Fullers Vintage Ale 2011

Brewed by Fuller’s
Style: English Strong Ale
London, England

Serve in English pint, Trappist glass

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Complex and rich aroma: fruits, herbal/floral, hops, biscuits, wood and rust, malt, caramel. Quite strong alcohol feel. Bitter aftertaste with alcohol warmth. Amber colour. Small head. Very fine beer.

Slightly opaque reddish brown. Caramel and earthy aromatics- good tension there. Full bodied with a great counterbalance of toffee and bitter hops. Needs bottle age to truly shine.

Aroma of mellow citrusy hops and pine, slight yeastiness. Pours a amber orange colour with a white lasting head. Lively mouthfeel and a long finish. Nicely hoppy but balanced. Fruitiness comes through and leaves a long bitterness. Slightly peachy and a hint of marmalade. Theres a touch of alcohol warmth but mainly well hidden for the strength and style. Very good indeed!

16.9 oz bottle. Bottle no. 119774/150,000. Bottle says best before the end of 2014, but states it should get even more complex after that, if you so choose. Should I be drinking this or aging it?....Well, then. Pours orange with a light haze and a large cream-colored head that sticks around; leaves cobwebby lace. Aroma is biscuity, dark fruits (raspberry). Taste is lightly sweet, a bit tart and finishes bitter. Has a delicious biscuity flavor that intermingles with fruity esters, creating quite the flavor experience. I wish I could age it further, but all the rateable bottles in my beer fridge right now all recommend aging. WTF am I supposed to do? Not rate? What?

Aroma is fruits, malts and an unknown element, can’t tell if its slightly musty. The flavor is fruit and has a complex maltiness. Slightly similar to an old ale, I’ve never had one of the previous years of these, this was pretty good, will have to try next year’s.

Bottled (No 52349 from Alko Prisma, Vaasa). Amber colour, small off-white head. Aroma is fruity, floral and sweet malty in a very nice balance.Flavour is sweet malts, quite floral and mild toffeeish notes as well. Quite bodied though my "short rating". I predict this one to be one to save 5-10 years. Ends rather sweet malty and bodied.

Bottle from Beer Revolution. Pours clear copper with a foamy 3 finger light beige head that does some moderate ring lacing. (Beer Hunter tulip) Deep aromas of roast malt and medium dark fruit. Med+ body. Flavor is plummy? Certainly dark roast malt. It’s not very thick, but the flavors are complex. It’s wonderful. There’s treacle. Some date. Still thinking plum. Ok, prune. It’s very well balanced. Finish is towards dry, but the malt is persistent. Spicy. Definitely. Took a while to get that. And with time it seems to be thicker than before. Another brilliant ale from Fullers.

Decided to treat myself to a Vintage this year having passed up the opportunity last time around. Having just finished the bottle, I’m glad I invested. Delicious. I got thick caramel, bags of flavour and a smooth finish that belies the alcohol level. Excellent.

Dark copper color with a quickly falling medium head. Floral and very fruity hop aroma. Some caramel notes. Fruit-forward flavor, with pear and mango standing out. Caramel and light biscuit malt. Moderate bitterness, full bodied.

500mL bottle, lykkbho. Bottle #044439. Pours a beautiful ruby with large beige head. Aroma is a little simple at this point, being so young, but it’s got some decent rich Brit malts with mild piney hops on top. Flavour is better, with some good body to it. Rich caramalt, but with a really nice prickly hoppy zing in the finish that shines due to the perfect level of carbonation, which is moderate just as I like it. Faint touch of booze to keep me from downing this in 30 seconds. I didn’t expect much depth from this so I’m not disappointed with how little it has developed (obviously a beer for aging, but I couldn’t wait to get my 900th rating :D). Very nice beer from a very solid brewery.