Fuller’s Imperial Porter (2019)

Style: Imperial Porter London, England ABV: 10 IBU: 40 500ml bottle

Tasted on 19/3/22 Best by 12/29 Price: 65R$

I’ve finally got round to getting one of these in and although it was expensive, it’s a lot less than I’ve seen it in other places. It looks classy with its cute and elegant box and Fuller’s do this kind of beer with a lot of flair so it should be excellent. I also got the imperial IPA and stout in for the same price; I’ve had Fuller’s RIS a couple of times before and it’s really great. This is the 2019 vintage so it’s had three years to age and develop.

From the pour you can see the difference between this one and the RIS, this is much clearer and seems less thick and gloopy but it is still very dark but with more brown and reddish glints and the head is a light beige which is fine and creamy. It smells great with lots of coffee and black treacle. There’s also bitter chocolate and lots of roast malt character but it does differ from a RIS, it’s less smoky and heavy and although it’s clearly a heavyweight it does have a subtle lightness.

It is, however, very thick and chewy in the mouth with light and fine carbonation. It’s lovely and smooth with a certain creaminess. Of course, it is strong with a rich, dark malty character and the black treacle adds a smoky, bittersweet flavour. there’s some expresso and dark chocolate too and great lingering dry aftertaste. It’s lovely and warming too and perhaps after three years ageing it’s achieved a great balance of flavours.

It was definitely worth it and I’d get it again for the same price. It’s a lovely beer, tons of character and expertly brewed.

Score: 4.5

Fuller’s Past Masters 1909 Pale Ale

Style: Strong Ale/Old Pale Ale London, England ABV: 8 IBU: 40 500ml bottle

Tasted on 11/11/20 Best by 12/22 Price: 35R$

It seems somewhat appropriate to have a British brew on armistice day and doubly so as this is an historic one but from a recipe that dates from five years before the start of World War One so this could have been a beer drunk by those poor soldiers that went over the top at the Somme and Verdun. This is supposedly what a pale ale was like all those years ago and it’s a very different kind of beer to today’s ones. For a start it’s a strong beer and it also has treacle and sugar added, this is before beers in England were forced to be much weaker to try and stop the woes of over-indulging alcoholism.

It’s very foamy and creamy with an abundant head which only slowly settles and it’s clear and a paleish orangey peach colour. It smells rich and malty with a sweet cake aroma and there’s also a tangy orange peel marmalade like scent. There is also some floral notes like orange blossom and it’s also sweet and boozy. It’s not a very strong aroma but it’s pleasant and welcoming.

It has a quite fine carbonation and a thick and chewy body. It’s initially sweet with lots of treacly malt but there is a light hoppy bitterness with floral and earthy flavours. It’s a bit on the boozy side with nice warmth and it does have the Fuller’s signature flavours as there’s marmalade and orange blossom. it has a bit of burnt sugar and treacle and the balance is on the sweetside.

It’s so different from today’s pale ales, both English and American, it’s so interesting to see how this style evolved from this into today’s lower ABV and hop driven beer. For my personal tastes, it’s a bit on the sweet side and I think I prefer the contemporaneous darker Burton ale but it ain’t too shabby either.

Score: 3.7

Fuller’s Past Masters 1981 ESB

Style: ESB  London, England   ABV: 5.5   IBU: 30   500ml bottle

Tasted on 2/1/20   Best before 12/21   Price: 40R$

I hope I have more luck with this one than the last one I got, which exploded in a cupboard and took me ages to clean up, I blame bad transport and storage. Anyway, I’m so old that I may have actually had this ’81 ESB before, if they kept the recipe unti ’89 which was when I had my first Fuller’s ESB. It’s also a good one to start off the new year with.

At least it didn’t explode upon opening but it was under considerable pressure and it pours with a very thick, heavy, creamy off-white colour that is taking a long while to settle. It’s clear and a deep and bright red colour. It has that rich roast malt flavour I associate with Fuller’s and it’s not too dissimilar to the present day version. It has an fruity and earthy hop aroma of oranges, apples, wet leaves and mulch. There’s a hint of blackberries and black tea too. I should really be doing a back to back tasting with the current one to detect the differences because at the moment it smells pretty similar.

It’s quite fizzy in the mouth and feels pretty thick and chewy. It tastes pretty different, it’s a bit rougher and sweeter and there’s more liquorice there and it’s weirdly ringing taste bells from the King Eddy in Stratford, London where I used to drink this, I think I’m going to have to listen to The Stranglers in a minute. It’s very full bodied and flavoured, and I used to think this was a super strong beer and one to be treated with respect, which I guess is about right if you’re going to have half a dozen or more of these on a night.

