Fuller’s Vintage Ale 2007

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

Serve in English pint, Snifter

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This smells creamy, a hint of rye almost. Very good. The flavor is sweet but not strong. Very tasty and drinkable. I really like this, more than many of the others.

Bottle # 135916. Bought three years ago and have been saving it for a night like this. I finished the final draft of my first novel, 2492 (well, final draft before some editor makes me edit it a few more times), tonight and wanted to celebrate in style. Wonderfully smooth caramel aroma hovering above a clear copper-colored, steady-headed beer. The taste can best be described as smooth and complex. Caramel notes with a slightly bitey effervescence which mingles and frolics with a mild bitterness that playfully skirmishes (and gives a gentle noogie to) a distinguished maltiness. It goes down way too easily, so much so that I’m afraid of the upcoming moment when the bottle’s empty. An extremely enjoyable beer.

50cl dark brown bottle, as shown. 2007 vintage, tasted and reviewed in Oct, 2009. Bottle No. 55926. Vintage, bottle-conditioned ale pours a beautiful, slightly hazy copper and a medium, soapy beige head with decent lacing. Pretty intense aroma of ripe plums, coupled with noticeable hops and an orange-peel edge. Heavy-bodied ale, with low carbonation and creamy (but not thick) mouth feel. Stewed dark fruit dominate the taste at first, with a strong but beautifully integrated note of malty alcohol for additional "gravitas". Sweet and bitter notes continue to vie for your attention as the beer goes down; finish is dry, hoppy - with a lingering, complex sweet-and-bitter after taste. Fullers have done it again: It’s a pricey brew (at almost 8.00 euros per bottle), but a rich and rewarding one. How could a strong ale possibly be better balanced and smoother than this? Great beer that drinks like a great wine.

Pours rich amber with small white, fizzy head. Smells like mellow alcohol and fruit with some caramel and toffee hops. Tastes like alcohol that fades into a sweet fruits and caramel and toffee, so basically follows the nose. Medium-bodied with a smooth, creamy texture and a light, prickly mouth-feel, Fuller’s Vintage Ale 2007, 10th Anniversary, finishes sweet and smooth, with a smile on your face and a desire for more in your mouth.

Bottle # 103559. I’ve been saving this for a few years: tonight is the night! Poured slowly into my ’Abbot Ale’ glass tankard. Nice looking brownbody with a red hue: on top a full, deep head of off-white foam. Port like in aroma and intial taste: a rich fruit cake infused with Port and Vanilla. This is so good it frightens me. I only have this one bottle: nothing like any other British brewed beer I’ve had for many a year. The flavours just keep coming and as the beer warms in the glass the aromasand taste change a little: Sherry replaces the Port, the Vanilla takes on a dark chocolate hint and caramel easters begin to appear. This is sweet and I like it. Really, really inpressed. I hope my 2011 version is as good when I open that.

Bottle pours a vibrant golden amber with a light mid-sized head. My only wish is that the grassy note was slightly more subdued. Perhaps it will mellow out in a short time before I have my next bottle

Best beer I had this year. Clear amber pour with a clingy head. Hearty spicy scent. Complex yet unbelievable smooth. Total lack of boozy taste is staggering based on teh %age. My final qoute at the end of the night was "Thaz a f’gn gooood beear" Guess that percentage was definitely there.

Bottle from Tesco, Hexham; Beer Ritz, Leeds; UtoBeer. 2007 Vintage: drank 2011-08-02. Dark cloudy brown in colour with a rich warming caramel, oak and vanilla flavour with whisky notes and a creamy red fruity finish. Superb!

Bottle # 143239. First aroma is leather. Rich leathery notes with some fruitiness and a touch of peat. Upon drinking this stuff explodes into a rainbow of English Ale standards. Leather, caramel malt, a touch of must and some bitterness. Pours amber with tan head. Definitely a winner, and worth the extra cash.

Ouch! Bitter, then sweet and rich. By Jove! I have to say I’m stumped by this one. Lady Crabapple was not too impressed; I’m afraid I might have to differ with her on this one. I rather liked it! I have had two bottles of this peculiar brew, but am saving four for a later date. I seem to recall that the 2006 was a little sweeter, a little less bitter. But I’m not at all sure. Well, I really enjoyed this, almost as much as the Coopers vintage ale!