Fullers Vintage Ale 2004

Formerly brewed at Fullers
Style: English Strong Ale
London, England

Great beer. Citrus and bitterness dominates this one. Very pleasant, powerful and warming. I could imagine it would mature to the better and become more balanced if stored for some years. A beer with great potentials.

Head is initially average sized, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy medium amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately malty (toasted bread, cookie), lightly hoppy (flowers), with a note of peach. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. Nicely balanced and textured (really can’t go wrong with Maris Otter, just so heavenly juicy and rich), but a bit too easy-going and simple to be stellar. Doesn’t seem to have enough bitterness for the cellar, though.

2004 Vintage, bottle #93038. Solid Mahogany with a quickly dissipating brown head. Relatively good looking brew. The aroma was semi-sweet with malt and caramel toasted grain. Smooth and creamy body. The flavor was very light with hints of caramel, molasses, mild hops (pine and nutty?). Very good but very mild. I enjoyed this and would likely drink it often as generic easy drinking go-to-brew if it weren’t for what it is…

Bottle #73246 tasted in memory of Micheal Jackson. I’m going to leave my score alone (except the overall, for which I did not understand so I lowered it a point) becasue I don’t think I aged this one properly. During this tasting I noted a distinct vinous aroma with alcohol and honey. The flavor did have some of the malt, prune and vanilla I might have come to expect but it was subdued. What remained was a vinous flavor with red wine like fruit and alcohol. Oh well, you win some and loose some with the whole aging thing.

Snifter, pint bottle. Amber-red-brown hue is very pleasing to the eye. Small off-white, frothy head was very short lived and somewhat of a disapointment. Caramel and grainy malt profile is strong. Earthy and spicy hops. Plum, raisin, toffee, and alcohol notes. Moderately sweet, lightly bitter flavor becomes a lightly sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter finish. A bit grainy, astringent and alcoholic in the end. Medium body, creamy/sticky texture, average carbonation. The bottom line is: a tasty number...the alcohol should mellow with time, but that graininess will probably linger. I could go for another round of this one. Thanks to ClarkVV, an awesome secret santa.

Bottle: #90627. Has a malty caramel and ginger ale aroma. Pours a dark copper with a nice white head with very good retention. Some lacing short of a 5 appearance. Very creamy and malty flavors. Lots of caramel and light vanilla. Some fruit. Light hops barely peak thru in the finish. Creamy mouthfeel. Alcohol is definitely noticeable in flavor, but not so much in warming affect. A little less alcohol flavor would be nice. The more I drink, the alcohol presence really seems to fade. A nice beer and will be interested to see how it ages when the alcohol bite is subdued.

Sampled April 2005
Pours a brilliant ruby color and is topped by a two-finger thick tan head that is held up by a steady stream of cascading bubbles. The aroma is interesting with fruity notes of things like strawberries, and cherries. There are also aromatic notes of earthy, sharp herbs. The taste is lightly sweet up front with a simple maltiness that has notes of toasted biscuits, and caramel. There is a nice hoppiness here as well, it is earthy, and herbal, but also has a fruity component to it, which enhances the fruitiness of the beer itself. At this point this beer is actually quite simplistic, and perhaps a bit raw from the hopping. It definitely needs some age to gain some complexity and mellowness at the same time.

500ml brown bottle. Drank this one young, but I was excited to find it so here goes... Poured dark amber/orange. Light haze. Tight, compact, off white head, last only a short while. Orangey hops in the nose, some honey. Strong alcohol notes, sweet malts, brown sugar, rich malt, oranges. I’ll have to revist this one, at this stage the alcohol is a touch overpowering, though it’s still impressive. Surprise find at the LCBO! Bottle # 39029

Pours to a spot on clear amber with a small, but thick & creamy light tan head. Head fades to a ring around the glass with webbing on top of the beer. Aroma is leafy, grassy, & mild citrus(y) hops, with lots of fruit (apple, pear, orange, plum, mild strawberry), some vinous grape (think white grape juice mixed with port), honey, sweet malt. As it warms, some notes of spice (anise, pepper, nutmeg) really come out, as well as a nice earthy malt scent. Medium-full bodied. Taste is sweeter than I expected for it being so young. There’s notes of apple and berries with some floral hops up front, followed by honey, some spice (pepper, nutmeg, oregano), orange, a light alcohol burn, toffee, caramel, and a hint of roasted malt just before the leaves and grassy hops kick in. Finishes dry with a taste of stale tea, port, and fruity/floral hops. This is actually pretty good at only a year old, but will definitely improve with age. I’ll have to re-rate this in a few years.