It’s a real classic for sure and I have such fond memories. I think this might be my favourite version of the three versions I’ve had (1970, 1981 and current). I love the full maltiness, subtle orangey floral hops and earthiness and it’s so unmistakably English.

Score: 4.2

Fuller’s Beer One

Style: English Strong Ale   London, England   ABV: 7.5   IBU: 40   500ml bottle

Tasted on 12/7/19   Best by   Price: 19R$

Another new one by Fuller’s but this is their first beer to be brewed at their new plant, hence its name. I can’t find any information about it on the website but it’s a strong ale and should be fruity and malty and very English.

It has a frothy, off-white head which recedes quite quickly to a foamy cap and it’s a very clear but dark amber colour like a summer sunset. It’s fruity and malty just as the label suggests but it’s a bitter orange aroma with maybe a hint of grapefruit and maybe some raisins there too and the malt is rich and cakey with toffee and caramel, maybe it’s a tad nutty as well. It’s a pleasant and very Fuller’s aroma; it’s clean and fruity and very English.

It feels very thick and sticky in the mouth with quite low carbonation. It has a full flavour with plenty of fruity hops and bitter orange coming through but also the malt is very predominant and there’s lots of bitter toffee and caramel as well as cake and nuts. It’s not so distinct from other Fuller’s beers, Golden Pride comes too mind but maybe the hops are a bit different, maybe not all English but neither are they very American, so could be an Australian or New Zealand influence. It’s not too boozy but it’s nicely warming and the lingering flavour is the sweet malt with a touch of herbal bitterness.

I’m enjoying it even though it’s nothing wildly different, at least they’re keeping their English character despite being Japanese owned. Fuller’s range of beers is enormous these days and naturally there are hits and misses but this one works pretty well and it’s in their scope.

Score: 3.7

 

Fuller’s Old Winter Ale

Style: Winter Ale   London, England   ABV: 5.3   710ml Crowler

Tasted on 17/5/19   Canned on 17/5/19   Price: 34R$

I suppose this is as appropriate as it gets in Brazil to have a winter ale, on a cool, blustery and drizzly evening, it’s not exactly cold but not too far off. This is a Fuller’s I haven’t managed to come across yet but it should be interesting and these kind of beers are not at all common here which isn’t really surprising.

It’s a clear, clean and filtered beer and it’s a pretty deep chestnut colour, which isn’t quite brown, the head is frothy, off-white and slowly dissipates to an even cap. It’s very malty, as expected, it’s sweet and syrupy and has hints of raisins and nuts, really it’s reminding me of a sticky currant bun but there is a light orangey bitterness like marmalade (that most Fuller’s beers have) and maybe there is a touch of liquorice and a mulchy earthiness.

It feels full, soft and chewy in the mouth with medium carbonation. It’s a lot like a brown ale or a strong mild, with lots of sweet cakey roast malts but there is a floral bitterness to balance things. It’s got notes of black tea, raisins, bitter oranges, blackberry jam and nuts and it’s very wintry and perfect for this soggy evening. It’s the floral, herbal, tea.like flavour that lingers on under a bed of cake.

It’s an unfashionable kind of beer, these days but I like it, it could only be English with all the roast malt but there are times when a beer like this is just the ticket, and today is one of those days.

Score: 4

 

Fuller’s Espresso Stout

Style: Coffee Stout  London, England   ABV: 5   710ml Crowler

Tasted on 18/4/19   Canned on 18/4/19   Price: 40R$

It’s always good to get a new Fuller’s even if they have sold out, and I’ve always been a fan of coffee stouts and they’re even better when freshly poured from a crowler. It should be a good beer to get the easter weekend going.

It pours with a surprisingly big beige foamy head and is a predictably dark opaque almost black colour. The aroma isn’t that strong to be honest, but it’s roasted and a bit toasty with coffee and dark chocolate, as I sniff deeper the coffee gets stronger and more bitter. There’s also a reassuring sweet malt base, giving a light toffee and cake aroma. I’m also getting a light smokiness and a touch of liquorice.

It has a medium body and medium carbonation. The taste is a bit medium too, perhaps  there’s a touch of English coffee here. I think I was expecting a stronger coffee hit but it tastes a bit watered down like English coffee. I know it’s not a double or imperial but  it should still pack more of a punch. Not to say that it’s poor, as it’s drinkable but it should be drier and less wishy washy and it has a sharp acidity from the coffee which doesn’t quite gel.

