Tasting Notes: Fuller's Vintage Ale 2007
Brewery: Fullers
Location: London, England
ABV: 8.5%
Version: 500ml bottle (Number 25835 of a limited 150000)
This edition marks the 10th anniversary of the introduction of this annual limited bottled release, which sets out to be a blend of that year’s best crops. The bottle comes in its own presentation box, with the label embossed with the number from the batch. Bottle-conditioning allows potential for the beer to mature over time much like a fine wine, making the legal requirement of a best before date a bit of a contradiction.
The individual nature of each year’s bottling no doubt makes for some differences from one year to the next, and quite possibly from bottle to bottle, but this being my first sample of any of them I can’t compare with previous ones. Fuller’s website describes the 2007 release as -
“A classic Vintage Ale with an aroma which incorporates spicy hop notes with rich fruit character and leads on to a very full malty, fruity, sweet palate which has a surprisingly clean finish coupled with a matching bitterness.”
Pouring a reddish, dark amber colour it’s initially very fizzy but quickly settles, probably just the beer’s eagerness to escape from the confines of the bottle and be enjoyed. Taste is very much of malt to the fore, some perfectly balanced sweetness and bitter hops in the background. At first its a bit overwhelming, all the different malt and fruit flavours jostling with each other for attention but give it a few minutes and they soon settle down. There then follows a pleasant lingering aftertaste, resulting in a beer to be enjoyed slowly rather than guzzled (especially considering that 8.5% strength), the better to appreciate the time and effort put into its creation. Considering this particular number had probably only been bottled for less than 6 months its very good, so leaving it for a while longer would no doubt have matured it very nicely indeed.
The 2008 release should be in shops in October (Waitrose and Sainsburys stocked the 2007), so I might just pick up a couple of bottles and stick them in the back of a cupboard for a year or two. Maybe even open them a few months apart. All in the name of research of course.
