Bottle. Slightly gloopy pour - perhaps I oughtn't have kept in in the fridge. Amber with an inch of cream head. Smells like a Fuller's beer with just a little extra citrus top note. Firm bread crust, dried fruit, the promised plums, spices. Surprisingly light bodied. And the plum gets in the way on the palate - it has a bright fruitiness which detracts from rather than complements the richness of the malt and dried fruit. Slightly earthy and spicy at the fairly bitter finish. In the unlikely event that I see more I'd wait another 2 years.

Bottle from the set last summer. Herbal hop nose, caramel, peaches, grapes. Pretty orange-amber color. Tangy falvor, caramel, peaches, green apple, greapes. Soft carbonation and hides the booze well. Nice bit I was somehow expecting something more interesting.

Clear deep copper and very lightly tinted brown coloured body with a thinnish, single to perhaps two centimetre tall tan head that fades quite quickly. Aroma of earth, caramel, toffee, nuts, grain, toast, a touch of peat and some more caramelised sugars on the finish. Medium-bodied; Deep bittering malt and earthy notes at first with a big toffee and caramelised sugar flavour at first that gives way to some alcohol and warmth with a little malt and peaty dry notes near the end with a touch of sweetness, but mostly just malts that come through. Aftertaste shows a bit more of a roundness to this one, but it definitely centres around the malts and grain, yet has some minor sweetness, but not enough complexity to make this challenge Fuller's Vintage Ale or a 'real' English beer. Overall, nice to try, and I thought this was going to be much better than it actually was, but this was quite thin, a bit simplistic and definitely much more one-dimensional than I expected. I sampled this stubby twelve ounce bottle purchased from Whole Foods in Fair Lakes (Fairfax), Virginia on 12-August-2017 for US$25,99/twelve pack, sampled at home in Washington on perhaps one of the last cooler days in the season on 30-March-2018.

Sampled yet another bottle on 08-February-2026 (Super Bowl Sunday) and the experience was about the same as above, with this bottle being slightly thinner and even more mellow in flavours (as expected, due to the age). Not a bad option, but if you have a bottle of this around, it's probably best to drink sooner rather than later...I had mine in celebration of the Winter Olympics, happening right now.

12 ounce bottle, K1-Beer & Wine: Arlington, Virginia, purchased 28-October-2017 for US$1,99 sampled on 08-February-2026, almost ten years after purchase.

12oz bottle pours with a nearly clear copper body that supports a thin dirty white head of foam. The mild aroma offers up thin molasses blended with apple and prune notes. The taste delivers smooth sweet prunes and malts pushing toward a sweet malt nuanced spicy apple sensation. It has sweet fruity esters but it's also smooth and integrated. Solid sipper.

Draft @ LCBF 2017. Pours a slightly hazy orange pale amber color with a small white head. Has a fruity malty caramel dark fruit aroma with hoppy hints. Fruity malty caramel dark fruit bitter flavor. Has a fruity malty caramel hoppy bitter dark fruit finish.

bottle - Pours a copper color and smells of bready malt with some nice fruity notes. The flavor is sweet, biscuity malt with some balanced hops bitterness and fruity character. There's a little alcohol noticeable. Quite tasty.

Amber, slight haze, nice fruity character, with a hit of sweetness. I like this character, and a hit of fresh fruity.

Bottle in CO. Pours mostly clear orange with a dense, frothy head. Nice bready malt aroma, some jammy oranges, English yeast. Medium sweet flavour with more bready malts, marmalade, mild booze, toasted biscuits, honey. Medium to full bodied with fine carbonation. Lightly warming finish, more bread, fruitcake, ripe and Jane citrus, some peel. Fun stuff.

Sample during the "Collaboration Beers On Deck 2!" event on 08/13/2017. Hazy amber-garnet color with a medium flurry white head that recedes quickly to an outer ring. Short strings of lace. Aroma of roast malt, fruit and hops. Medium body with flavors of caramel malt, ripe fruit and earthy hops. The finish is sweet with a malty aftertaste. Decent overall.