Vintage Ale 2025
Fuller's Brewery in London, Greater London, England 🏴
Traditional Beer - Old Ale Special|
Score
7.67
|
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All of our Vintage Ales are very special bottle conditioned beers. We’ve created a new recipe every year since 1997, picking the best ingredients at the time, to make a strong beer with a complex character.
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7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 8
Bottle from Waitrose, West Byfleet. Opaque amber-chestnut. Thick foamy light beige head. Aroma has entwined berries, caramel, glue and marmalade. The flavour has a bitter woody edge running throughout, which is the first thing I noticed. There are then sweet carmalised fruits and citrus. Light-medium bodied. Soft-fizzy carbonation. Long dry astringent finish. Punchy interesting stuff.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Waitrose Supermarket (Various locations)
on 31 Dec 2025
at 23:40
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottled, from Systembolaget. Almost clear copper colour, mid sized head. Spicy, piney, leafy nose with caramel and bread. Mid sweet with medium to full body and rounded mouthfeel. Caramel, tobacco and leaves. Spicy bitter finish.
Tried
from Bottle
from Systembolaget Beställningssortiment
on 26 Dec 2025
at 21:38
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6.5
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
500ml bottle, No 010836. One of the best this year. Yuletide enjoyment. ( Tromsø, 24.12.2025).
Tried
from Bottle
from
Vinmonopolet Tromsø, Langnes
on 24 Dec 2025
at 15:19
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6.5
Flavor 6.5
Texture 7
Overall 6.5
500 ml bottle. Pours a darkish mahogany with light head. Aromas of toasted malts, a bit of caramel and an alcohol. Flavors of dry caramel, some earthy bitter hops and a lot of toasted malts. Not really a fan of this vintage. Just OK.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Dec 2025
at 02:06
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
500mL bottle, pours a clear dark burgundy with a medium beige head. Nose has a great, complex English malt character upfront—butterscotch, bready caramel, toffee—with gentle dark dried fruits in back. Flavour has plenty of butterscotch, bready caramel, dry toffee, and some dark dried fruits. Great malt character showcasing that dry butterscotch character. Real nice as usual.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Dec 2025
at 07:05
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
Bottle No. 002974. Golden-amber, alight haze and a thick head. Rich, chewy malt. Apple, stone fruit yeast profile, and a fairly robust English hop bitterness. Lots of alcohol in the finish. This is a good English barley wine.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Dec 2025
at 00:29
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle conditioned. Pours a dark amber colour with a tight white head, plenty of hops and fruit in the aroma, the taste is medium bitterness with a dry malt finish.
Tried
from Bottle
at
Fuller’s Brewery
on 19 Dec 2025
at 17:34
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Part of my home made no surprise advent calendar. Perfect pour - but because I totally messed up the 2024 last night and wasn't got to repeat that. I've had a bloody busy day of dog walking, gardening and car washing and I'm knackered. And I've been looking forward to this all day. And it doesn't disappoint. This is a classic souped up English bitter. Rich malt, bitter hops and a big hit of alcohol. And it tastes young. Cellar this properly and it will only improve over the next few years. There is a residual malt sweetness that comes out as it develops. And I'm not keen on sweet. It meant that I had to review my scoring. It's good though.
Tried
from Bottle
at
Fuller’s Brewery
on 14 Dec 2025
at 17:08