Fuller's Vintage Ales collection

A range of Fuller's boxed Vintage Ales from over the last decade - two each of the following years' brews '99, '02, '04, '05, '06 and '07. Read a comprehensive review of these fine ales here beer-pages.com

Vintage Ale is a truly distinguished bottle-conditioned ale, crafted by Fuller’s Head Brewer. Each vintage is a blend of that year’s finest malt and hops, and of course our unique yeast, creating a unique limited edition brew.

Bottle conditioning means that a little yeast is left in the bottle after bottling, which will mature slowly over time like a fine wine or whisky - well beyond the best before date that we are obliged to state. Fuller's recently opened (in the interests of research, of course) a few bottles of old Vintages: they tasted better than ever so stock up now and you'll be glad you did in years to come!

Wheat Treat - case of British wheat beers

Here's a mixed case of wheat beers from British brewers - there's

• O'Hanlon's Goldblade: Crisp, refreshing, and deliciously citrus-tinted with a hint of spice, it’s a flavour that cuts the biggest thirst down to size.
  
  
• North Yorkshire's Cereal Killer: A light coloured wheat bitter with a fine distinctive hop nose. Refreshing dry fruity finish. Faint banana aroma with spice.
  
  
• Meantime Wheat: A Grand Cru - Superior Bavarian Style Wheat Beer, cloudy, golden-orange beer with a moderately dense white head.
  
  
• Rebellion White: A classic wheat beer, brewed in the style of a Belgian 'Witbier', distinctive spicy, clove aroma and fine, white foam, which gives the beer its name. To best appreciate the full body, aroma and refreshing, citrus, fruit flavour of this naturally cloudy beer.

Fuller's Vintage Ale 1999 experiences

From Tim's Beer Diary It was a monumental task. To pack up and box the contents of the flat ready for shipping back to Australia. After the hard work, I quenched my hard earned thirst in style - witha ten year old bottle of Fuller's Vintage Ale.

The beer was excellent and had a smooth caramel taste with a hint of alcoholic warmth showing through. Perfectly balanced it was like a super version of London Pride. In comparison with the 2008 bottle I had a couple of weeks ago they are two distinctly different beers. The 1999 Vintage is a lot darker and has more roast caramel notes coming through where the 2008 is lighter in colour and doesn't contain the depth of complexity that the older beer had. Both beers are excellent though, its just that the 2008 will not mature into a beer similar to the 1999. Overall the beer is excellent and I was lucky enough to be able to pick up one of the 80000 bottles produced over 10 years ago. In this instance the 2002 expiry date was well and truly passed but the beer stood up to the test of time nicely!

And from beer-pages.com
Opened in March 2005, this is bottle number 26,330 of the edition. Champion Fuggles hops and Champion Optic malt have produced a ruby red beer, which pours slightly cloudy, with a creamy light-brown head. The nose here is very earthy and wine-like, with an almost Burgundian character of damp, sweet earth, truffle and a hint of rotting vegetation. Remnants of a richer maltiness and still sweet fruitiness add complexity. On the palate it has a typically smooth, immensely rich and dense texture, with immediate sweetness that fills the mouth with flavours of herbs, intense sherried fruits and walnuts and a huge core of powerful alcohol and thick, bitter chocolate malt. This is an assault on the senses, with Christmas spices, green chicory flavours and all sorts of bitterness in an endlessly complex beer. Magnificent. 8.5% ABV, 50cl. Buy some to try for yourself.

Butt's Barbus barbus review by Roger Protz

Roger Protz has kindly allowed me to re-'print' his latest Beer of the Month review from Beer-pages.
Butt's Barbus barbus: You will go on a magical mystery tour for this beer. Chris Butt opened his brewery in Hungerford in Berkshire in 1994 and now brews only organic beers with a Soil Association certificate. Chris is also a keen coarse fisherman, which shows in the name Barbus Barbus, Latin for the barbel fish: if Chris isn't at the brewery, you'll find him fishing the nearest river. He's also wary of giving away too much information about his beers. He says he used three organic hops in the beer but won't name them on the grounds they change regularly according to availability. As there are only a few English organic hops, there's a good chance you may find some First Gold or Target in the brew. Organic malt comes from Warminster Maltings in Wiltshire. Barbus Barbus is bottle conditioned - there was a rim of yeast inside the neck of my bottle to prove the point - and is straw coloured with juicy malt, hop resins and a powerful hint of freshly-peeled apples on the nose. Hops - peppery and spicy - burst across the tongue, balanced by rich grain, tart fruit and a hint of ginger. The finish is intensely bitter and hoppy but it's also spicy, fruity and wonderfully refreshing. Malt: medium. Hops: high. Fruit: high 4.6% ABV, 50cl