Fullers Vintage Age (2023)

Style: Strong Ale
Producer: Fullers Brewery
Origin: England
Size: 50cl
Alcohol: 8.4%
Price: 90kr
Systembolaget: 1113601(sold out, yearly release)

Fuller’s Brewery, officially Fuller, Smith & Turner, is a historic independent brewery founded in 1845 in London. It became famous for classic British ales, especially London Pride, ESB, and a strong focus on traditional cask-conditioned beer. In 2019, the brewing operations were sold to Asahi. This is part of Fuller’s annual Vintage Ale series, a limited-edition, bottle-conditioned strong ale that the brewery has released each year since 1997. It’s typically around 8.4–8.5% and brewed with slightly different malts and hops each year, giving each vintage its own character. I have featured this beer in a tasting before, but I thought it was time to bring it back because it was such a big hit the first time the guests sampled it.

This had a rich copper to deep amber colour with a white head that dissipated fairly quickly. The aroma was quite simply amazing, with a deeply complex blend of raisins, figs, caramel, toffee, spice and subtle earthy notes. When tasted, the rich malt sweetness blended with brown sugar, orange peel, earthy hops and raisins to give an amazing range of flavours in each sip. The full mouthfeel with paired with a fairly low carbonation, giving a fairly sticky body for the style. In the aftertaste, the dried fruit lingered on the tongue, along with gentle spice and a hint of alcohol.

This is simply an exceptional beer. After being aged for three years the flavours had mellowed to give a full tasting and delicious beer. In my opinion this is a world class lever beer, and I will be sure to put a few aside the next time it’s released.