Fuller's Vintage Ales 1997 - 2005

In 1997 Fuller's took the beer world by storm when the pet project of Head Brewer Reg Drury was unveiled: a vintage dated strong beer, made to a different recipe each year, in a strictly limited edition. The bottle-fermented beer used Fuller's own in-house yeast strain, and whatever combination of hops and barley that the brewer felt had the highest quality in that year and would make for the most profound and complex ale. Over the years that has meant an organic based beer in 2000 for example, brewed with organic Target hops, and a 'golden-themed' beer for the Queen's Jubilee in 2002, using Goldings hops and Golden Promise malt. Yet somehow these beers - partly down to the Fuller's yeast, and partly down to the brewing process - share a real family character and basically similar profile each vintage. The differences are usually quite subtle, but the beers are always completely intriguing. Indeed, the Fuller's Vintage Ales have performed with remarkable consistency in my tastings. Quite simply, these are brilliant beers that offer some of the most challenging and pleasurable drinking around. The fact that they also age beautifully for many years in the cellar makes them even more fascinating (Willard Clarke also rates Fuller's Vintage Ale as one of his '300 Beers To Try Before You Die').

Between October 2004 and December 2005 I managed to acquire and taste the complete vertical collection of every Vintage Ale produced: nine beers from 1997 to 2005. The beer is normally available for a limited period starting in November each year from the brewery shop, some independents, and this year, Waitrose supermarkets.

The scores these beers have amassed speak for themselves: of 350 beers in our tastings database at time of writing, only 14 have earned a full five stars, and five of those are Vintage Ales. The other four vintages earned four and a half stars. This is an Unprecedented 'strike rate'. Whatever you do, you must try this beer at least once. You may not love it as I do, but it is a profound beer drinking experience.

Fuller's Vintage Ales 1997 - 2005

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