bottled number 27154, courtesy of chris_o. Pours a nice copper body with a small whitish head. Nose is malty with alcohol notes, raisins and light caramel. Taste is big alcohol, rum soaked fruit, big malt and caramel. Body isn’t the thickest but has a nice warming feel to it. It works itself out. Finishes with more malts, more alcohol and caramel. Good beer, but I think another year would mellow this nicely.

500th English Beer Rated. 550ml bottle. Aroma is malt, alcohol & dried fruits (raisins, sultanas). The beer itself is warming with lots of alcohol apparent, a load of malt, caramel, dried fruit and grape skins. The beer is slightly acidic and has a bitter finish. Interesting and excellent.

Bottle # 14765. Drank as a vertical tasting with ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01 and ’03 Vintage Ales. The youngest Fullers out of the sampling. Golden color, with more of a caramel flavor and aroma than the previous years. An interesting vertical tasting, thanks again to Eyedrinkale for supplying the Fullers.