7.3/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Backlog March 2009, 2004 vintage. Amber with no head. Aroma has caramel, raisins, dry fruit and acidity. Taste is very sweet with malt, dry fruit, Sherry, cellar notes and slightly sour, alcoholic finish. Fine body, long lasting aftertaste. Quite nice, but more a really interesting brew.
Tried
on 11 Apr 2026
at 15:51
6.6/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 8
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
275ml @ 🏡 shared with Phill and Alex.
Aroma: caramel, tannic, some fruity character, a bit boozy.
Taste: flat (of course), some sourness and bitter, oxidized.
Overall: probably too old to enjoy.
Aroma: caramel, tannic, some fruity character, a bit boozy.
Taste: flat (of course), some sourness and bitter, oxidized.
Overall: probably too old to enjoy.
Tried
from Bottle
on 24 Jan 2026
at 03:14
7/10
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Mar 2025
at 08:02
5.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 4
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
dark amber pour, no carbonation, aroma is musty, with some dark fruit, and a touchof bready malts. MOuthfeel is exactly like hard liquor, not swee tat all, and bitter. Flavour is like i just took a shot of cheap wattered down rye. Just awful.....gave me big time shivers. The finish and aftertaste are the best part, some nice bitter chocolate, and a really nice maple syrup note. But other than that i couldnt get past the flavour, and i dumped it.
Tried
on 27 Feb 2025
at 12:09
5.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 6
Pulled out of my cellar. Dated 2001. Cork broke in half and had to push other half into bottle. Hazy dark amber with absolutely no head. Aroma is like wine. Taste is old dry wine with a very astringent feel. It HAD to be better than this in it's day.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Jan 2025
at 05:38
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle next door, from the Fullers advent calendar, 21/12/24. Deep amber to chestnut brown topped with a good sized frothy beige head. Nose is fruit loaf, brown bread, biscuit, toasted grains, caramel. Taste comprises fruit cake, biscuit, toffee, brown bread, dates, prunes. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close with a light bitter edge. Decent.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Dec 2024
at 18:05
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6
First out the Fullers advent calendar and this is a good one. HSB is a lovely beer and I'm glad they have finally decided to bottle it. Good pour and no real head. Plenty of sweet malts and caramel make this a proper best bitter. No where near as good as the cask version, but a good start.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Dec 2024
at 18:08
6/10
Smells like straight vinegar. Boozy malt, slightly bitter, no trace of carbonation, and a very faint tartness in the finish. It’s fine, but I’m underwhelmed.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Mar 2024
at 00:22
11/03/1978. BAY TREE, 10 New Road, SOUTHAMPTON, Hampshire, England (GALES)
Tried
on 01 Dec 2022
at 17:12
7.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Bottle - Dark brown with red tinges. Very vinous aroma with notes of leather, blackcurrant and raisins. Rich and slightly sharp taste with vinous fruits, grainy malts and berries.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 May 2022
at 17:51