Fullers Golden Pride (Bottle)

Brewed by Fullers
Style: English Strong Ale
London, England

Fitting toast to Beckham’s anticlimactic 100th cap in Paris. Bronze ringed with white. Some enticing stemmy green orange/juniper hop notes on the nose, sweetly citrussy with plenty of caramelised malt back-up a bit like a mellow IPA. Flavour marred by too much coarse antiseptic alcohol, whiskeyish booze, and (agian) a dead lingering bitterness presumably the by-product of filtering/pasteurisation. Completely unaromatic. If that’s a word. Vaguely pleasant toffeeish notes, but smothered with sickly, buttery almond (ethanol). A very fine line indeed between this and Bavaria Red/RIP/ Exterminator-type malt liquors served in a brown paper bag. Dead barley wine ruined by pasteurisation and too much booze. I couldn’t finish it.

Beautiful dark amber (almost reddish) with an off wihte head. Sweet aroma of peach, caramel and melon. The alcohol is quit aggresive and warming in a vineous way and there are a lot of malty woody notes, nuts and toffee. The bitterness keeps it from being too much, but nevertheless you should be a couple of guys sharing it.

Bottle, november 07. Clear copper color with some light orange hues and a thick, creamy, beige head. Nice sherry, plums, cake, fruity aroma. Fruity alcoholic flavor, some fruit cake, toffee notes. Nice and tasty. Quite drinkable for such a strong beer. Medium to full mouthfeel, thick but moreish. A bit rough and with a short aftertaste but enjoyable nonetheless. Rich, warming and enjoyable barley wine.

Bottle. Reddish colour with a beige head. Aroma and flavour of dried fruit, malt, hops, bread and fruit.

This was sampled alongside the 2006 and 2007 vintage ales and the effects of pasteurisation were all too apparent. Deep copper coloured with a slight, off-white head. Very sweet aroma of barley sugar and toffee with a hint of grassy hop. The flavour was of boiled sweets with some redeeming hops and a short bitter finish. Ok, but lacking the complexity of the vintage ales.

Bottle. Chestnut colour with a small head. Aroma of burnt sugar, citrus and dried fruit. Sweet, rich flavour of fruit and malt. Full bodied mouthfeel. A good strong ale, worth savouring.

Small light creamy beige head that mostly lasted. Clear amber / golden like color. Good display of lacework. Aroma of citrus, floral, elderflower, caramel, bread and grain. Medium to full bodied with an average carbonation and dry texture. Very well balanced moderated bitter and sweet flavor. Light dry and bitter-sweet finish. Quit nice and very drinkable.

Apesar de muito premiada, essa strong ale da cervejaria inglesa Fuller’s deixa a desejar, exatamente pelas altas expectativas que criava. Produzida com maltes de cervejas pale ale e cristal, possui aroma extremamente frutado, uma de suas mais marcantes características, talvez o melhor que ela ofereça. Apresenta textura adocicada com notas de frutas vermelhas e corpo lodoso, adequado para uma ale. Seu grande problema é tornar-se enjoativa após alguns goles, pela doçura caramelizada após um pequeno amargor- uma falsa acidez, eu diria. Recomendável para dias mais frios e para tomar em pequenas doses em degustações ou então como sobremesa. http://dr-beer.blogspot.com/