It’s an ok coffee stout but there are plenty better, it’s really more of a porter in my books, and for this kind of beer I’d prefer much drier.

Score: 3.5

 

Fuller’s and Friends Rebirth

Style: ESB  London, England   ABV: 6   330ml bottle

Tasted on 3/4/19   Best by 31/12/19   Price: 30R$

I guess when this beer was brewed Fuller’s was still independent and a family brewery not part of a Japanese corporate one. So it goes. Well, I’m going to do a parallel tasting with this one along with the current ESB, it would be even better to do it with the Past Masters 1981 version too but alas no. It’s also a good excuse to drink two beers at the same time. This is based on the original recipe, but only based and not identical and this is one of Fuller’s collaborative beers.

It looks a tad paler than the regular one but has a similar head in colour and texture. It also smells quite similar but maybe a bit cleaner and focussed, with lots of rich English malts giving it oven baked biscuit aroma with a bit of toffee and some earthy and tea-like tones and some floral and blossom accents and a touch of honey. It smells clean and pleasant but not so different.

It has a medium body and prickly carbonation and is lightly chewy. So, it has the main flavours of the original but this one is a bit drier and hoppier, with more of a black tea flavour plus some blackberry and leafy notes, it’s a bit sharper with more intense flavours and maybe it’s just a bit better too, the flavours linger more and it’s a bit better balanced.

Both are great beers and favourites but maybe I prefer the early seventies, bell-bottom version when Gary Glitter and Jimmy Savile were utterable in the same sentence without invoking hatred and fear. Innocent and free days of casual racism and sexism.

Score: 3.8

 

Fuller’s Brit Hop

Style: Golden Ale  London, England   ABV: 4.1   710ml Crowler

Tasted on 10/1/19   Canned on 10/1/19   Price: 30R$

I was happy to find a couple of yet to have Fuller’s in the local Crowler bar and this is one of them a beer that promises to be a light, crisp and refreshing summer kind of an ale, just right for a big can on a lovely warm evening. And as the label sys, brewed with a whopping 8 different hops.

It has a bright white frothy and short lived head and it’s a very clear, light golden amber colour, it really looks like an English pint from a pub. It’s not got a strong aroma but it’s floral, firstly and then a little fruity, with that orangey marmalade aroma which is Fuller’s signature. Then there’s a clean and bready malt backbone. But it’s not a potent beer by any measure, rather it seems to be very clean, light and refreshing.

It has quite low carbonation and crisp and light body. So, it’s a very downable beer and it doesn’t have so much complexity but it isn’t boring and it’s quite tasty with a nice blend of earthy, floral and fruity notes and a clean malt flavour making it nice and smooth. It’s also, for what it is, on the bitter and dry side and has a bit of black tea to it. you can’t really feel any alcohol or warming with such a light beer.

It’s quenching my thirst and it’s going down very well. It’s a beer to quaff on a balmy evening in a beer garden in the country by a refreshing brook while watching the cricket. And just what I needed.

Score: 3.6

 

 

Fuller’s Past Masters 1905 Old London Ale

Style: Burton Ale   London, England   ABV: 7.9   500ml bottle

Tasted on 26/5/18   Best by 12/20   Price: 30RS

I’ve enjoyed Fuller’s past master series so far and I find it fascinating the idea of drinking historical beers made using original period recipes. This should be a treat, as it’s a style of beers which has really disappeared now. Burton ales were strong brown ales popular in the 18th century but still popular in the 19th, they were, however, very much on the decline in the 20th century finally vanishing mid century, the last proper one being brewed in New Jersey of all places.

It’s quite hazy with a brownish amber colour and frothy but consistent beige head. It smells like brown sugar, toffee and syrup with rich cakey malts and some dark fruits, like raisins and figs. It actually reminds me of Fullers Golden Pride of which it may be a relative. I think it has a bit of a nutty vanilla whiff to it as well and a hint of cherries in there too.

It’s thick and chewy in the mouth almost like syrup and the carbonation is light but prickly. Although it is sweet, with lots of brown sugar and toffee, there’s also a substantial herbal and floral bitterness to balance things. It does taste like a Fuller’s brew too, I guess it’s the yeast. I’m enjoying more than Golden Pride. There’s a strong sweet black tea flavour and also that cherry or vanilla flavour. I’m imagining sitting in a snuggery in an Edwardian London pub quaffing this while mafficking with rapscallians, ruffians and rascals and avoiding the bun stranglers and not collie shangling with my chuckaboos.

One of my favourites in this series, causing me to spew forth Edwardian slang spontaneously and involuntarily.

Score : 4