Fullers Vintage Ale 2004

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

Tasting to celebrate Quintana’s firstborn coming home from the hospital (thanks Sandy!). Beautiful deep amber with rocky white head. Big nose of apples, cherries, sherry, cider vinegar, caramel malt, raisins. Flavor is tart, vinegary, and fruity, over a nicely sweet toasty malt. Crisp and medium-full on the palate, with a tangy aftertaste of cider. A fair amount of heat from the alcohol, implying a much higher abv than 8.5%. Very nice. A perfect compliment to a perfect day.

Bottle provided by boboski. Big nose of cardboardy fruit and bread, with a bit of oxidation that smells and tastes fine, no problems. Lightly sweet and tangy, even peppery on the tongue, spicy maybe. A little loose on the tongue, a little undercarbonated but I know that this is supposed to be and what it is. It rocks... it’s damn good.

Bottle # 81512. Pours a deep amber with orange highlights along the outer edges. Slow pour, very small but near creamy off white head, leaving just a ring that clings to the glass. Aromas of a nice red wine combined with an aged whiskey, booze, apple cider, minimal hops, and a hint of caramel malts. First sip releases a ton of whiskey and bready malts. Very quick finish leaving almost nothing behind. Very little hop presence, with some apples, pears and scotch on following sips. Malts come through with some sweetness - caramel and toffee. Very well balanced with a fantastic mouthfeel. Medium bodied and bold in flavor. As I finish my first glass, my stomach is nice and warm, apple cider and scotch on my breath, this will not be the last time I have a Fullers Vintage.

Bottle at the White Horse, Parson’s Green. Vinous, a noble sourness makes this stand out. Warming, complex beer, it will probably develop further in the cellar.

Thick and meaty-looking, cloudy, mahogany-colored body with a fast-fading head. The aroma is enticing and delicious! Lots of bright plums and fruits with a nice earthiness. The flavor isn’t as sweet as I expected it to be, yet it is still quite good. A hint of oxidation in its "old age", but it is slight, and not too off-putting. A decent beer overall.

Bottle number 86035 - I think there needs to be a limit on what one can call a "limited edition," but anyway - hazy reddish copper beer that fails to stir up much of a head, but there is a slight, bright white lace - earthy aroma of overripe apples, brown sugar, a bit of diacytel, and faint whiskey-like qualities - strong marris otter gives the beer an amped up scottish ale kind of quality - mild scotch whiskey notes - diacytel is fairly present, but the hops generate a moderate bitterness just in time to cleanse the palate of this - lots of overripe fruits in this one, lending a sticky sweetness that the hops attempt to balance, with mixed results - fails to reach the greatness of the previous versions.

NOTE: THIS IS THE SAME RATING THAT I GAVE TO THE 2006 VINTAGE SINCE THEY TASTED IDENTICAL TO ME.
AROMA: Smelled of butterscotch, with a hint of malt.
APPEARANCE: The bottle said to pour carefully (since it was bottle aged and contained sediment) therefore the beer poured with no head and was a cloudy light copper color.
FLAVOR: This was my favorite part. It was butterscotch, biscuit like malt and alcohol in a very tasty combination. I normally like the alcohol hidden, however in this beer it added another dimension to it.
PALATE: This was a chewy beer, with ample carbonation due to the slow pour and a delicious finish of sweet butterscotch and alcohol.
OVERALL: I loved this beer! This was the second Vintage Ale from Fullers that I’ve had, however it will not be the last. An absolute masterpiece in beer brewing history!

Bottle thanks to David! Poured a clear, deeper coppery-orange with a short cap of white head (looked exactly like the 2002). The aroma picked up some tangerine and grapefruity hoppage upfront, above aged caramel and sweet toffee.. nice balance & presentation.. surprisingly hoppy. The flavor had sweet light & darker fruits along with aged toffee at the core.. very sweet.. warm caramel and citrusy bitterness toward the back-end.. bit tangy, and certainly tasty! Very sweet on the palate, decently balanced with the bitterness.. bit too warm with some overt phenols at the finish. Overall very nice!