Fuller's Vintage Ale 2004
95,000 bottles were produced for 2004’s Vintage, which once again employed a traditional approach, this time brewed with Goldings hops and Maris Otter malt. Distinctive cherry notes are evident, before a warming finish that mellows with age. Also limited availability in the Cask, mainly in the London area.
3.7
368 reviews
Chiswick, England
Community reviews
bottle at home ...copper ... small white head ... soit sweet toffee black currant fruit nose ... soft juicy fruits .. soft toffee fruit nose ... soft dull fruits ... soft toffee .. massive black currant fruits .. juicy fruits .. soft fruits .. soft sweet fruits ... big berries .. light cardboard ... nice but its age is showing ... lightest red licorice .. light marmalde ...
Bottle at Craig’s. Pours amber, nose soapy, sweet toffee, cherry, taste is sweet, thin, cherry, caramel.
Bottle 0.75l at Pikkulintu, Helsinki. Bottle bro 37841. Colour is ruby red with small white head. Aromas and flavours: Dark fruits, sweetness and malts. Pretty special.
Appearance: Hazy ruby brown with cm thick ivory head.
Aroma: Toffee, butterscotch, vinous, spiritous note, sherry, mint, liquorice, raisin, dried fig.
Taste: Medium bitter and sweetness with low sourness.
Palate: Thick smooth texture, medium/heavy body, low carbonation, dry, lingering, toffee, dried fruit, butterscotch, liquorice, spicy, sherry, spiritous finish with an alcohol warmth.
Comments: Lovely. Bottle number 12317.
2/II/14 - 75cl bottle @ Vintage Tasting, Brugs Bierfestival - bottle # 71196 (2014-159) Thanks to the person who contributed this bottle!
Clear amber to red beer, irregular off-white small head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: sweet, caramel, dried fruits, raisins, some mollasses, brown sugar, some toast. MF: soft carbon, medium body, creamy texture. Taste: sweet, caramel start, some mocha and bitter chocolate. Aftertaste: chocolate, little hoppy, dried fruits, orange peel, malty sweetness.
Bottle @joes. Copper/brown color. Smells sweet. Tastes sweet, sherry, thin, alcohol. Nice. Rate with a shot sherry.
Bottle @ joes (mini vertical). Dark copper colour with no real head. Very little smell compared to the others. Tastes nuts, sherry, sweet. Body is very thin compared to the others.
Bottle shared by Joes @ weekly tasting. Vertical 04-09-10-11-12-13. Clear dark orange color, virtually no head. Aroma is quite sweet. Taste is also pretty sweet, pretty alcoholic, a bit liquor, possibly a hint of sherry. Might be too old. Interesting though.
2004 Vintage - #22824. Top notch presentation. Pours murky brown (clear red when held to the light), sparkling, foamy white head. Smell - sherry, sickly sweet liquorice notes, alcohol and slight yeast. Body is medium with a bit of a syrupy feel, slightly foamy, carbonation is medium to low. Taste - more sherry, some whisky, butter toffee, very sweet. There is also a complex savoury side to it - earthy/gravy/vegetal. Good. These beers come across as too sweet for my liking, but interesting and nice to try every so often.
Bottle #15958, sampled in December 2013. A slightly hazy reddish amber pour with a ring of white head; vinous aroma; buttery mouthfeel, with raisins, plums and caramel tastes; and a dry, rather thin, toffee finish, that instills a gentle warmth. Smooth and soft from the aging, but otherwise little different than a more recent vintage.
Bottle from luvians, st andrews. Bottle says best before end 2007. Hazy dark brown color, nice beige head. Nice aroma of old wood, malty sweetness, sweet fruits, oak. Taste is balanced belgian-like sweetness, licorice, wood, oak, no signs of alcohol. Aged very nicely.
excellent, i had the 2009 previously this year so my expectations were a lot lower. aroma is cherry malt sweetness and some licorice type of aroma. muddy brown colour with a tan head. taste is a lot of things, someone else is better at that description. soft mouthfleel and light / medium body.
Served freesing cold from bottle at Copenhagen beer festival. Wine-like aroma with some sourness and prunes. Good tasting and quite dry! A hint alcohol of alcohol in first aftertaste. Perhaps a bit too fizzy mouthfeel. Very drinkable!
500 ml bottle sampled January 2012. Clear amber body with a moderate sized off-white head. Light aroma of caramel malt, fruit and hint of oxidation. Flavor is smooth malty, caramel, dry fruit and moderate bitter. Nice body and OK aftertaste. Nothing really complex, but smooth and well made. Seems to have survived the years in the cellar.
Chris O’s Fullers/Gales Tasting Feb 2012. Sugary. So sweet. Sugar water. These Fuller’s Vintage Ales are not great beers. They’re OK, but they are what they are - beers made from malt and hops. The aging isn’t doing much for them, and there’s not a huge difference from year to year, other than randomness from handling and storage. This one has become quite sweet.
At the ekstedt vintage tasting on December 28, 2012. Thanks ekstedt for all bottles and vintages! Sampled 2012 vs 2010 vs 2008 vs 2006 vs 2004.
2004 vintage:
Hazy dark copper color, tan head. Sweet and dirt cellar scent. Sweet, dirt cellar taste, sugary. Smooth mouthfeel, low bitterness. Sweet, cellar aftertaste.
Bottle at pre Xmas tasting, thanks Tom - 21/12/12.
Hazed mid amber with a thin off white head that soon dissipates to the edge of the vessel.
Nose is dark fruits, figs, dates, dark sugars, musty notes.
Taste comprises dark fruit, sugars, almond, figs, hint of pine, nuttyness, dose of boose.
Full end of medium bodied with soft fine carbonation lending towards a sweet boozey finish.
Good complex flavours meld together well to give a decent vintage, now some 9 years old.
Stopped regular rating 22nd Oct 2012 so this is one of one of my occasional ratings, had this for the Online Mass Rating for Fullers Vintage on 11th December 2012 Bottle No: 05555 The colour is mucky puddle brown with a filmy cobwebby sparse very light brown head. Aroma is raisins, bit of dusty old sideboard and a bit of port coming through. Soft in the mouth, even after all these years the alcohol is still quite forward with this, it is malty and fruity with those raisins and other dried fruits showing predominantly. I guess that it would have been quite harsh when young. Very warming and strong, and whilst I quite like this I still find this a little unbalanced and even a bit harsh, quite a lingering steady bitterness its fine but not as good as some vintages. Came back to this and it was better for standing a little while, though I was still a little underwhelmed, really quite flat, possibly past its best or just a dud bottle. A6 A2 T7 P3 Ov13 3.1
A fine copper/amber colored pour, slightly cloudy with a nose of dark fruits and vannila.
Sample during tasting @ Ölrepubliken. Smell is slightly sweet and malty with old sweet dark bread, cereal, alcohol, cardboard, mushrooms, moist soil, orange zest and lemon zest. Taste is sweet and malty with caramel, vanilla fudge, alcohol, grass, wood, lemon zest and moist soil. Mouthfeel is round, tiny watery, tiny boozy and medium bodied. Finish is slightly sweet and tiny bitter with caramel, raisins, wood, grass, cereal and toffee. Nah...
Bottle, 50cl. Bottle # 62497. A clear, copper colored beer topped by a small, beige head. Oxidation, some alcohol and a touch of honey on the nose. Dried fruits and sherry also chimes in. The flavor has caramel and some camphor, as well as dried fruits and hints of honey. It’s lightly warming on the palate, full-bodied and pleasantly carbonated. Lasting finish with caramel and dried fruits. A quite tasteful one, next to easy drinkable. 120106
White weak head. Brown cloudy colour. Aroma is malty, fruity (raisins, chestnut) with light wooden and candy notes, slightly vinous. Flavor is malty too with fruity (prunes, raisins and dried fruits) tones, ending in a slightly fruity and wooden finish. Full bodied.
Bottle from my large stash at home. A mahogany coloured pour with a medium off white head on top. Boozy, caramel, ripe fruit aroma. Tastes fruity, spice, orange, boozy but also quite sour. Not their best Vintage in my opinion.
This one was fantastic. My memories or faint of the particulars, other than it being a rounded ale and with an interesting berry-like aroma. Mellow, yes, after 6 years, but still biting and warming. Ages well.
Bottle sample at a tasting at Ariel’s place. Thanks Vladimir. Clear reddish amber. Oxidized aroma with fruits, malt and cardboard. Sweet malty honey-ish flavor with cookies, chocolate, fruits and a slightly alcoholic finish. Medium-bodied.
Bottle 81746. Pours a slightly hazy mohagany with virtually no head. Smells like liquid carmel with maple syrup mixed in to sweeten it. Tastes as it smells but not as sweet as it smells. Really delicious...I’m glad my brother showed up to help my buddy and I finish the bottle though. Mild carbonation, medium body. Overall a real treat showing the benefit of aging.
Bottle. Red deep golden colour with an off-white head. Aroma is hop, cherry, alcohol, sugar, licorice. Flavour is alcohol, hop, malt, sugar, cherry, licorice. Nice beer.
50 cl bottle @ KBF.
Rated on 20101126.
Clear copper color. Aroma of malts, caramel, ripe fruits and grass. Flavor of ripe fruits, plum, raisins, malts and caramel.
Bottle at Chriso’s Fullers-Gales Tasting (thanks to Chris). It pours deep amber, with a thin off-white head. The nose is gingerbread, spice, nut and sticky dried fruit - raisin, currants, cherry and the like. The taste is sweet tinned fruit (pear, melon, nectarine), wood, sherry, spice and alcohol warmth in the finish. Full body, moderate carbonation and syrupy mouth-feel. Good balance, but can get quite cloying after a while.
10 feb 2012, bottle. Nice, clear ruby. Nose is a bit winey, soured grapes. Med body and almost flat. Bourbon barrel stout (faint) and flat coke. I was expecting a bit more.